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Which stubble worker should you choose for your crops?

Which stubble worker should you choose for your crops?

Stubble working is a soil preparation technique that has proved its worth in agriculture and is now very popular with professionals. To achieve this, a machine has been specially designed: the stubble cultivator. Nowadays, there are several types of stubble worker. At Actisol, we have developed 2 main families: with tooth fitted with scalping blades and with star discs.

Which tooth stubble worker should you choose?

How it works ?

A tooth stubble worker is a soil-working tool fitted with blades that buries any straw or stubble still present after harvesting. It prepares the seedbed for the next crop by loosening the soil and levelling the plot. It can also be used for false seeding.

Its job is to uproot the stubble and straw from the freshly harvested crop and place it on the surface of the soil, mixed with soil to a shallow depth. False seeding prevents the future crop from becoming dirty. In fact, the stubble worker will provide weed seeds with ideal germination conditions. As soon as they emerge, a second pass will destroy them once and for all.

Tooth stubble workers often have wide spacing and clearance under the frame to prevent clogging with plant matter. Depending on the model, they are also available with double or triple beams.

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The advantages of a tooth stubble worker:

It can work at different depths, making it a versatile tool for stubble ploughing, seedbed preparation. The passage of the tooth aerates the soil and improves water infiltration, which is vital for soil life and subsequent crops.

Actisol’s fissuring tooth with scalping blades work at 5 to 8 cm for stubble ploughing, and are equipped with blades that provide high coverage. They completely remove the roots from the stubble and work flat to keep the residue on the surface.

The different types of tine stubble workers :

There are 4 types of teeth stubble workers:

  • Heavy cultivators

Heavy tooth cultivators, also known as Chisels, work the soil from 10 to 22 cm for stubble ploughing and seedbed preparation in a single pass.

Available with trailed or mounted frame, they feature single-spring tooth that lift the soil to aerate and loosen it. These stubble workers require relatively high tractive power.

  • Equipment with rigid or spring struts

Less heavy than Chisels, this type of equipment can be fitted with interchangeable wear parts. The finesse of the work therefore depends on the choice of parts, but also on the angle of attack of the teeth or the struts fixed to the frame.

The struts have a bolt safety device that shears off in the event of too great an obstacle, thus protecting the frame. Spring-loaded tooth, on the other hand, erase off when they come into contact with any resistance. The quality of stubble ploughing then depends on the rigidity of the spring.

The Actisol range belongs to this family of stubble workers. Their tooth can be fitted with two different types of blades (standard or swallow), as well as mouldboard bases depending on the farmer’s needs in terms of soil/residue mixing. They also feature a non-stop double-spring system to ensure quality stubble ploughing With tip resistance of up to one tonne, maximum clearance is only achieved under heavy stress.

  • Harrows

Harrows are frames made up of several rows of combs that only work the surface of the soil, with the aim of breaking up the straw and stubble ploughing very superficially. As the combs do not penetrate the soil, the work rate is much higher and energy consumption lower.

  • Vibrocultivators

They are fitted with 3 to 8 cm goosefoot ploughshares mounted on small vibrating tooth. They are often mounted on 4-beam frames and are therefore much more numerous than on other stubble workers.

Which disc stubble worker should you choose?

How it works ?

For similar soil work in preparation for the next crop, a disc stubble worker has a better work flow than a tooth stubble worker. This is because the discs cut into the soil superficially, so there is less resistance. The soil is partially turned over as the discs pass over it. The flow of soil depends on the size and shape of the discs.

The working depth depends on the weight of the tool, the size of the discs and their number. Two other parameters can also be taken into account for different working results: the angle of attack and penetration of the discs.

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The advantages of a disc stubble worker :

As well as the work rate, these machines have a number of other advantages. They provide good penetration of the first horizon and a uniform quality of the soil/straw mixture. They are also suitable for treating large quantities of residue and plant debris. Finally, they can restructure the surface horizon and create false seedbeds in a single pass.

The different types of disc stubble workers :

The family of disc stubble worker can also be divided into two main sub-categories. With disc trains (mounted on the same frame) or with independent discs (each element mounted independently). This second sub-category provides better ground contour following, leaving no complete area unworked if an obstacle is encountered.

There are several types of disc: concave, crenellated or finger discs. Concave discs produce more earth movement, while crenellated discs help to cut straw and stubble. Finally, finger discs produce fine soil.

The Actisol Stell’Air is equipped with the latter type of disc. Made up of twisted fingers working at a depth of 3 to 5 cm on independent supports, they create a high-quality false seedbed while creating a mulch to protect the soil from capping. The fauna remains in place to break down the matter and fertilise the soil.

The Stell’Air can be combined with a support roller and a 3-row harrow for optimum stubble distribution. This highly versatile equipment can seed, mulch, dethatch and destroy plant cover.

A stubble worker for every itinerary

The choice of stubble worker will depend on the expectations of the user. There is no such thing as an absolute tool. Equipment with tooth works deeper and requires a slower forward speed than disc tools. The two working methods are therefore poles apart.

That’s why Actisol has developed these two ranges of stubble, to meet the expectations of each of its customers, and is committed to adapting them a little more each day to your needs.