Bellota Duratop with Tungsten material. A profitable investment

Wear parts are a real headache, especially for farmers who work a lot of fields, because we have to spend money on spare parts and consumables and have them ready when they are required. Manufacturers, especially Bellota brand, are investing to improve these wear parts to be able to provide an ever longer service life. Then, tungsten material has been playing a part in this evolution for many years now. It is true that this material has been used for many years, but it is not yet used on a daily basis by farmers, especially in small and medium-sized farms... we imagine that is due to its high cost, which if you evaluate it is not as high as it may seem when you make the purchase. We will tell you about our experience.

For years, we have been using the Bellota 1513-A C2N CP DURATOP cultivators and the sensations can't be better. As you can see in the pictures, we fix this type of cultivators in the middle of the arms of our Ovlac Minichisel cultivator and started working to see the wear and tear compared to "normal" cultivators, such as the Bellota 1513 A C2N (with a point more than 22 mm thick and 85 mm long, with sweeps designed to wear away). The durability is quite remarkable because we have changed several times the normal cultivators and the Duratop cultivators are still unharmed/ intact... it seems incredible. On this occasion, we are going to incorporate the new model 1513-A C2N CP cultivators to the rest of the arms, which are made up of 13 tungsten plates and a reinforced neck, with the tip plate standing out for its large size (the previous 1513-A C2N CP had 12 tungsten plates as you can see in the photos).

Our opinion and suggestion to farmers who want to try this type of cultivators but are not able to see if it will be cost-effective in the long run is:

• Try to put only on arms that go behind the wheels of the tractor (because they work on the harder soil) and with that setup start working. 
• See normal growers wear out but Duratop growers "keep going," like the famous batteries that last and last.

Once you pass these tests, you will see that the investment in Duratop with tungsten material is more than a profitable investment because in addition to the consumable, it saves on screws, maintenance time and headaches.

Versión en español.

Phytosanitary treatment by drone

Our friend Luis Alcázar, from the company Pulveriza Dron, offered us to visit him at his work with the DJI Agras T30 drone. It was the first time we saw an agricultural drone working. The morning was very interesting as we were able to learn about the working process of the device... but let's take it step by step. 

First of all, before making the flight, it is necessary to setting the program the flight so that the work is almost automatic. To do this, you have to geolocate the field and configure the working width as well as different parameters according to the work to be done, the type of crop, etc. Once the drone is ready to fly, it should be noted that the batteries last about 6 minutes and therefore that will be the time to empty the 30 litre tank the drone carries (there is also a tank for solids which is similar to a small fertiliser spreader). It is important to have several batteries and a generator that recharges them in order to be able to work a full day. 

Secondly, the plant protection product to be used in the treatment must be prepared. This product is usually mainly active material, but water is also used to make a correct mixture. This mixing is usually done in an auxiliary tank of 500 litres and one of the operators oversees supplying the liquid while the other changes the batteries... two people usually work with the drone: pilot and handler of phytosanitary products. 

Finally, our impression was that it is a tool to be taken into account for crops or situations where you cannot enter with the tractor or Unimog (high crops, muddy or waterlogged areas, etc.), it is a perfect solution. In addition, in high-yield crops (irrigated cereals, etc.), it is an advantage as it does not damage any part of the field (tractor ruts) and therefore you have more yields, the crop is uniform in its entirety and harvesting task is easier.

Versión en español.