Amazone has extended its range of Precea high-speed, precision planters to include a new eight-row machine. The folding Precea 6000-2 joins the rigid 6000 model and can be specified as a CC machine, with a rear fertiliser tank, or as an FCC unit with the FTender front tank.
The 6000-2 features eight or nine singling units on a special carrying frame, which can be moved freely thanks to the profile of the rail. This allows the operator to change the spacing to accommodate up to twelve rows. Additional options, such as tractor wheel mark eradicators or a loading board to aid fertiliser filling, can be fitted regardless of the pre-set row spacing, and the compact design means that lifting power requirements remain low.
The singling system on the Precea is based on overpressure, with the hopper and metering unit both pressurised by a blower fan. The seed is fed to the singling disc and the unit is hermetically sealed as the seed is pressed into the holes in the disc. Three stripper fingers ensure precision and when the seed reaches the propulsion channel, the grain is shot into the furrow. An optical sensor monitors this process and reports misses or doubles to the in-cab terminal, while the stripper system can be easily adjusted or fully automated via SmartControl.
Single row shutoff is integrated into the electric drive on Super models, with the possibility for higher sowing rates in marginal rows and during tramlining. Amazone further states that accurate singulation can take place at speeds up to 15kph.
It comes equipped with the PreTeC mulch seeding coulter which can be mechanically loaded to a coulter pressure of 220kg, or hydraulically loaded to 350kg, with the possibility to adjust hydraulic pressure from the tractor cab. Toolless depth adjustment and easy access to the coulter unit, along with maintenance-free, dust-protected bearings and bushings, reduces downtime.
The pressurised seed tanks offer capacities of either 55 or 70 litres, with the option of adding a micro-granular applicator with electric metering for each row. The rear fertiliser tank offers 950 or 1,250-litre capacities, with central calibration and individual row metering the depth-adjustable FerTeC coulters, while the FTender front tank is available in 1,600 or 2,200-litre capacities.
The FTender can also be used as a seed hopper for the Avant sowing combination or combined with Amazone’s tillage portfolio for catch crops and fertiliser, for greater versatility.
Control of the Precea Super 6000 or 6000-2 is fully ISOBUS compatible with Amazone’s AmaTron 4 or AmaPad 2 control units. The Special comes with the monitoring AmaCheck terminal.
More information is available at www.amazone.co.uk