The harrow in the Demeter report

Mechanical cultivation: In the favourable location of Lommatzscher Pflege, the granary of Saxony, not only do cultivated plants thrive magnificently, but also weeds and grass weeds. Herbicides are taboo in organic farming. The Mahlitzsch Demeter farm uses other means.

How the Treffler precision tine harrow works: The harrow works to a depth of one to two centimetres on the first pass, increasing to up to three centimetres depth in subsequent passes. The aim is to loosen the soil and deposit the weeds on the surface, if possible. With intensive surface processing, the sowing quantity has to be increased by 10 to 15% due to “harrowing out”. Steul praises the new TREFFLER precision tine harrow, which was procured two years ago and, due to its handling and work precision, was a “quantum leap” for soil cultivation at the Mahlitzsch farm.

The infinitely variable tine pressure can be hydraulically adjusted from the tractor and quickly adapted to different soil conditions. It can be varied from 200 g to 5 kg. Each tine is connected to the central shaft individually via a tension spring and wire rope. The central shaft can be used to adjust the entire working width. The tines can only deviate by about 1 cm laterally, which means there are no unprocessed strips. The desired tine tension always remains unchanged, from completely flat to very steep. The advantage: No matter what the conditions of the soil, no matter how undulating the field, the tools are always at the same angle to the ground. The harrow tines are 500 mm long and therefore ensure good performance even for potato tubers. The machine’s light weight of less than 100kg/m working width, enables the use of a smaller, lighter tractor. The working speed is up to 12 km/h. Individual tines can also be deactivated individually for row crops.