— Bianca Henning, ProAgri
Farming is a complete joy when looking for a tool for a specific task, you find one that exceeds your expectations, supported by a manufacturer that understands Southern African farmers’ needs. Agrico has perfected this experience with their HSD630 (High Speed Disc).
Agrico built their first HSD in 2017. The first models introduced to South African farmers, with widths of 2.5, 3.2 and 4 m, respectively, soon became big hits in the industry. Soon after, the 5 m followed, as well as a 6.3 m model. Now the Agrico team has moved to create the largest HSD yet, with a 8.0 m width.
How does the Agrico HSD compare to a traditional disc harrow?
A farmer’s greatest need is to work as efficiently as possible. With labour and fuel costs prohibitively high, it is important get the most from every cent.
The HSD operates at up to 16 km per hour — almost twice the speed of a traditional disc harrow. This means that with almost the same kilowatts, same diesel consumption, and in the same time, you can cultivate twice as many hectares.
“Farmers in southern Africa are some of the most innovative in the world. They are completely reliant on themselves to achieve success,” says Johan Myburgh, Head Mechanical Engineer of Agrico. “It is essential that farmers work as efficiently as they can and plant as close as possible to the ideal time. At times, preparation must be done within a short window of time,” he adds.
“With rising costs, farmers tend to switch to bigger tractors and bigger implements. Big machinery requires less labour, less maintenance, and gives the farmer better control. Farmers want to get through their hectares as fast as possible, and cultivate more hectares with less equipment,” says Johan. “This is precisely where the need for the 8.0 m HSD arose. We have had great success with the 2.5 to 4.0 m discs that are already on the market.”
The design process of the 8.0 m HSD
Cornel Fourie, Mechanical Design Engineer at Agrico and chief designer of the 8-metre HSD, says that the design of the new tool is based on that of its successful predecessors.
“The concept for the first HSD with a folding frame (the 6.3 m model) was finalised in 2020. The 8.0 m model is just an extension of the 6.3 m, so the design took less time as much of it was already in place. The two larger models go hand in hand with each other,” says Cornel.
The Agrico team completed the design in an impressive nine months. The development was lead by Cornel, with assistance from Johan’s side together with the production team, under the direction of Johan Kershoff.