LEMKEN Diamant 16 touches down

LEMKEN Australia has announced the arrival of its innovative Diamant 16 plough which it said will be a fresh concept for the Australian market and features heavy duty components for harsh local conditions.

The plough was released globally late last year and is expected to make its Australian debut in the form of a demonstration in the Riverina region in the coming weeks, with the exact date yet to be announced.

LEMKEN Australia managing director, Robert Wensing, said the semi-mounted plough would rip and invert trash 180 degrees in a single pass at working depths of up to 40cm deep.

“It will incorporate all trash, pupae bust and provide sufficient depth for the new hills,” he said.

“We are not the first to bring a mouldboard plough into Australia but it’s getting a new life.

“They were typically used in Western Australia for bringing up clay and mixing it through the sand profile but this will be a new application in various irrigation cropping areas.”

The Diamant 16 uses the award-winning OptiLine adjustment system designed to avoid side traction during ploughing.

The Optiline feature compensates lateral pull arising from the plough’s asymmetrical position behind the tractor by having a pressure-controlled cylinder transfer additional torque to the tractor.

This adjustment system shifts the tractor/plough traction line towards the centre of the rear axle and thus delivers fuel savings of up to ten per cent, according to LEMKEN.

A new and improved traction booster feature reduces pressure at the headlands, contributing to further fuel savings.

The dimensions of all main bearings are now larger, allowing the implement to be used with tractors with an external width of up to 4m.

The continuously variable hydraulic working depth adjustment is another innovation by LEMKEN, which the manufacturer said can be done directly from the tractor seat. The Hydromatic overload protection ensures disruption-free ploughing in stony soil conditions.

Wensing said the Diamant 16, along with a range of tine and disc implements including the LEMKEN Disc Rubin 12 and LEMKEN Karat 9, would be demonstrated in conjunction with Guidolin AgriMac, Griffith, in the next few weeks.

The LEMKEN Rubin 12 and Karat 9 tine cultivator were recently showcased at the Irrigation Research and Extension Committee’s machinery demonstration day at Whitton on May 23.

We will update this article with the exact demo date for the LEMKEN Diamant 16 when it is announced.