It's about accurate seed placement - Kuhn North America

DAS MAGAZIN FÜR
MODERNE LANDWIRTSCHAFT
It‘s about accurate
seed placement
KUHN S.A.
F 67706 Saverne Cedex
www.kuhnsa.com
info@kuhnsa.com
S O N D E R D R U C K
S P E C I A L P R I N T
f r o m a tu os p t o p a ga rg ar ar r 21 02 / 02 60 0- 14 1

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USER
SURVEY
It‘s about accurate
seed placement
topagrar conducted a survey among more than 600
drill owners, asking them to assess their machines.
These are the findings: lift requirement is high on
many machines, seed placement is not accurate on
some and build quality could be better on others.
Although universal drills are becoming
more popular, the traditional
mounted designs continue to sell
most successfully. Mounted on a power
harrow or another cultivation unit, they
make for compact units; and if fitted with
disc coulters, they deliver good results in
min-till conditions.
Our survey focused on 3m and 4m drills,
on which a sufficient number of questionnaires
were returned for Accord, Amazone,
Gaspardo, Kuhn, Lemken, Pöttinger
and Rabe. The response rate for some
makes was so high that we were able to
differentiate the assessments by model.
Before we discuss the details, we look at
the general strengths and weaknesses of
the various makes.
The best parameter to measure customer
satisfaction is the percentage of machine
owners who would buy their machine
again without reservation (see table 2).
The front-runner in the survey for this category
is Lemken, who captured a share
of 91% of satisfied users who would buy
the machine again. One explanation for
this extremely good result is the machines’
sturdiness and fail-safe operation. Table 4
shows that on average these machines
needed repair only twice every 500 hec-
tares. The make also earned a good mark
(1.5) for quality of build and secured the
number one position in aftersales and
parts supply (see table 3).
Further key factors in a purchase decision
are advice and the local dealership. 57%
and 65% of Lemken users said that these
two factors were critical in their purchase
decision (see table 5). The premium prices
for these machines, however, tend to put
buyers off.
Kuhn received similar assessments and on
top, its failure rate of 1.5 repairs per 500
hectares is somewhat less again than its
competitors. Quality of build, too, was rated
slightly better (1.4) although we need
to mention that these machines are more
recent models that have “clocked” less
acreage. Again, advice and service are key
factors in the purchase decision. Selling at
slightly lower prices than Lemken, the
price is a critical selling point for Kuhn
machines.

Table 1: General data of surveyed machines
Accord Amazone Gaspardo Kuhn Lemken Pöttinger Rabe
No. of evaluated questionnaires 87 301 18 33 117 22 29
Average age of assessed drills
(years)
7.5 5.9 5.3 4.0 4.7 3.9 6.3
Total acreage of assessed drills
(ha)
Design (% of drills surveyed)
1,070 702 386 502 776 390 592
Cultivator-mounted drills 95 65 61 97 88 59 38
Linkage-m. combinations 2 12 11 0 3 9 10
Linkage-m. solo drills 3 23 28 3 9 32 52
Drilling system (% of drills surveyed)
Mechanical 0 89 50 49 73 86 93
Pneumatic /pto-driven 87 3 28 21 0 14 3
Pneumatic /hydraulic 13 8 22 30 27 0 3
Owners demand ever greater
hopper capacities but often criticise
high lift requirements.
Photos: Höner, Lenge, Willige,
manufacturer
How users rate the
seven makes
Amazone holds a top position,
too. As to repairs, the
green machines, which on
average were 5.9 years old,
received average marks. Quality
of build was on par with
Lemken (1.5); and just like
Lemken and Kuhn, the dealer
is the key selling point for
Amazone buyers as well. The
price, however, is not a real
appetizer. This said, the units
have an excellent residual value,
which 47% of Amazone
owners say is critical for them
at the time of purchase.
Accord received average
marks in general. Quality of
build was rated 1.9 while reliability
and fail-safe operation
is middle of the road. Yet, this
is a good assessment in view
of the average age of these
drills, which is 7.5 years. During
this time, they drilled an
impressive 1,070 hectares.
Although the overall assess-
Table 2: Would you buy this
make again?
Lemken
Pöttinger
Kuhn
Amazone
Rabe
Accord
Gaspardo
%
ment is relatively good, as few as 69% of
all owners surveyed would buy the make
again. The percentage of those who are
not sure about this is 23%, which is particularly
high. Notably the owners of
DA-S models raised criticism. The range
received substantially lower marks than
the DA range even though it shares
many components with the latter (seed
metering, coulters, tines).
Some owners criticised that the ma-
Yes ja Possibly eventuell No nein
Quality Maschinenqualität of build
Ersatzteilversorgung
Parts supply
Customer Kundendienst service
0 20 40 60 80 100
Table 3: Customer service
and quality of build
Lemken
Kuhn
Amazone
Pöttinger
Accord
Rabe
Gaspardo
The majority of
the machines
assessed were
manufactured by
Amazone,
Lemken and
Accord. The
Accord drills were
relatively old and
had worked quite
some acreage.
chines were outdated and awarded
slightly lower marks to the hopper, the
coulters and the tine harrow than the
more modern competitor models earned
from their owners. A particular weak
point seems to be the area of machine
support, because aftersales service and
parts supply earned lower marks than
the average survey result. Advice and local
dealer are considered less critical
purchase factors for this make
Note 0 1 2 3
Noten The grading 1 = system sehr follows gut bis a scale 5 = from mangelhaft 1 to 5, with
1 representing excellent and 5 being extremely poor.

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Table 4: Susceptibility
to defects
Kuhn
Lemken
Accord
Amazone
Pöttinger
Rabe
Gaspardo
Anzahl 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Number of repairs per machine and 500 hectares of
Reparaturen je Maschine und
operation
500 ha Einsatzfläche
Service counts
Rabe and Pöttinger earned nearly
identical results in the survey. Both manufacturers
market quite identical drills.
The leading press plays a key role in
the overall quality of seed placement.
Wedge-shaped and trapezium-ring designs
obviously deliver exceptionally
good results as they form furrows for
the coulters to run smoothly and plant
at more accurate depths. The two press
designs earned a 1.8 and 1.6 respectively
for providing good depth control. By
comparison, such rollers as toothed and
cage rollers that consolidate the entire
work width scored only 2.2 and 2.4.
The problem about preparing a furrow
in extremely wet conditions is that
the bottom of the furrow may be too
hard for the coulters to drill deep
enough despite a high pressure loading,
a situation in which only little loose soil
is left for covering.
Most coulters used were disc
coulters – 417 of the surveyed machines
came equipped with this type (67%).
The remaining machines relied on traditional
Suffolk coulters. The popularity
of disc coulters springs from a growing
trend towards min-till systems, where
disc coulters hold a share of 51% and
Suffolk coulters 30%.
Disc coulters do not block up as easily
and give better depth control in extremely
trashy conditions although they do
not give better seed placement than Suffolk
coulters – on the contrary, discs may
leave seeds on the surface.
Disc coulters are often followed by
Manufactured in the same plant at Bernburg
(Eastern Germany), Pöttinger’s mechanical
(Vitasem/Multidrill) and pneumatic
drills (Aerosem/Turbodrill) re-
ceived similar marks. The repair logs show
4.0 and 4.5 repairs per 500 hectares, which
is a slightly higher rate than for competitor
models. Quality of work and ease of
operation earned slightly lower marks, a
fact however, that is attributed to the older
vintage of the mechanical versions.
However, customers seem to be forgiving
such weaknesses if the service is
right. This is an area where Pöttinger
seems to perform better than Rabe. After
all, the dealership is an important selling
point for 55% of all Pöttinger users compared
with 38% of Rabe users. The great
disparity suggests that Pöttinger does
much better in terms of customer retention
than Rabe. Hence, 90% of all Pöttinger
customers surveyed say they would
buy a Pöttinger drill again. This is the best
result in the entire survey. Compare this
Press, coulters and tines put the seeds to bed
Exact tines with horizontal ends. This was
the case on 86% of the surveyed drills.
Their quality of work and risk of blockage
was rated 1.8 and 1.6 whereas the standard
with 71% for Rabe. 11% of the surveyed
Rabe users even say no, they would not
buy a Rabe drill again. Obviously, the
company’s restructuring process has taken
a toll here.
The manufacturer that scores lowest is
Gaspardo. Only 44% of machine owners
say yes, they would go for Gaspardo
again. 22% categorically refuse to buy
another Gaspardo drill, arguing that they
are not satisfied with its quality of build,
which earns a low 2.7. Compare this with
2.0, the average mark. The assessed drills
broke down three times as often as their
competitors, a fact that cannot be attributed
to machine age and hard work, because
the average machine is 5.3 years
old and the average acreage is only 386
hectares. Worse, the company’s repair service
is not particularly good, which is reflected
by marks as low as 2.7 for repair
service and 2.4 for parts supply. These results
are clearly lower than the average
survey results (1.9 and 1.8).
There is growing trend towards disc coulters. The following press wheels give
enhanced depth control.
tine design scored lower 2.2 and 2.1
marks. Apart from earning better scores,
Exact tines also provide better
covering.

There is a growing trend
towards cultivator-mounted drills
Makes and models aside - our survey
revealed some interesting trends in machine
designs:
Drills that mount directly on top of a
powered or non-powered cultivator are
gaining ground over linkage-mounted
drills, because as they move closer to the
tractor they allow for larger hopper capacities.
The average hopper capacity is
700kg on 3m cultivator-mounted drills.
This compares with 420kg on linkagemounted
designs that operate in conjunction
with cultivation equipment. The larger
piggyback capacities earned higher
marks (1.9) than linkage-mounted capacities
(2.3).
Surprisingly, the higher lift requirement
for larger hoppers was not an issue,
which can be explained by the fact that
these machines are operated by higherpowered
tractors. On average, these ver-
D
Accord
The DA series has been around for
more than 20 years and has been further
developed during this time. Therefore
and despite its age, it earned good
marks in the survey. The drill is lighter
than its competitors are and is not very
susceptible to defects, except for the flimsy
mountings of the tine bar and bout
markers.
The distributor head is placed inside
the hopper, which seed growers find an
awkward location that makes it difficult
to empty tank-leftovers. Besides, it obstructs
filling to full hopper capacity. Calibration
testing is quite time-consuming,
because the venturi cone needs removing
first and is difficult to get at in the first
place. To make up, application rates
sions are operated by 140hp tractors,
whereas linkage-mounted drills are
operated by ca. 120hp tractors.
Whether piggyback or linkage-mounted,
the version has no effect on the quality
of work, because most versions rely
on the same type of coulters, metering
system, tine bars, etc. Yet, cultivatormounted
systems sow more accurately to
calibrated rates than linkage-mounted
designs, because spike wheels produce
less wheel slip than rubber wheels. In
addition, many cultivator-mounted drills
use pneumatic seed metering systems,
which are found to be more accurate than
mechanical systems.
Nevertheless, the survey did not reveal
a clear trend towards pneumatic
systems. A total of 185 cultivator-mounted
machines were equipped with pneumatic
metering systems, on which 70% of
Table 5: What motivated you to buy this drill?
(percent of total number of responses)
Purchase reason Accord Amazone Gaspardo Kuhn Lemken Pöttinger Rabe
Price 33 25 94 58 21 64 52
Recommendation 45 37 11 24 37 32 34
Advice 14 29 11 55 57 23 34
Dealer 49 65 33 64 65 55 38
Good residual
value
37 47 0 18 32 14 28
The same machine may appear in more than one category.
match up with calibration rates and conversion
to small seeds is straightforward.
The owners surveyed are less pleased
the owners said they would buy them
again. This compares with 79% in the
mechanical sector (259 machines).
However, most drills do not work wider
than 3 metres, a width at which a pneumatic
system has little chance to play its
trump card and hardly pays off. This is
different on 4-6m machines, where a
pneumatic system provides for easier folding
and larger hopper capacities. The
average capacity among the surveyed
drills is 938kg. This compares with 576kg
for the mechanical drills. Rapeseed farmers
prefer pneumatic models because
of their central hopper outlet, which allows
drilling to lower seed levels. This is a
problem on mechanical drills where
some peg wheels may run out of seeds
sooner than others. Besides, seed level
gauges work better in central hoppers.
This category earned a 2.2 mark from
owners of pneumatic drills and a 2.6 from
owners of mechanical drills. In addition,
swapping between normal and small
seeds is easier on pneumatic systems because
there is just one central metering
wheel. R. Lenge
The individual assessments by make are
published on the following pages.
DA range
Year of manufacture:
from 1984
Work width: 2.5 m and 3.0 m
Hopper capacity: 750 l
Coulters: Suffolk coulters
and CX disc coulters
The DA drills are
Accord’s entry-level
models, which offer
proven technology.
Yet the design has
come of age.
with the depth and coulter pressure control
system. Some users find seed depth is
not always uniform.

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D
Although the DA-S models are extended
DA models, they received
substantially lower marks. Only 43%
of the owners surveyed have no reservations
about buying a DA-S drill
again, which may be down to the fact
that these wider machines are typically
operated by large-scale farmers who
are more demanding.
Criticism centred on hopper access
and filling height. The internal distribution
head makes it difficult to remove
all tank-leftovers. Calibration
testing is also criticised for being
time-consuming. Visibility is an issue,
too.
The depth and pressure setting
system received lower marks than
D
Amazone
Amazone D8 continues to
be a popular machine even
after it was replaced by the D9
model a few years ago. 83% of
the owners said they would
buy it again, chiefly because of
its good build quality.
Thanks to its light weight
and small hopper, its lift requirement
is relatively low.
Yet, the hopper earned criticism for small
capacity. Further points of criticism re-
lated to missing steps on many machines,
difficult emptying of tank-leftovers and
difficult cleaning. All mechanical drills generally
suffer from high residual seed
levels, which are required to ensure no
peg wheel is left unsupplied.
Most machines have Suffolk coulters
what was average. The hydraulic
system does not provide for reading
the coulter pressure. Blockages are
not an issue, because most machines
are equipped with CX disc coulters.
Most criticism was raised on the
tine harrow for its lack of strength and
poor quality of work. The tines
respond too readily in heavy soil and
are hence not very effective. Set the
tine pressure too high and the pins
break off. The manufacturer re-
sponded to the problem by intro-
ducing 10mm tines in 2003.
Other sought-after spare parts are
the seed delivery tubes and passages.
Overall, build quality and paint finish
were rated below average.
D 8 range (linkage-mounted mechanical drill)
Year of manufacture: 1985 – 1999
Work width: 3.0 m – 6.0 m
Hopper capacity: 600 l (3 m Unit),
840 l (4 m Unit)
Coulters: Suffolk coulters and disc
coulters
DA-S range
running behind a toothed roller. This format
was reckoned to provide more accurate
seed placement than disc coulters in
combination with a leading wedged ring
roller.
As to repairs, this machine is more
susceptible to defects than the average
machine in the survey. This said, these
drills were on average 9.6 years old, which
Year of manufacture: from 1992
Work width: 3.0/4.0/4.5 m and 5.0 m
Hopper capacity: 750 l (extended to 1,000 l)
Coulters: Suffolk coulters and CX disc coulters
The medium-sized DA-S
models earned lower
marks than the DA
models although both
ranges share identical
components.
User assessments - Accord
DA
range
DA-S
range
Average
result
Visibility 2.0 2.7 2.1
Lift
requirement
2.3 2.6 2.5
Hopper 2.2 2.5 2.2
Seed rate
setting system
1.9 2.2 2.1
Seed
placement
2.0 2.1 1.9
Tine bar 2.0 2.4 2.0
Quality of
build
1.8 2.0 1.7
No. of
repairs/500 ha
2.3 3.9 3.0
Buy again? Yes 79 % 43 % 75 %
The Schulnoten: grading 1 system = sehr follows gut bis a 5 scale = sehr from schlecht 1 to 5, with
1 representing excellent and 5 being extremely poor.
Good quality of build is still a strong
selling point for D8 owners.
is relatively old. Defects centred on the
tines, bout markers, seed delivery tubes
and the suspension systems.

D9 owners are more satisfied with the
D machine’s quality of work than D8
owners are. 50% of them say their drills
D
D 9 range (linkage-mounted mechanical drill)
Year of manufacture: from 1999
Work width: 2.5/3.0/4.0 m and 6.0 m
Hopper capacity:
450 l – 600 l on 3 m version (extended
to 830 l and 1,000 l); 830 l on 4 m
version (extended to 1,380 l)
Coulters: Suffolk coulters and RoTeC
coulters
The AD cultivator-mounted drills
generally feature good quality of build.
Sharing many components with the
D9 models (metering system, coulters,
tines, seed hopper etc), the cultivatormounted
AD range received similar
marks as this. However, lift requirement
AD-P range
(cultivator-mounted pneumatic drill)
Year of manufacture:
from 1995
AD-P Super from 2005
Work width: 3.0/4.0 m;
AD-P Profi up to 4.5 m
Hopper capacity: 1,550 l
(extended to 2,000 l)
Coulters: Suffolk/RoTeC
D
87% of all AD-P owners surveyed
would buy the same machine
again. This is the highest score in
the survey. The machine earned good
marks in all categories. The 2,000-litre
hopper capacities received particular
praise, which is typical for a pneumatic
machine. At the same time, the
machine offers easy emptying of remaining
seeds as well as easy cleaning.
The seed level gauge is less
susceptible to failure than on mechanical
versions.
Yet, the generous capacity and the
are fitted with disc coulters, because in
unploughed land these give smoother
running than Suffolk coulters. Hopper capacity
is bigger than on the predecessor
models, yet it is not as big as on pneumatic
drills.
Most machines rely on Exact tines,
which give good quality of work. By comparison,
the seed metering system is an issue.
Swapping between normal and small
seeds is particularly difficult and many
machines do not drill accurately to calibrated
rates. These are reasons for some
D9 owners to not buy the machine again.
Build quality earned praise on the
whole. Still, the breakdown rate was
AD range (linkage-mounted mechanical drill)
Year of manufacture: from 1999
Work width: 2.5/3.0/4.0 m and 4.5 m
Hopper capacity:
450/600 l on 3 m drill (extended to
810/1,000 l); 830 l on 4 m drill
(extended to 1,380 l)
Coulters: Suffolk coulters/RoTeC
coulters
is considered high for this semi-mounted
design so that some users would appreciate
it if the hopper moved closer to the
tractor. Further issues include restricted
visibility on extended hoppers and the
high dead weight also generated criticism,
because the 3m versions weigh
about 2.7t. Most criticism concerned
the AD-P Profi models. The more recent
Super model mounts the hopper
on the press and moves the centre of
gravity closer to the tractor. When
extended, the hopper is yet too high
to provide for convenient bag fills.
Repair wise, the machine is neither
extremely susceptible to damage nor
particularly reliable - just middle of
the road. Some farmers criticise the
flimsy tine bar mountings.
User criticism centres on seed rates.
Many users say that calibrated and
drilled rates are not always identical.
higher than average. After the tines
proved to be very susceptible to damage,
the manufacturer modified them. The
seed delivery tubes, metering aggregates,
gearboxes and hoppers also needed an
occasional repair.
metering system. Swapping from normal
to small seeds is difficult and actual sowing
rates are higher than calibrated rates so
that some owners replaced the bottom
flaps. There is no rest on the hopper that
would make bag filling easier. The amount
of remaining seeds left in the hopper is
large, which is attributed to the agitator
that makes emptying difficult. The operator
often has to sweep or blow out the remaining
seeds. The lid does not close tight
and invites dust contamination.
Drills with leading wedged ring roller
to take care of depth control do not always
sow deep enough in clayey and wet
soils. Many machines have RoTeC coulters,
which provide excellent results, except
for the flimsy depth limiters. In all
other respects, the owners confirmed reliability
and good build quality.
Hopper capacities of up to 2,500 litres
result in a high lift requirement.
User assessments - Amazone
D 8 D 9 AD AD-P Average
result
Visibility 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.4 2.1
Lift
requirement
2.2 2.4 2.8 3.3 2.5
Hopper 2.7 2.2 2.3 1.9 2.2
Seed rate
setting system
2.3 2.3 2.4 1.8 2.1
Seed
placement
2.1 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.9
Tine bar 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.9 2.0
Quality of
build
1.5 1.6 1.5 1.7 1.7
No. of
repairs/500 ha
4.0 5.2 3.1 3.5 3.0
Buy again? Yes 83 % 70 % 76 % 87 % 75 %
The Schulnoten: grading 1 system = sehr follows gut bis a 5 scale = sehr from schlecht 1 to 5, with
1 representing excellent and 5 being extremely poor.

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D
Kuhn Integra holds a top position in
the survey. 93% of all owners would
buy the machine again, chiefly because of
its good build quality.
Working 3m wide, the drill offers an
extremely high 1,200-litre hopper capacity
while contenting itself with a relatively
modest lift requirement. Good marks
were earned by the filling platform and
filling height as well as the hopper lid.
Remaining seeds empty conveniently and
cleaning is easy. Half of the machines surveyed
rely on double disc coulters and
D
Venta buyers can choose between two
versions – the Venta LC model mounts
rigidly on the base machine whereas Venta
AL moves hydraulically to the rear and
down into a convenient filling position.
The external distribution head earned
good marks for providing excellent hopper
access and emptying. Remaining
seeds empty readily through a slide or by
opening the metering housing.
D
Kuhn
Venta AL/LC
(cultivator-mounted pneumatic drill)
Year of manufacture: AL from 1993,
LC from 2001
Work width: 3.0 m – 6.0 m
Hopper capacity: 900 l on AL
version (extended to 1,500 l); 1,200 l
on LC version (from 2006)
Lemken
Although the Hassia made DKA
models are no longer marketed, their
owners say that they are happy with them
on the whole. 71% of the owners surveyed
would buy the drill again, saying this
is attributed to the relatively compact and
straightforward design. Lift requirement
is comparably low, yet a 440-litre hopper
capacity is outdated.
Criticism was raised on the steps and
the tank lid. Small seed conversion requires
attaching two adjustable plates inside
the hopper and calibrated rates are
not always drilled accurately. Some owners
expressed criticism on the cross distribution
system and found the tines difficult
to adjust.
Integra 3000
(cultivator-mounted mechanical drill)
Year of manufacture: from 2001
Work width: 3.0 m and 4.0 m
Hopper capacity: 600 l on 3 m drill;
800 l on 4 m drill (extended to 1,200 l) separately by hopper compartment, with
each section being driven by a separate
half on Suffolk coulters, both types performing
well. Drilling to calibrated seed
rates is very accurate. Rates are metered
Venta is a heavy but strong machine.
Setting and controlling the seed depth
is rated as below average. Overall, the
drills scored well on build quality and reliability.
The heavy-duty design has a high
lift requirement but makes for a very
sturdy machine.
Reliability however is rated as good
overall. The tines come in for repair a bit
Excellent quality of build is a good
reason for 93% of all owners to buy an
Integra 3000 again.
spike wheel. These and the bout markers
require folding into transport position to
not exceed 3m transport width. All owners
were happy with the Exact tines.
User assessments - Kuhn
Integra
3000
Venta
AL/LC
Average
result
Visibility 1.9 2.0 2.1
Lift
requirement
2.4 3.1 2.5
Hopper 1.9 1.8 2.2
Seed rate
setting system
1.5 1.9 2.1
Seed
placement
1.8 1.9 1.9
Tine bar 1.8 1.9 2.0
Quality of
build
1.4 1.4 1.7
No. of
repairs/500 ha
2.3 1.2 3.0
Buy again? Yes 93 % 73 % 75 %
The Schulnoten: grading system 1 = sehr follows gut a bis scale 5 = from sehr 1 schlecht to 5, with
1 representing excellent and 5 being extremely poor.
DKA (cultivator-mounted mechanical drill)
Year of manufacture: up until 2002
Work width: 2.5 m – 4.5 m
Hopper capacity: 440 l on 3 m
version; 600 l on 4 m version
DKA offers a
sturdy design that is
no longer state of
the art.
more frequently, yet we should consider that
the average machine age is about 8.4 years.

Saphir 7 was introduced in 2002 to re-
D place the DKA range. 94% of all
owners surveyed say that they would buy
the machine again, which clearly reflects
a high consumer satisfaction, which is
mainly attributed to the seed hopper,
whose capacity is high for a mechanical
drill but not too high. Another plus is its
convenient platform that allows easy filling.
The hopper also provides for
straightforward emptying, but the inserts
that are fitted for rapeseed drilling to reduce
the amount of remaining seeds do
not earn good marks.
Calibration is controlled from the cab
computer, which is straightforward and
D
Saphir 7 (cultivator-mounted mechanical drill)
Year of manufacture: from 2002
Work width: 2.5/3.0 m and 4.0 m
Hopper capacity: 800 l or 1,100 l on
3 m version; 1,050 l on 4 m version Saphir 7 gains its
popularity from
Solitair 9
(linkage/cultivator-mounted pneumatic drill)
Year of manufacture: from 1998
Work width: 3.0 m – 6.0 m
Hopper capacity: 1,100 l on 3 m/4 m
version (extended to 2,300 l)
Solitair 9 scored sweepingly good
marks. Even the manual was regarded
as “excellent“. The same applies to quality
convenient, whereas conversion to small
seeds is more cumbersome. Most machines
surveyed rely on double disc coulters
followed by depth wheels. Lemken
says there is no need for a coulter pressure
setting system and none for tines. Depth
control is accurate and so is seed placement.
Wet and heavy soils present a problem
to the system and some owners would
of build. As a result, repairs are rare despite
covering high acreages every season.
Although the hoppers feature excellent
capacities, lift requirement is considered
low thanks to the hopper being located
closer to the tractor than on the mechanical
version. The excellent steps provide
optimum access. Praise went to the good
lid as well as to straightforward emptying
and cleaning. Machine layout was considered
good despite the big hopper. All
owners praised the calibration testing and
seed rate setting system, which is from the
Outstanding features on Solitair 9 are hopper, seed placement and quality of
build.
its good quality
of build.
appreciate a tine bar (option) to cope
with such conditions.
Build quality is excellent whereas reliability
and fail-safe operation is average.
The plastic coulter covers are too flimsy
while the electric system occasionally
failed. The spike wheel sticks out far to
the rear and is not visible from the tractor
cab.
cab computer. Accessibility for calibration
testing could do with being better but drilling
to calibrated rates is excellent.
Seed placement also ticks all boxes.
Most depth control systems on the sur-
veyed machines rely on double disc coulters
followed by press wheels. Drilling
across and along rows is good. A tine bar
was not reported to be lacking because
covering-up was optimum anyway. The
only criticism raised concerned the coulter
pressure control system, which some found
too cumbersome to use.
User assessments - Lemken
DKA Saphir 7 Solitair 9 Average
result
Visibility 1.6 2.0 1.9 2.1
Lift
requirement
2.3 2.7 2.3 2.5
Hopper 2.3 2.0 1.7 2.2
Seed rate
setting system
2.2 2.0 1.4 2.1
Seed
placement
2.0 1.7 1.6 1.9
Tine bar 2.1 1.9 1.9 2.0
Quality of
build
2.0 1.5 1.2 1.7
No. of
repairs/500 ha
3.7 2.9 1.2 3.0
Buy again? Yes 71 % 94 % 89 % 75 %
Schulnoten: The grading 1 system = sehr follows gut bis a 5 scale = sehr from schlecht 1 to 5, with
1 representing excellent and 5 being extremely poor.

top
D
The linkage-mounted Multidrill models
earned very mixed marks. Good
marks were awarded to the hopper for
low filling height, convenient access and
D
Rabe/Pöttinger
Even though
owners have a
few issues with
their linkagemounted
Multidrill,
79% would
buy it again.
Sharing plenty of components with its
linkage-mounted cousins, the cultiva-
tor-mounted Multidrill versions earned
similar marks in the survey. However,
these models require twice as many repairs
than the average rate. The repairs
affected all parts of the machine.
The hopper scored well for easy access,
emptying and cleaning. Owners also
praise the lid although they
find the hopper itself could
do with more capacity. The
seed level gauge is not accurate
enough.
Swapping to rapeseed and
other small seeds requires fitting
inserts, which are difficult
useful lid. The same applied to emptying
and cleaning. Downside is the small hopper
volume and the inaccurate seed level
gauge.
to install. Drilling to calibrated seed rates is
more accurate than on the linkage-mounted
models, which seems to be attributed to
the spike wheel, which obviously performs
more accurately than wheels.
The disc coulters have more problems
with seed placement than Suffolk
coulters, because they sometimes
drill too deep or leave
Multidrill
(cultivator-mounted mechanical drill)
Year of manufacture: from 1997
(MEL version)
Work width: 3.0 m and 4.0 m
Hopper capacity: 510 l or 700 l on
3 m version; 720 l or 1,000 l on 4 m
version
80% of the
owners
surveyed
would buy
their
cultivatormounted
Multidrill
again.
Multidrill (linkage-mounted mechanical drill)
Year of manufacture: from 1997
(MEL version)
Work width: 3.0 m and 4.0 m
Hopper capacity: 510 l or 700 l on
3 m version; 720 l or 1,000 l on 4 m
version
Conversion to small seeds by fitting
plastic inserts is a fiddle for some. Drilling
to the calibrated seed rates is not
very accurate. Another issue is coulter
performance. Criticism mostly centred on
inadequate depth control, coulter
blockages and a less than optimum distribution
across and along rows.
As to tines, the standard tools perform
particularly poorly. The tine material
could do with being stronger, too. The outer
tines slide inwards for road transport.
Quality of build was assessed as less than
average. Repairs became necessary on
the mountings, the seed delivery tubes
and on the tines. The tubes were modified
in 2000. Still, despite some problems the
overall assessment was surprisingly
good.
seeds on the surface. The marks for the
harrow tines for this design are as poor as
for the mounted machines. Criticism focused
on the adjustment system. However,
despite these drawbacks, 80% of the
owners say they would buy the machine
again.
User assessments - Rabe/Pöttinger
Linkage-m.
Multidrill*
Cultivator-m.
Multidrill*
Average
result
Visibility 2.3 2.2 2.1
Lift
requirement
2.7 2.4 2.5
Hopper 2.0 2.1 2.2
Seed rate
setting system
2.4 2.2 2.1
Seed
placement
2.1 2.0 1.9
Tine bar 2.2 2.2 2.0
Quality of
build
No. of
2.1 1.9 1.7
repairs/500
ha
3.9 6.4 3.0
Buy again?
Yes
79 % 80 % 75 %
The Schulnoten: grading 1 system = sehr follows gut bis a 5 scale = sehr from schlecht 1 to 5, with
1 * representing Rabe Multidrill excellent u. Pöttinger and 5 Vitasem being extremely fast baugleich poor.
This special print is published by special approval of Landwirtschaftsverlag GmbH, Hülsebrockstr. 2, D-48165 Münster.
* Rabe Multidrill and Pöttinger Vitasem feature nearly identical designs