Drilling into the history of Duncan

Pioneers in early disc drill manufacture in the 1950’s, the arrival of the Duncan 730 Multi-Seeder in the 1970’s saw the first triple-disc drill, purposely designed to meet the needs of the increasingly popular direct drilling concept. Over the ensuing years, the 734 arrived in the 1980’s, the Enviro 740 in the 1990’s and the Enviro 3000e in 2005, the latter superseded by the ATD 30 in 2019.

Having been acquired by Giltrap Engineering in 2018, the company set its sights on developing a larger triple disc drill that was larger than the current 3.5 metres. The concept required a folding design, the retention of many current design features and, of course, a nationwide dealer network.

Working from a clean sheet, the process was started by bringing together farmers, contractors, and dealers to create a “wish list and must haves” needed in a new drill. These included a compact layout, ease of use and calibration and the incorporation of many tried and tested components, alongside durability and low running costs.

After a four-year design, manufacture and development process, Duncan will use the National Fieldays to strengthen its expansive drill offering with the new ATD42 and ATD60, 4.2m and 6m, folding triple disc air seeder drills. Initially building a 6m unit, quickly followed by the 4.2m version, both units were exposed to extensive testing in traditionally “tough” areas such as the Haka Valley, Central Otago and the Central Canterbury Plains over a large number of hectares.

The result sees a drill that hydraulically folds to less than 3.1 metres transport width and, depending on application, is typically up to a metre shorter than its competitors. Up front, a ground following drag-bar is designed for hard work in the toughest conditions, with minimal maintenance.

Up top, twin 1200kg capacity hoppers are accessed by a wide safe platform with both hoppers incorporating twin openings, meaning the main lid can remained closed if filling in windy conditions. The twin hoppers can be complemented by an optional third bin, as well as a slug bait applicator and a hydraulic loading crane.

At the business end of the machine, the 400mm front opening disc utilises a turbo flute design to break into hard ground and cut through trash. Mounted using the Duratorque system of rubber pads, instead of high wearing bearings or bushes, the flexibility provided by the system offers a high degree of movement and a swift return to the working position. Rearwards, the twin discs, supported on a parallelogram linkage with up to 400mm of movement to follow ground contours, cut an angled slot for consistent seed and fertiliser placement at 125mm row spacing.

Seed depth adjustment is controlled by hydraulically actuated rear press wheels, complemented by hydraulically adjusted opening discs, meaning the system does away with need for time consuming turnbuckles and ratchets. Designed for easy access to the metering units, calibration is done quickly and accurately using the Duncan calibration app via a smart device, or via ISOBUS.

The drills incorporate well proven and reliable components like the Duncan electrical drive system, the metering units, fan and air delivery system, alongside the durable disc and press wheel assemblies. The manufacturer suggests tractors of 240 hp and 280+ hp for the ATD42 and ATD60 respectively.

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