Machinerylink

A company known for innovation recently unveiled new technology and features for its planters and tillage equipment for 2022.

Kinze Manufacturing, based in Williamsburg, Iowa, gave media, including DTN/Progressive Farmer, a firsthand look at several new enhancements to planters and its Mach Till hybrid tillage tool.

The company continually talks to farmers and dealers, and utilizes feedback to enhance product lines to improve efficiency and profit potential for growers, explains Brad Niensteadt, Kinze lead product specialist for planters and planter technology.

"That's building and driving the items we add every year," he continues.

NEW PLANTER OFFERINGS

-- Expanded True Speed high-speed planting technology with five more configurations. These include a 4905 12R30, 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 True Speed models for planting cotton, sugar beets and milo.

-- Shared coverage mapping for Blue Drive (electric drive) planters. Field coverage data is 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 explains.

-- Factory-installed cameras for Blue 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," he says.

-- Blue Vantage-equipped planters will have automated hydraulic weight transfer for wings. Bulk-fill scales will measure the weight of seed and automatically adjust downpressure 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

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 and 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 hp 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," says 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.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION:

-- www.kinze.com

-- Follow the latest from Matthew Wilde, Crops Editor, by visiting the Production Blogs at dtnpf.com or following him on Twitter @progressivwilde

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