Innovative developments for agriculture have always accompanied me during my professional career and therefore I am pleased to present my prototype “Parallelpflug” (parallel plow) on this website.
During a drive in Mecklenburg in 2013, I saw a farmer plowing a very large acreage with a 500-horsepower tractor and a twelve-furrow full-turn plow. With great interest I followed his work and I was amazed to see the very broad headland.
With his very long vehicle – tractor and plow – the driver had to drive a figure eight on the headland every time in order to reach the appropriate connection at the plowed field. I drove to the end of the field, stopped the driver, and asked him to ride along, as I was very interested in his work. We had a good conversation and he answered my technical questions precisely: engine power 500 hp, working width six meters, working depth of 25 centimeters, driving speed of 6 to 7 km/h, area output per hour of 3.5 to 4 hectares, plow weight of 6,000 kilograms, tractor weight of 15,000 kilograms in front, ballast weight 3,500 kilograms.
I thought about this encounter again and again for several days. In my mind, this way of plowing was not economical and the large headland was most certainly not soil-conserving but rather soil-compacting.
For this reason, I designed a completely different plow, which is not coupled to the tractor longitudinally in the direction of travel, but rather crosswise.
When using the parallel plow, the tractor only drives onland and prevents compression at the plow pan. Moreover, the plow has a PTO drive shaft and a three-point linkage for subsequent downstream equipment.
The plow has a short length, which does not lengthen regardless of the working width, thus, keeping the weight close to the tractor.
The plow can be equipped with various devices, such as a packer, a pulverizer or rotary harrow or a seed bar.
The new parallel plow in right-plowing design with only 1.90 meters in length from the three-point linkage to the end of the moldboard has space for a pneumatic seed drill which is mounted on the plow or placed on the tractor and only the seed bar is attached to the packer or rotary harrow. The same applies to a left-plowing version in the front hydraulic.
In the future, soil cultivation will be done using an autonomously driving, large tractor without a cab, with wheels of the same size, crab steering and front and rear hydraulics. This tractor will no longer turn at the end of the field, as has been the case up to now, but will only move the entire carriage sideways thanks to the crab steering. This tractor will be equipped with a right-facing and left-facing parallel plow and additional appropriate equipment in order to handle plowing, seedbed preparation, and seeding in one working step, which, when using the parallel plow, can be done at speeds of up to 15 km/h. This results in a large area output and at the same time a very low headland and less soil compaction.
The acreage output per hour of my five-furrow parallel plow in combination with a 200hp tractor is about the same as that of a 500hp tractor with a 12-furrow full-turn plow.
The required investment, however, is only about one third of the previous purchase price.
Thanks to the PTO drive shaft, it is now possible to simultaneously plow and to use a rotary harrow with a packer and seeder, in contrast to the 500 hp tractor with full-turn plow.
Thank you very much for your interest in my parallel plough prototype. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
Kind regards
