Machine spotlight: John Deere 1910 commodity air cart

Name: Machine spotlight: John Deere 1910 commodity air cart
Brand: John Deere

Great design, simplicity and reliability are making the John Deere 1910 air cart a serious contender in the market

When it comes to row-to-row accuracy, filling efficiency and low maintenance, the John Deere 1910 Commodity Air Cart is delivering in spades.

The 1910 has SectionCommand designed to lower input costs, along with a new wireless hydraulically controlled conveyance to reduce operator fatigue.

The model gives growers the choice of single-shoot or double-shoot primary manifolds, with single shoot for applying starter fertiliser with the seed.

The double-shoot air system is used for applying higher levels of fertiliser, with the seed and fertiliser placed in different locations.

A sliding handle on the double-shoot primary manifold allows the operator to quickly switch from single to double.

A 430-bushel (15,179 litres), tow-between configuration was demonstrated at Lockhart in southern NSW earlier this year, pulled by a John Deere 9470RX quad track with a John Deere 1890 18m disc seeder trailing behind.

Variety of options

Myles O’Kane, Hutcheon and Pearce, Finley, with the remote control for the conveyance arm.

Hutcheon and Pearce sales representative, Myles O’Kane, said John Deere offers various sizes and configurations of its air carts, including tow-behind or tow-between, paired with two or three tank options from 250 bushels through to 550 bushels.

“John Deere carts are known for their simplicity, design and reliability,” O’Kane said.

“The double or single air shoot system allows for any farming operation - single or double shoot in any combination up to eight primaries gives the operator an extensive number of secondaries.

“The air seeder can be run on a 7.5-inch (19cm) through to 15-inch (38cm) spacing, and there is a full variable rate seeding application also.

“A number of different tyre sizes are available, including wide singles on a 3m track for controlled traffic operations through to duals and front dual-casters to suit a 76cm row configuration or high flotation requirements.”

Variable rate and hydraulic calibration are standard, allowing for consistent drive power to the meters at all meter speeds.

Volumetric metering

The 1910 features a volumetric metering system where the operator simply chooses the colour-coded cartridge, then uses fine-tuning rings to tailor the meter cartridges to match the number of openers on the seeding tool.

All adjustments are made without tools from the left hand side of the air cart, and meters can be changed when the tanks are full.

A manual half-width disconnect is incorporated into the meter housing to stop the flow of seed or fertiliser to half of the meter when seeding point rows.

The 1910 has a volumetric metering system.

An in-cab alarm will notify the operator if gates are open or closed, out of position or operating incorrectly.

O’Kane said individual meter sections control the commodity, resulting in row-to-row accuracy. He said this stimulates even crop emergence and consistent crop maturity.

“This cart is fitted with a section control set-up so you can individually cut off wings within the machine, however the internal part of the roller is the same,” he said.

“There are four different coloured rollers to vary the seed rates, depending on whether they are small or large seeds, fertilisers or small grains.

“The 1910 runs a hydraulic drive meter rolling system so there are no chains or electric motors.”

The hydraulic motor drives Air Power 2, a dual fan (26 inch and 76mm tubes) system delivering more accurate distribution to all eight primary lines, precisely metering product into the primary air stream.

Featuring a cast aluminium fan housing, the fans help deliver up to 40 per cent more product per primary than a single fan cart, according to O’Kane.

“There is the option of a single or dual fan – dual fans would be for 60, 80 or 100-foot bars where the power requirements are quite high,” he said.

SectionCommand

The 1910 is equipped with SectionCommand which prevents skips and overlaps to minimise seed and fertiliser loss, reduce input costs and enhance yield potential.

SectionCommand controls the output from all meters on the cart in up to eight sections and can be paired with John Deere Section Control for more precise seeding.

“There are two meter assemblies – the standard meter assembly or SectionCommand which allows you to cut off up to eight individual sections through the GPS section control,” O’Kane said.

“The operator can enter a prescription dependent on the soil types changing from one side of the paddock to the other.

“Sowing rates can be changed across the paddock, for example, start at 90kg/ha on one side and drop back to 70kg/ha on lighter soils.

“The advantage is higher efficiency in odd shaped paddocks, or curves and contours where there is a lot of overlapping. This means savings on seed and fertiliser by avoiding over fertilisation and seeding of certain areas of the paddock, promoting an even crop emergence.”

Smart design features

A catch bag collects a seed or fertiliser sample for calibration purposes – it fits around the manifold chamber and when not in use, is placed in a storage container mounted to the frame.

A wireless remote controls the conveyance arm while filling or unloading.

Risers are placed every 15cm on the conveyor system to better carry the seed.

Wireless remote controls of the conveyance arm while filling or unloading.

“There are different options on the auger and conveyor with a 20 or 25cm auger and a 30cm conveyor,” O’Kane added.

“This demo machine has the 10-inch (25cm) conveyor elevator with a remote control to move the auger up or down, left or right, or change speed.

“There is the ability to swing the auger underneath to unload any leftover product.”

The transparent plastic tank allows operators in the cab to see the level of the commodity in the cart.

A staircase leads to a stable platform where the lids are 1.5m apart (from centre to centre) making it easy to reposition the auger or conveyor.

“There is a nice wide platform to work on with handrails both sides for safety, and there is a hook in the tank to hook the auger chute on,” O’Kane said.

Easy maintenance

When it comes to maintenance, gears and the in-line drive shaft eliminate many of the chain drives found on other air carts. There are just three drive chains while transmission clutches run in oil.

There is an optional rear hitch available for the tow-behind carts to pull a roller or liquid tank.

The demo commodity air cart was pulled by a John Deere 9470 RX and towed a John Deere 1890 60 ft disc drill.

The 1910 430 bushel tow-between air carts come equipped with an LED lighting package, have a ground clearance of 50cm loaded, height of 4.1m, length of 7.3m and width of 4.3m.

The John Deere 1910 430-bushel air cart is priced from $112,486.