A DISC planter built in Narromine, NSW, won Machine of the Year Award at the Wimmera Machinery Field Days, MARK SAUNDERS reports

Graham Dull made the long journey from Narromine in NSW to Horsham earlier this month to display the NDF disc planter for the first time at the Wimmera Machinery Field Days.

The big trip was somewhat of a gamble for Graham, who is NDF's after-sales service manager.

NDF machinery is well known north of the border but a relative newcomer in Victoria, especially as far south as the Wimmera.

Despite a relatively quiet crowd at the WMFD, it did not take Graham long to know he had made the right choice.

The extremely robust NDF planter attracted plenty of attention at the field days.

Graham said he was swamped with inquiries about the SA550 planter which features individual air bags for each disc arm.

"I have not long finished a week or so of on-property demonstrations as follow up to the busy days," Graham said.

"The 30-40mm of rain in the Wimmera just after the field days was perfect timing and we have very good inquiry to follow up from Swan Hill to Lake Bolac and Nhill.

"It was certainly a good foray south and I have already booked my site for the Wimmera Field Days next year," Graham said.

His positive experience was reinforced when the SA550 was crowned WMFD Machine of the Year.

"I knew the planter was a good piece of gear, but to get the award is fantastic," Graham said.

Members of the judging panel were impressed with the super strong build of the planter and its ability to be used as a precision seeding unit.

"The first thing you notice is how sturdy it is," Graham said. "From the chassis to the bearings, it's a very meaty bit of gear. NDF stakes its reputation on build quality."

But the NDF is also low maintenance, with only two wear points on each arm, excluding the ground-engaging parts.

The ground-engaging parts have four grease points, including a gauge wheel, press wheel, coulter hub and disc closer.

The coulter on each arm is 560mm in diameter and the accompanying gauge wheel features a mud scraper which is vital for use in wet conditions, according to Graham.

"Our design has the scraper incorporated into the gauge wheel so as the disc rotates, the mud is dropped off behind the wheel.

"With a disc machine, the only way to work in sticky conditions is to have the disc rotating freely and the scraper ensures that will happen," he said.

The air bags can be used to control the down force on each disc as well as each press wheel.

A hydraulic air compressor automatically maintains the selected air pressure which can be varied from zero to 482kPa on the disc opener, providing a down force of 80-250kg.

The down force on the press wheel can be varied from zero to 90kg.

Graham said the ability to vary the down force on the disc opener and press wheel meant excellent flotation and accurate seed placement.

"The uniform pressure provided by the air bag system combined with 230mm of vertical travel on each disc allows it to very closely follow the ground contours," Graham said.

Another feature of the disc assembly is a semi-pneumatic, rubber, flexible gauge wheel.

"We have put a lot of work into the gauge wheel's design to ensure just the right amount of flex to keep the dirt from building up on it."

Sowing depth can be adjusted in 10mm increments to 100mm and the planters have been used successfully to plant summer forage crops.

"You can use it to sow cereals, chick peas, canola, lupins, faba beans and a range of other crops," Graham said.

"We can make the machines up to 24m in width and the row width can be anything from 250mm to 500mm to suit broadacre or row cropping applications."

Transport width is 5.9m while the transport height is 4.5m.

The SA550 can be used with an air cart towed behind it or in between it and the tractor.

Graham said the machine's popularity in northern areas such as the Moree Plains was due to its ability to work in wet and sticky soil conditions as well as dry.

"There is a definite trend towards direct drilling with disced machines into stubble," Graham said.

"When used in combination with a good set of straw spreaders on the harvester, you can confidently leave stubbles quite high and use gear such as the SA550 to sow crops into that stubble.

"The trend seems to be towards that practice, especially with the ability to inter row sow," Graham said.