Guide to the Pluribus Strip Till Row Unit And Vision Toolbars
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Specifications (Row Unit)
Length: 61.5 in (standard row unit) 71.5 (high speed row unit) Width: 21.5 Weight: 550 lbs Operating Depth: 3-6 in Operating Speed: 5.5-11 mph (with High speed kit and appropriate soil conditions) Power Usage: 5-10 Hp/row (12R with 8000 Deere consumes approx .3 gpa) Seasonal Usage: Spring/Fall Width of Strip: 7-11 in Fertilizer: Liquid, Dry, or Ammonia (Liquid has 2 injection positions) Toolbar: 7 in tube 20 in from underside of frame to ground. For many 3 point mounted bars it is important to have the ability to lock the wings down. Cannot have tires between units. Mounted toolbars must have a rigid top link. Toolbars with lift assist wheels must have rigid top link with lift assist wheels in float when in field position.
Background
The term “Strip Till” has been around for well over a decade. It describes a middle ground between Conventional Tillage and No-Till, where strips are tilled through the field and the seed is planted into the same areas. It is by no means a monolithic description, and one can find everything from single disk fertilizer openers to deep rippers associated with it. The most common Strip Till products involve a combination of functional elements typically comprised of: mole knife, cutting coulter, berming discs, and sometimes row cleaning devices. This type of device lends itself to use in the fall and in lower levels of residue. The mole knife is an extension of tillage devices dating back to the moldboard plow, a category which I would describe as “wedges”. These units are simple machines that fracture the soil by inserting a wedge through the soil until the displacement is such that the soil breaks in shear. This is why in wetter soils knives of this type tend to slab- because the soil is more malleable and allows for greater deformation before fracturing. However, for many farmers south of interstate 90, who are in a traditional corn- soybean rotation, this is often a practical solution. Part of what makes the design of soil engaging devices so interesting is the great number of soil types, climate zones, and agricultural practices. Neither the Dawn Strip Till unit nor anyone else’s will ever be a
ubiquitous strip till solution. A car will function the same in Texas and North Dakota. A strip till unit will not. The Dawn Pluribus StripTill unit represents a different concept that offers many advantages.
Function of 7772 “Pluribus” Strip Till Unit
As can be seen from the diagram, the Pluribus strip till unit is comprised of a coulter combination row cleaner unit, two additional coulters, and one or two gauge/berming wheels with patented Dawn Swirl devices. All of these are mounted on a parallel linkage. The leading blade divides the flow of residue and fractures the soil at a typical depth of 4 to 5 inches. Once the residue is divided into halves, the row cleaners can much more effectively redirect the flow of material in a wake around the rest of the unit. In this way it could be said that the rest of the unit is operating in a residue “vacuum.”
The Pluribus unit channels soil through its rib cage. The coulter blades and tire are positioned precisely so that as the unit picks up speed, the flow of soil through the center of the unit will overflow and thus induce a turbulent churning and mixing of soil and air. Turbulent flows always provide better mixing. This is why so much attention has been paid to creating swirls in the inlet air in gasoline engines. The tire not only controls the units depth but also catches any soil being thrown off by the rear coulter and forms an even looking berm. The Pluribus Strip Till unit will begin to work properly at 5.5 mph and can be run as high as 9 mph in certain conditions. The berm formed by the unit will typically be about 3 inches high. This is a very simple unit considering what it does. Every hub on the unit is the same so there is great parts commonality. This simplicity owes itself to being designed from first principle, rather than being a sequence of individual devices each designed to do a different task. This sort of daisy chain of tillage elements has become common amongst finishing tools on the market today.
In the above picture you can see the typical 5 in depth that the unit will operate at. This is not to say that the unit will always be run at this depth. In the spring in very wet corn residue it is often the case that farmers will run the unit shallower so as to move the residue and just dry some soil out, generally at about three inches deep. This is very common in southern and central Minnesota. Keep in mind that soil hardness, ground speed, and operating depth have a direct relationship. Managing the balance between these factors is what makes the hydraulic down pressure system featured on all Dawn toolbars so helpful.
Fertilizer Options
Shown below are the three most common fertilizer delivery attachments. Overwhelmingly the majority of Pluribus Strip Till users are using dry fertilizer. There are several reasons for this. They are the ease of creating custom mixtures and the fact that they might already have an air delivery system on the farm. 1. Dry fertilizer is blown onto Inside leading edge of blade And is very thoroughly Incorporated into strip.
2. Center mounted liquid tube. For incorporating liquid into entire tilled profile
3. Left Hand liquid injection Bracket follows third Coulter injecting into cavity Momentarily opened by blade. Typically about 4 in deep and 4 in from center.
4. Left hand NH3 tine. Spring loaded tine follows third blade. Spring loaded against bottom of strip. Appropriate for use with rates up to 150 lbs actual. Sealing performance is affected by soil conditions
Residue Conditions Soybean
Soybean residue does not typically present much of a challenge. When running in the fall it is often the case that the farmer will wish to set the row cleaner so that it is barely engaging the soil so as to leave a little residue as protective covering over the winter. Soybean residue will generally also allow for the highest forward ground speed. This is because the flow of residue between the units is not generally an issue.
A typical spring strip tilled field. Central Indiana. Below is the same unit which made these strips- a 40ft Vision toolbar.
Soybean residue with calf manure applied. NE Wisconsin
A 60ft Strip Till unit. DB60 frame with 24 Pluribus units on it. Central Minnesota
This is what some strips made in soybean residue in the fall look like in the spring. E South Dakota
Corn
Corn requires attention to detail. The Pluribus Strip till unit will function in corn residue in both the fall and the spring. Knowing the appropriate way to implement the unit in your conditions is the key to success. This unit will allow economical continuous corn production if used properly. If you want to strip till into standing corn in the spring and have yield levels under 200 bu/acre you can often get by with a single frame toolbar. New users who are just getting their feet wet in the system often do this. Proper field preparation at harvest time is very helpful in this case. We generally recommend that as much of the plant be left standing as possible after harvest. This will minimize the amount of material the unit needs to move and will also produce a combing effect as the stalks pass between the units. To go another route, we have also noticed that the Geringhoff type corn heads leave a very manageable residue finish. Typical Knife rolls are often not desirable. Strip Tilling into very heavy corn (200-270 bu/acre) will often be made much easier by using a Dawn Vision Toolbar. See toolbar section for more information. To my knowledge these toolbars have never plugged under any circumstances. These toolbars afford you the luxury of pulling into any field any time, and just being able to go.
Above is your typical mucky North Dakota Corn field in the spring. This is a 40 ft Vision toolbar. There is a limit to how wet the soil can be and still make a good strip. However that limit for our unit is quite a bit higher than for other strip till devices. Now we will show a couple examples of spring strip till in corn followed shortly behind by the planter.
Try to keep all the tires on 120 inches. NE Iowa
Here, corn can be seen emerging in a spring strip tilled field. NE Iowa
Notice the characteristic “graying off” of the strip at right. And how the more moist soil below is revealed as the planter passes over it. Central Illinois
A Vision Lite Toolbar in Corn. Red River Valley
Above. If you want to Strip till into a field like this you will need a Dawn Vision Toolbar and some specialty options. Central Minnesota. Below E South Dakota 60ft unit
Wheat
Wheat can be challenging to deal with but does not have to be. Stripper headed wheat will be the most difficult simply because of the immense amount of straw. In very thick wheat residue, the sort that is grown in Eastern South Dakota these days, it will be helpful to use one of the twin frame Dawn toolbars. You really want to let the row cleaners do some work in heavy wheat stubble. Even if it means moving a little soil.
This is an example in stripper headed wheat. Eastern North Dakota. Below is a 40 ft Vision toolbar cutting through some very dense straw in the fall in Eastern South Dakota
This is what it is all about in wheat. Strip till in heavy wheat straw is about making a black strip. It needs to be easy to identify and fully cleared so that the soil can warm up quickly.
The Vision Toolbars
Specifications (40ft)
Configuration: 16Row/ 30 in Static frame height. Staggered Row unit mounting Down Pressure: Hydraulic, Accumulator with Pressure Control Circuit Ground Speed (Field): 5.5-9 mph Ground Speed (Transport): 15 mph - Follow Air cart Guidelines Transport Smart Tractor Hitch Options: 2 point lower link Transport Ground Clearance: 15 in Transport Height: 14ft 0 in Transport Width: 16 ft 6 in Tongue Weight: 5000 lbs field, 4500 lbs transport Total Weight: 8700 lbs (frame) 16700 lbs (frame and row units) Tires: 380/90R46 on 120in centers Tow Behind Fertilizer Cart Hitches: John Deere 2 point with 4 x 6 tube or conventional drawbar Tractor Requirements: Suitable for tongue weight. Minimum 3 hydraulic circuits (capable of 2500 psi) or 4 if used with dry delivery system. You will not be extracting full benefit of this unit without some sort of guidance system.
Specifications (30ft)
Configuration: 12Row/ 30 in Static frame height. Staggered Row unit mounting Down Pressure: Hydraulic, Accumulator with Pressure Control Circuit Ground Speed (Field): 5.5-9 mph Ground Speed (Transport): 25 mph - Follow Air cart Guidelines Transport Smart Tractor Hitch Options: 2 point lower link Transport Ground Clearance: 15 in Transport Height: 9 ft 6 in Transport Width: 16 ft Tongue Weight: 4000 lbs field, 4000 lbs transport Total Weight: 7000 lbs (frame) 13000 lbs (frame and row units) Tires: 380/90R46 on 120in centers Tow Behind Fertilizer Cart Hitches: John Deere 2 point with 4 x 6 tube or conventional drawbar Tractor Requirements: Suitable for tongue weight. Minimum 3 hydraulic circuits (capable of 2500 psi) or 4 if used with dry delivery system. You will not be extracting full benefit of this unit without some sort of guidance system.
Introduction
The first this most farmers ask when they see a Vision toolbar system is “why does it need to look like that?” The first reason, which forces all the others, is the need to be a twin frame. In extremely heavy residue you can not beat the staggered row unit mounting. The double frame setup also results in a frame which has a high degree of flexibility in terms of conversion to other applications at a later date. Secondly, as many
people have noticed when trying to No-Till into heavy residue with their planters, tires can block the flow of residue. In this application we are trying to push so much residue between the row units that it is not feasible to have tires mounted between the units as is typically the case on planters. However, doing this tends to move the center of gravity farther forward away from the axle. To resolve this and create a machine which transports in a very stable manner, the unit folds so as to shift the center of gravity back towards the axle. When designing a toolbar you are in essence solving a packaging problem. You need to take all this stuff and compress it into a given volume. The Vision toolbars represent a solution of this sort. A perfect merging of form and function.
Hydraulic Down Pressure
All Dawn toolbars 12 rows or larger feature a hydraulic down pressure system. We want the frames to be rigid and very stiff in torsion and we want a centrally adjustable down pressure system. Therefore we use the same system to lift the units out of the ground as we do pushing them in. This avoids having a redundant moving system. In this way our toolbars share a common concept with some No-Till drills on the market. The reasons are the same- staggered gangs, hydraulic down pressure, residue flow.
Each row unit has its own cylinder. These cylinders are connected in parallel with hydraulic accumulators, which are pressurized canisters filled with nitrogen gas. A valve is mounted on the frame which controls the amount of pressure the tractor is applying to the system. When the system is properly adjusted at the correct pressure the operator takes the tractor from continuous flow to closed, thereby completely isolating the machine from the tractor. The system can apply from 0 -1000 lbs of pressure to the row units. The frame is heavy and stiff enough to ballast any typical operating pressure. Another nice feature is the damping effect of the system. The accumulators allow the cylinders to act like springs, but because the fluid must past through fittings of a given size the cylinders also tend to act like dampers. This gives the unit a very fluid manner of following field profiles.
Other features (Toolbar) Outer Row Unit Shut Off
Of importance to custom operators is the ability to lock up the outer row units to take a 16R to a 12R and a 12R to an 8R. This is very easy and low cost to accomplish because with the hydraulic down pressure system all one must do is place valves in the circuit between the outer 2 and 3 rows.