Rubin 10 compact disc harrow more efficient, effective
Lemken raises the bar with its updated Rubin compact disc harrow.
LEMKEN’S innovative new Rubin 10 compact disc harrow has landed in Australia.
The Rubin 10, a Machine of the Year award-winner at SIMA in Paris in 2018, claimed to offer the same mixing efficiency as its predecessor at higher operating speeds while moving the game on for compact disc harrows as a whole.
It debuts a new disc arrangement that delivers better directional stability for reduced fuel consumption and other benefits.
New overload-protection technology gleaned from the bigger Rubin 12 means it’s not just more effective than the old machine, but should deliver a longer service life.
“The Rubin 9 sold about 57,000 units worldwide,” says Ben Withers, Lemken Australia and New Zealand’s service, support and product specialist.
“So Lemken really went back to the drawing board for the development of a bigger, better version that was going to meet minimum standards in terms of efficiency, production, wear and tear, all that.
“They’ve really put a lot of time and development into the Rubin 10. It’s been in R&D for probably three years.”
The Rubin 10 is available in three basic forms – rigid mounted with folding outer discs (designated “U”), hydraulic folding mounted (“KU”) and hydraulic folding semi-mounted (“KUA”) – and working widths from 2.5m to 7m.
The entry-level Rubin 10/300 model is available now, and a cheaper 10/250 model is expected to be available later this year.
IMPACT HARROW
The integrated harrow behind the front discs is designed to improve the crumbling effect and distribute soil and organic matter in the driving direction. The rear impact and levelling harrow then distributes the soil to form an even, level surface.
“Without those levelling harrows your till intensity changes across your profile because you’ve got places where there’s less soil, more soil and so on,” Ben says. “This set-up essentially delivers an improvement in till intensity.”
DISC ARRANGEMENT
The discs are arranged to produce symmetrical forces and eliminate lateral pull for better directional stability, better fuel economy for the tow vehicle and more precise pass alignment when using GPS. “You can run on 5-6m rather than 30m,” Ben says. “Over a big area that means less passes, less wear and tear, and less fuel use. You also have a better throw of organic matter and soil into your second row of discs.”
DISC POSITION
The surface-hardened, 645mm diameter DuraMaxx discs are inclined 20 degrees to the soil, with an angle to the direction of travel of 17 degrees towards the outside for the front row and 15 degrees towards the centre for the rear row.
“The idea behind that is you’re actually moving the soil rather than just cutting it like a straight disc,” Ben says. “With a 6m machine you’re moving roughly 2200 tonnes per acre.”
OVERLOAD PROTECTION AND SPRING ELEMENTS
Every disc is individually attached to the frame with pre-tensioned spring elements to ensure the 7-14cm working depth is accurately maintained regardless of conditions. “When one disc in one arm lifts because of, say, a stone, you don’t lose your cut-out from the rest of the discs,” Ben says. As well as optimising cutting performance and reducing stress on the machine, this design also has fewer wearing parts than the old set-up.
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