Alstrong for pasture rejuvenation

Kiwi and Australian livestock producers are set to benefit from new pasture equipment imported into Australasia by Duncan Ag – the Irish-made Alstrong Auctus overseeder and Alstrong Aerator.

Duncan Ag chief executive, Craig McIsaac, first saw the machines at the FTMTA Field Days at Punchestown in County Kildare, Ireland, and noticed they offer something different to other machines currently found in Australia and New Zealand. He then decided to import the units for distribution in the Australasian region.

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The Alstrong company was set up by farmer and agricultural engineer, Alan Winters, who designs and builds the machines himself and tests them on his own farm.

Alstrong Auctus pasture rejuvenator

McIsaac explains the 3m wide Alstrong Auctus pasture rejuvenator has a unique design that allows it to carry out several operations in one pass. The unit can be used in sprayed out pasture or cultivated ground.

“It has a strong structural steel frame and weighs 4.5 tonne. You can increase its weight to 5.2 tonne with water ballast,” he says.

“It is a trailed machine that follows uneven contours and the 15mm blades on the roller drum are made of hardened steel.”

The Auctus has 10 individually sprung levelling boards that scarify and scratch the surface to remove dead grass, expose the soil and create a shallow seed bed.

The levelling boards are followed by a heavy duty roller drum with teeth that break up surface pugging and allow air and water to enter the surface layer of the soil. An air seeder broadcasts the seed behind the roller using splash plates.

The Auctus can be specified with grass harrow finger tines or heavy duty prismatic rings that set the seed in the soil. A shield over the roller stops soil from getting into the seeding area.

The Alstrong Auctus comes standard with a French-made Delimbe air seeder or Duncan Ag can fit it with an APV seeding unit.

Alstrong Aerator

According to McIsaac, Alstrong’s Aerators have a unique design based on a large drum with 15cm blades that can break up soil pans and shatter the soil structure to a depth of 30cm when used in dry conditions at the correct speed.

The blades are set almost perpendicular to the direction of travel but at a slight angle, which adds a twisting motion that helps break soil pans. The weight of the roller is concentrated on each blade as it enters the soil, and the fast working speeds (up to 20km/h) also help shock and fracture the soil.

The aerators come in three different versions: 2.5m or 3m wide trailed models and a 3m wide three-point linkage model.

The 3m models weigh 4 tonnes dry and 6 tonnes with water ballast, while the 2.5m model weighs 3.5 tonnes dry and 5.5 tonnes with water ballast.

McIsaac says the Alstrong Aerators can also be used to prepare a seedbed in ploughed ground or be fitted with a broadcast seeder for seeding.

“There are a number of benefits to aerating pasture,” he says.

“By reducing compaction from stock and equipment, it increases tolerance to drought, releases nitrogen in the soil, and improves surface drainage.

“Alstrong Aerators complement the other equipment Duncan Ag supplies, and will enable us to better meet the needs of our customers.”