Grimme will introduce its first four-row trailed potato planter with a transport width of less than 3.0m and complete EU type-approval for the 2023 season. In addition, the Prios 440 offers innovative solutions in the tractor attachment area, ridge shaping and provides all the prerequisites for precision- and smart-farming solutions.
With the help of a gooseneck drawbar that’s coupled to an intermediate frame and a separate lifting mechanism, the planter can be combined with any common implement for active soil cultivation (rotary harrow, rotary tiller). The separate lifting mechanism allows a quick change between different soil cultivation implements. The depth guidance of the soil cultivation is independent of the potato planter, which means the planting depth of the tubers can be accurately maintained.
The depth control of the fertiliser outlet discs, furrow openers, covering discs and the ridge shaping unit is independent of each other. Four feeler wheels at the front of the machine and two ultrasonic sensors in front of the ridge shaping unit detect the working depth and thus ensure optimum depth control and consistent emergence of the tubers.
In order to save money and resources, the fertiliser box, the barrel system and the planting elements can be switched on/off separately from each other and for each row individually via Section Control (single-row switch on/off with the macghine’s Multiboom function). This can significantly reduce nutrient inputs into the environment, especially when creating spraying tracks or planting on wedge-shaped fields. Unnecessary pulverisation of the fertiliser in the fertiliser box is prevented by the row-specific shut-off of the metering auger and the agitator shaft.
To build-up ridges with a smooth surface, the ridging bodies made of polyethylene plastic can be combined with closed ridge crown plates or – for a loose, crumbly surface – with cage rollers. For the first time, ridge shaping can also be realised with a combination of ridge crown plates and cage rollers. The unique hybrid-ridge shaping unit creates a ridge with stable, smooth flanks and an open-pored crown. This combines the advantages of a shaping board with those of a cage roller.
The hybrid-ridge shaping unit can be converted and adjusted in the field without any tools, allowing flexible adaptation of the ridge shaping process to soil conditions as well as customer requirements. In order to increase the water absorption of the soil (infiltration rate) and to prevent soil erosion, the ridge shaping unit can be additionally equipped with the TerraProtect dyking-system.
In many European countries, an exceptional permission for road traffic must be applied for from a machine width of more than 3.0m. Commonly, four-row planters, with a row width of 75cm, have a road transport width of about 3.3m. The Prios 440 with a row width of 75cm can be equipped with two telescopic axles. This allows the working width of 3.3m to be reduced to a road transport width of less than 3.0m for the first time.
Operation of the Prios 440 is convenient and is done via ISObus as standard. Either the tractor’s ISObus operator terminal or Grimme’s CCI 800 or CCI 1200 terminals can be used for this purpose. The SmartView video system equipped with a 12-inch touchscreen monitor, zoom function, live slow motion, live image transmission via WLAN, Visual Protect PRO and the option of image recording, ensures a good overview of all machine functions. Connection to the myGrimme internet platform enables an exchange of machine and task data, via agrirouter, with the farm’s own farm management information system.
