Our great friend Timo from Laihia (Finland) sent us some pictures and comments about his ploughing tasks before begining the frozen winter. We think these pictures and comments will be interesting to see and know Finnish fields...thank you very much. He ploughs all his fields every autumn. During winter time when soil is frozen, plowed fields change soft. Direct seeding without ploughing is also widely used in Finland, but in his area the experience is not good. They can get more crop by ploughing and they have less problems with weed and diseases. Ploughing takes time and fuel, but it is still profitable. Typical speed in ploughing is 8 km/h. Nowadays reversible ploughs are used and that saves time.
His plough is Kverneland ES with 4 furrows from end of 1990’s. It has variable furrow width (12´ to 20´) by hydraulic adjustment. Normally he uses 18´ to 20´ as his Massey Ferguson 6470 has enough power for 4x20’. Kverneland is one of the most expensive brands, but most popular in Finland. Other popular brands are Överum/Agrolux, Vogel&Noot, Kuhn and Lemken.
There are plastic furrows in the plough. There are sometimes problems with metal furrows: the soil grasps into the furrow. However, the plastic furrows can only be used if there is not much stones and the soil is not sand. Plastic is also light when ploughing with reversible plough and a 4-cylinder tractor. New plastic furrows are about 15 mm thick. After 15 years use they are about 8 mm in his plough. So they need to be replaced in next few years. A new Kverneland plastic furrow costs over 300€. There are also cheaper furrows in the market, but original seems to last longer.
The plough have disc coulters that were standard in Kverneland. Many other brands have knife coulters that also work fine and make plough lighter. Kverneland has shorter construction than many other brands. So the weight is not a problem in a 4-furrow plough and 4-cyl. tractor with a front loader.
Special in his plough are 2 L-shaped angle pieces (as you can see in his pictures), ”Eco-shares" that are used to prevent the hard layer under the depth that is turned with the plough. The hard layer under the depth that is turned comes only after many years and you don't need to break it completely in one year so 1-2 pieces is enough.
Finally, we recommend you to visit the next edition of Demoagro 2015 (the best Farm Fair held in Spain), as we did in its first edition. There, you can find and test the whole product range of Massey Ferguson and Kverneland and you will be able to speak with proffesional staff of these brands.
His plough is Kverneland ES with 4 furrows from end of 1990’s. It has variable furrow width (12´ to 20´) by hydraulic adjustment. Normally he uses 18´ to 20´ as his Massey Ferguson 6470 has enough power for 4x20’. Kverneland is one of the most expensive brands, but most popular in Finland. Other popular brands are Överum/Agrolux, Vogel&Noot, Kuhn and Lemken.
There are plastic furrows in the plough. There are sometimes problems with metal furrows: the soil grasps into the furrow. However, the plastic furrows can only be used if there is not much stones and the soil is not sand. Plastic is also light when ploughing with reversible plough and a 4-cylinder tractor. New plastic furrows are about 15 mm thick. After 15 years use they are about 8 mm in his plough. So they need to be replaced in next few years. A new Kverneland plastic furrow costs over 300€. There are also cheaper furrows in the market, but original seems to last longer.
The plough have disc coulters that were standard in Kverneland. Many other brands have knife coulters that also work fine and make plough lighter. Kverneland has shorter construction than many other brands. So the weight is not a problem in a 4-furrow plough and 4-cyl. tractor with a front loader.
Special in his plough are 2 L-shaped angle pieces (as you can see in his pictures), ”Eco-shares" that are used to prevent the hard layer under the depth that is turned with the plough. The hard layer under the depth that is turned comes only after many years and you don't need to break it completely in one year so 1-2 pieces is enough.
Finally, we recommend you to visit the next edition of Demoagro 2015 (the best Farm Fair held in Spain), as we did in its first edition. There, you can find and test the whole product range of Massey Ferguson and Kverneland and you will be able to speak with proffesional staff of these brands.
Versión en español.
Video:
En realidad la hoja de vertedera de material “plástico” está realizada en teflón (marca comercial de DuPont y su “genérico” es el PTFE que corresponde al PoliTetraFluoroEtileno)
ReplyDeleteEl teflón no es ningún “plástico” humilde si no más bien un polímero de ingeniería o lo que es lo mismo un producto de altísima calidad y que para algunas aplicaciones es insustituible.
Las propiedades más llamativas del Teflón reside en su estructura molecular y es que contiene “fluor” y los átomos de fluor son bastante curiosos ya que “no soportan” nada cerca de ellos, lo que es lo mismo repelen a casi todo lo que se les acerca, por lo que el teflón tendrá un índice de resbalamiento altísimo (comparable al hielo) que es lo mismo que un coeficiente de rozamiento bajísimo.
Esta cualidad es lo que hace que este material se use en la confección de hojas de vertedera pues nada se “agarre” a su superficie y es imbatible cuando trabaja en terrenos embarrados. Eso si el PTFE no es en absoluto barato y por eso nos dice Timo que le cuesta 300 € la hoja, no es de extrañar. Donde si se usa mucho la vertedera de teflón es en los campeonatos de arada.
Las aplicaciones del PTFE son muy variadas, desde prótesis en humanos (además de su bajísimo coeficiente de rozamiento está que es prácticamente impermeable e inerte)
Pero también en tractores de prestigio (no diré la marca para no mosquear al personal) se utiliza como componente en la pintura de carrocería para que actúe de sellante para lograr una superficie impenetrable, brillante y que protege de la oxidación.
También se usa en revestimientos de aviones o naves espaciales pues admite enormes diferencias de temperaturas. También veréis el teflón en algunos componentes del tractor de nivel como son aquellos cojinetes donde resulta difícil la lubricación o incluso los mismos engranajes de algunas bombas.
Por supuesto muchos habréis asociado el teflón a las sartenes y efectivamente así era puesto que se usaba la capacidad antiadherente del fluor lo que pasa es que esta aplicación no tuvo mucho éxito pues si no se limpiaba correctamente eliminabas esa capa de protección y entonces la supersartén se convertía en una pésima sartén ¡pero al precio de la buena!
Me gustaría extenderme pero.... bueno una última anécdota, lo veréis como componente en aquellos aceites lubricantes de alto nivel.
En resumen que nuestro amigo Timo usa hojas de vertedera de primera y que el teflón en absoluto es un “plástico humilde” si no un señor material de construcción: un polímero de ingeniería
Helio,
Delete¡¡comentario super interesante!!... Muchísimas gracias por compartir todos tus conocimientos de este tema con todos nosotros.
Saludos.