Vaderstad TopDown Brochure - LiveUpdater

TopDown is a 3-stage rocket……for shallow tillage of the surface…TopDown is suitable for shallow tillagedone directly after the combine. Thecultivator tines are kept in the raisedposition during this operation, whilethe aggressive discs attack straw, chaffand husks. This pass should be ataround 10 - 15 km/h so that the discscan work at their best and throw thesoil to the side. The aim of this operationis to encourage volunteer andweed seeds to germinate as soon aspossible, but also to mix harvest trashinto the surface layer of soil. When thetrash comes into contact with the soiland its microorganisms, the decompositionprocess begins and the first stepis taken towards building up a highhumus concentration in the upper partof the topsoil. The more years of shallowmixing of harvest trash into theupper topsoil, the faster the rate ofdecomposition because the biologicalactivity becomes concentrated to thissoil layer.Another possible way to use TopDownis as a conventional cultivator. Thenthe front row of discs is raised whilethe tines in the second of TopDown’sfour zones show their considerablecapability. There may be several aimswith this type of tillage operation. Ifsome kind of pan or hard layer hasdeveloped during the growing season,it has to be broken up so that plantroots are not prevented from makingtheir way down through the soil profile.If roots are hindered by a soil pan,…for deep tillage further down …their access to water is limited and theyield potential of the crop is reduced.Another reason for working with cultivatortines is to rip couchgrass rootsapart and pull them up to the surface,where they dry out or use up theirenergy reserves. Tine spacing onTopDown is 27 cm and the soil clearanceis high so that large amounts ofstraw can be dealt with. The tines areequipped with hydraulic stone releaseup to 700 kg point power.…or for both shallow and deep tillageTopDown utilises its full potentialwhen both discs and cultivator tinesare used together. TopDown can thenslice up the entire soil surface, mix inharvest trash and loosen at depth inone pass. The advantage of working intwo stages is that the amount of soilclods brought up to the surface isdecreased. This ability to handle bothshallow and deep cultivation distinguishesTopDown from other soil tillagemachines. The tips on the three rowsof rigid tines can be substituted or variedaccording to the task. There arethree different types of points 50, 80and 120 mm wide. TopDown can alsobe equipped with wing shares. Whenfull slicing is required, the 300 mmwide wing blades are used to penetrateand break up the soil a further fewcentimetres down from the workingdepth of the discs. To break up deepsoil compaction, for example a ploughpan, the straight cultivator points arethe recommended option becausethey can work down to 25 - 30 cm depthand break up the soil as efficiently aspossible.