Kinze Unveils Planter, Tillage Upgrades

WILLIAMSBURG, Iowa (DTN) -- A company known for innovation and eye-catching agricultural art at its Iowa headquarters and manufacturing plant recently unveiled new technology and features for planters and tillage equipment for 2022.

It's almost impossible for drivers on Interstate 80 near Williamsburg to miss Kinze Manufacturing's towering sculptures such as nine blue production and custom-made model grain carts stacked on top of each other and the vertical four-wheel-drive red-and-green tractor "pulling" a 60-foot planter that rotates a few hundred feet in the air. Another unusual sight may have caught the eyes of motorists on Aug. 19.

"Folks driving by will be surprised to see a planter running in August," Brad Niensteadt, Kinze lead product specialist for planters and planter technology, quipped during the company's media day. "We will just say it's really late-planted, double-cropped soybeans."

Joking aside, there's a reason why a Kinze 3665 Blue Drive planter was seeding soybeans in the company's demonstration field even though surrounding soybean fields are about six weeks away from harvest. Kinze gave media, including DTN, a first-hand look at several new enhancements to planters, as well as its Mach Till hybrid tillage tool.

Kinze continually talks to farmers and dealers and utilizes feedback to improve product lines to improve efficiency and profit potential for growers, according to Niensteadt.

"That's building and driving the items we add every year," he continued. Many farmers put off upgrading equipment the past few years due to low commodity prices, Niensteadt added. Profit potential this year is much better, which has drastically bolstered equipment demand.

"I've never seen dealer inventory this low in 30 years," said Eric Broadbent, Kinze senior director of sales.

Niensteadt added, "Many farmers waited long enough (to upgrade equipment). They want as much of the latest and greatest technology as possible. We needed to be ready for those demands."

NEW 2022 KINZE PLANTER OFFERINGS

-- Expanded True Speed high-speed planting technology with five more configurations. These include: A 4905 12R 30, well-suited for smaller operations or a second planter for smaller fields; 31/32R15 split-row and 16R30 configurations of the Kinze 3665, a 15-inch soybean planter for high-residue conditions with the versatility to plant 30-inch row crops; and 24R30 and 36R20 configurations of the 4705 high-flotation planter for narrow-width crops.

-- New seed discs for 2022 True Speed models for planting cotton, sugar beets and milo.

-- Shared coverage mapping for Blue Drive (electric drive) planters. Field coverage data shared by multiple Blue Vantage displays to allow two or more planters to work together in the same field at the same time.

"If you are fighting weather and have two planters working in the same field, you can knock it out quicker, so you don't have varying maturity times and growing degree days," Niensteadt said.

-- Factory-installed cameras for Blue Drive (electric drive) planters that the Blue Vantage display supports. One rear-facing camera is standard, with three optional mountings. "Farmers are traveling farther between fields. It was a big customer request from a safety standpoint," Niensteadt said.

-- Blue Vantage-equipped planters will have automated hydraulic weight transfer for wings. Bulk-fill scales will measure the weight of seed and automatically adjust down pressure on wings to compensate for less weight in tanks to limit compaction and pinch rows.

-- Front-fold-equipped planters will have increased liquid fertilizer storage capacity by about 20%, up to 750 gallons on the largest planters.

MACH TILL ENHANCEMENTS FOR 2022

Mach Till is a versatile tillage tool, which Kinze considers a hybrid between conventional horizontal and vertical-till units. It can be run at high speeds, typically between 9-11 mph, without creating compaction layers. Yet, it's able to size and incorporate residue and create a smooth seedbed.

Agronomic benefits of the machine, according to Kinze, include nutrient cycling and improved soil density for water infiltration that reduces erosion. Model sizes include 20, 26, 30, 36 and 41 feet. To maximize performance, Kinze recommends a minimum of 15 horsepower per foot for tractors.

In 2022:

-- The 20- and 26-foot models have been upgraded from a mechanical gauge wheel to a hydraulic system. Operators will no longer have to make depth adjustments manually to improve efficiency. "We had a lot of customers that didn't adjust (mechanical gauge wheels) right that led to poor performance," said Justin Render, Kinze product specialist.

-- The 20- and 26-foot models will have a heavy-duty arm option, larger torsion elements, thicker arms, larger clamps and a larger gang tube.

-- All models, except the 41-foot, will have upgraded transport tires that offer improved cleanout and performance.

For more information, go to www.kinze.com.

Matthew Wilde can be reached at matt.wilde@dtn.com

Follow him on Twitter @progressivwilde

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