Kiwi farm machinery manufacturer Duncan Ag will become the Australasian distributor for Irish company Alstrong.
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The Actus pasture rejuvenator scarifies the soil, breaks up pugging and broadcasts seed in one pass. |
Duncan will introduce the Alstrong Auctus overseeder and the Alstrong aerator, giving farmers and contractors more options to rejuvenate pasture and aerate their soils.
Alstrong was set up by farmer and agricultural engineer Alan Winters who designs and builds the machines himself and tests them on his personal farm.
Duncan Ag chief executive Craig McIsaac says he saw the potential in the Alstrong overseeder and aerator when at the FTMTA Field Days at Punchestown in County Kildare, Ireland.
“The 3.0m-wide Alstrong Auctus pasture rejuvenator has a unique design that allows it to carry out several operations in one pass,” he says. “It can be used in sprayed out pasture or cultivated ground,” McIsaac adds.
The Auctus has 10 individually sprung levelling boards that scarify and scratch the surface to remove dead grass, expose the soil and create a shallow seed bed.
“The levelling boards are followed by a heavy duty roller drum with teeth that break up surface pugging and allow air and water to enter the surface layer of the soil,” Duncan Ag says. “An air seeder broadcasts the seed behind the roller using splash plates.
The Auctus can also be spec’d up with grass harrow finger tines or heavy duty prismatic rings that set the seed in the soil. A shield over the roller stops soil from the rollers getting into the seeding area.
McIsaac says the Alstrong Auctus is a well-made machine.
“It has a strong structural steel frame and weighs 4.5 tonne, you can increase its weight to 5.2 tonne with water ballast,” McIsaac says.
“It is a trailed machine that follows uneven contours and the 15mm blades on the roller drum are made of hardened steel,” he adds.
The Auctus comes standard with the French-made Delimbe air seeder.
Duncan Ag says the Alstrong aerator’s unique design is based on a large drum with 15cm blades which can break up soil pans and shatter the soil structures to a depth of 30cm.
Its blades are set almost perpendicular to the direction of travel but at a slight angle, which adds a twisting motion that helps break soil pans. The weight of the roller is concentrated on each blade as it enters the soil, and the fast working speeds (up to 20 kph) also help shock and fracture the soil.
The aerators come in three different versions: trailed models are 2.5m wide or 3.0m wide and the three point linkage model is 3.0m wide.
McIsaac says Alstrong Aerators can also be used to prepare a seedbed in ploughed ground or they can be fitted with a broadcast seeder.
“There are a number of benefits to aerating pasture,” he says. “By reducing compaction from stock and equipment it increases tolerance to drought, releases nitrogen in the soil, and improves surface drainage.
“Alstrong Aerators complement the other equipment Duncan Ag supplies, and will enable us to better meet the needs of our customers,” he adds.