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It's about accurate seed placement - Kuhn North America

It's about accurate seed placement - Kuhn North America

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top<br />

D<br />

<strong>Kuhn</strong> Integra holds a top position in<br />

the survey. 93% of all owners would<br />

buy the machine again, chiefly because of<br />

its good build quality.<br />

Working 3m wide, the drill offers an<br />

extremely high 1,200-litre hopper capacity<br />

while contenting itself with a relatively<br />

modest lift requirement. Good marks<br />

were earned by the filling platform and<br />

filling height as well as the hopper lid.<br />

Remaining <strong>seed</strong>s empty conveniently and<br />

cleaning is easy. Half of the machines surveyed<br />

rely on double disc coulters and<br />

D<br />

Venta buyers can choose between two<br />

versions – the Venta LC model mounts<br />

rigidly on the base machine whereas Venta<br />

AL moves hydraulically to the rear and<br />

down into a convenient filling position.<br />

The external distribution head earned<br />

good marks for providing excellent hopper<br />

access and emptying. Remaining<br />

<strong>seed</strong>s empty readily through a slide or by<br />

opening the metering housing.<br />

D<br />

<strong>Kuhn</strong><br />

Venta AL/LC<br />

(cultivator-mounted pneumatic drill)<br />

Year of manufacture: AL from 1993,<br />

LC from 2001<br />

Work width: 3.0 m – 6.0 m<br />

Hopper capacity: 900 l on AL<br />

version (extended to 1,500 l); 1,200 l<br />

on LC version (from 2006)<br />

Lemken<br />

Although the Hassia made DKA<br />

models are no longer marketed, their<br />

owners say that they are happy with them<br />

on the whole. 71% of the owners surveyed<br />

would buy the drill again, saying this<br />

is attributed to the relatively compact and<br />

straightforward design. Lift requirement<br />

is comparably low, yet a 440-litre hopper<br />

capacity is outdated.<br />

Criticism was raised on the steps and<br />

the tank lid. Small <strong>seed</strong> conversion requires<br />

attaching two adjustable plates inside<br />

the hopper and calibrated rates are<br />

not always drilled <strong>accurate</strong>ly. Some owners<br />

expressed criticism on the cross distribution<br />

system and found the tines difficult<br />

to adjust.<br />

Integra 3000<br />

(cultivator-mounted mechanical drill)<br />

Year of manufacture: from 2001<br />

Work width: 3.0 m and 4.0 m<br />

Hopper capacity: 600 l on 3 m drill;<br />

800 l on 4 m drill (extended to 1,200 l) separately by hopper compartment, with<br />

each section being driven by a separate<br />

half on Suffolk coulters, both types performing<br />

well. Drilling to calibrated <strong>seed</strong><br />

rates is very <strong>accurate</strong>. Rates are metered<br />

Venta is a heavy but strong machine.<br />

Setting and controlling the <strong>seed</strong> depth<br />

is rated as below average. Overall, the<br />

drills scored well on build quality and reliability.<br />

The heavy-duty design has a high<br />

lift requirement but makes for a very<br />

sturdy machine.<br />

Reliability however is rated as good<br />

overall. The tines come in for repair a bit<br />

Excellent quality of build is a good<br />

reason for 93% of all owners to buy an<br />

Integra 3000 again.<br />

spike wheel. These and the bout markers<br />

require folding into transport position to<br />

not exceed 3m transport width. All owners<br />

were happy with the Exact tines.<br />

User assessments - <strong>Kuhn</strong><br />

Integra<br />

3000<br />

Venta<br />

AL/LC<br />

Average<br />

result<br />

Visibility 1.9 2.0 2.1<br />

Lift<br />

requirement<br />

2.4 3.1 2.5<br />

Hopper 1.9 1.8 2.2<br />

Seed rate<br />

setting system<br />

1.5 1.9 2.1<br />

Seed<br />

<strong>placement</strong><br />

1.8 1.9 1.9<br />

Tine bar 1.8 1.9 2.0<br />

Quality of<br />

build<br />

1.4 1.4 1.7<br />

No. of<br />

repairs/500 ha<br />

2.3 1.2 3.0<br />

Buy again? Yes 93 % 73 % 75 %<br />

The Schulnoten: grading system 1 = sehr follows gut a bis scale 5 = from sehr 1 schlecht to 5, with<br />

1 representing excellent and 5 being extremely poor.<br />

DKA (cultivator-mounted mechanical drill)<br />

Year of manufacture: up until 2002<br />

Work width: 2.5 m – 4.5 m<br />

Hopper capacity: 440 l on 3 m<br />

version; 600 l on 4 m version<br />

DKA offers a<br />

sturdy design that is<br />

no longer state of<br />

the art.<br />

more frequently, yet we should consider that<br />

the average machine age is <strong>about</strong> 8.4 years.

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