T30 Ag-Boss TestimonialsPeter Johnstone, Woodstock, Cowra, NSWThat's the challenge faced by Gyral's designers and engineers who constantly review the performance of their Australian designed and built machinery such as the Ag-Boss Scarifier and the Penetrator Scari-chisel. One of their most recent innovations has proven to be highly successful for Peter Johnstone of 'Illinois', Woodstock, a 728ha grain growing property near Cowra, NSW. In July 2003, Peter took delivery of a new Ag-Boss Scarifier - Direct Drill which incorporated as an option, an improved coulter unit for direct drilling into standing stubble. Peter's machine was one of the very first to include this latest Gyral innovation. The major improvement to previous coulter units is the mounting of independently sprung coulter units straight off the front frame clamp, completely separate from the knife/tyne assembly. This gives better trash handling and improved seed placement. Last season, Peter used his 10 metre Ag-Boss, behind a 315hp John Deere 9200 to plant wheat, barley, canola and oats in his heavy red basalt/loam soil. He says that using the deep-fluted coulters to cut through straw/stubble, a good tilth was produced with little or no 'clodding' even in wet conditions. Planting using a Gyral SC Air Seeder in conjunction with the Ag-Boss was a one pass operation, with anhydrous ammonia placed at 100-125mm (4-5") and seed planted at 25-40mm (1-1.5") on 250mm (10") rows. The impressive ground following ability of the Ag-Boss together with the independent springing and mounting of the coulters and the direct drill shanks maintained an accurate planting depth in all conditions. The results speak for themselves - a 2.5 tonnes/ha Canola crop, a 6 tonne/ha dryland wheat crop and wheat under a centre pivot irrigator is expected to top 8 tonnes/ha. The versatility of the Ag-Boss is such that Peter is currently setting up to sow a millet crop straight into the standing stubble of the irrigated wheat crop! Peter Johnstone is yet another successful grower who has found that Gyral equipment is easy to set-up, maintains accurate planting depth and is designed to perform in todays' farming systems. Gyral is the Australian company that introduced broadacre airseeders to world agriculture in 1956. Since that time the company has continued to be in the forefront of tillage and seeding equipment development and manufacture. Most new developments have come about by Gyral engineers talking to, and above all listening to growers like Peter Johnstone and incorporating their requirements into practical implements that really work. And so today, and for a long time to come, controlled traffic, direct drilling, minimum/zero tillage and conventional cultivation can all be handled by one versatile implement - the Gyral Ag-Boss. |
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Glen Brown, Moonie, QLD
Glen Brown of ‘Glenalan’, Moonie, Qld is very happy with the job done by his Gyral Ag-Boss when breaking in new melon hole country. Glen planted 200 hectares of wheat, into marginal moisture in the very dry 2002 season, and even with very little follow up rain the crop harvested well.
Glen uses a 12 metre Ag-Boss with a Gyral Quad Cart Seeder set up for controlled traffic farming on 2 metre centres. He has found that the ground following ability of the machine is excellent, and using a combination of coulter, tyne and press wheel, the required planting depth is accurately maintained.
Carl Wagner, Springsure, QLD
When Carl Wagner of “Helen Downs”, Springsure, started planting his 800 hectares of chickpeas in early May 2002, conditions were pretty dry. There had been no rain since a fall of 18mm in early March and there was about 100mm of dry soil on top of any available moisture.
Using his Gyral Ag-Boss with a Gyral Triple Bin Seeder, Carl planted his crop at a depth of 150mm on 1 metre (40”) rows. The combination of straight tynes and in-frame press wheels with single rib pneumatic tyres together with chickpeas’ excellent vigour resulted in an excellent strike and a harvest averaging 1.5 tonnes/hectare.
Carl took delivery of his Ag-Boss, the very first production model, for use on the Wagner Farming Company’s central Queensland property. He says that his 18.3m Ag-Boss handles both summer and winter planting equally well.
Planting wheat on 333mm rows and chickpeas and summer crop on 1 metre rows, Carl finds that the rig is easy to set up and maintains accurate planting depth even over the contours on his undulating country.
Dene Fuss, Cummins, SA
When Dene Fuss needed a planter that was really tough, he talked to the engineers at Gyral Implements. Those discussions assisted in further development of the Ag-Boss to suit southern markets.
Dene farms some 1000 hectares at Cummins on SA’s Eyre Peninsula. His country is hard on equipment, with only 100mm (4”) of topsoil on parts of the property, and soils ranging from light sandy loams to heavy red/brown clays, and pH varying across the property from 5.5 to 8.5.
Dene grows wheat, barley, lentils, beans, vetch, canola and oaten hay and uses his 12m Ag-Boss for the entire planting operation, teamed with a Gyral SR 3 x 2400kg bin airseeders. Dene says that this configuration has made accurate planting using a zero-till/controlled traffic farming system possible under his conditions.
His rig is set up for direct drill operations with the in-frame coulter, seed tyne and press wheel combination regularly handling considerable amounts of stubble and trash. Dene uses his Ag-Boss as a primary tillage seeder, with the aggressive deep-fluted coulter set to handle often up to 6 tonnes/hectare of stubble, wireweed, melons and summer weeds.