”The Väderstad TopDown is a versatile one-pass cultivator that will achieve whatever you want it do, says Philip Reck, farm
manager at Walter Furlong’s Dranagh Farm, Ireland.

By moving to a true onepass system with the 6m wide TopDown we have cut the tractor hours spent cultivating by a third from 500 hrs to 350 hrs, saving time and fuel, says Mr Reck.”

The subsoiler has been eliminated
The TopDown is now responsible for all the cultivations on 1,000 ha of owned, rented and share farmed land. The all-arable rotation, including winter wheat, winter barley, winter oats and winter oilseed rape, is all established using minimum tillage.

- We needed to achieve the tilth required in one pass, and remove any pan that may have formed at the same time. It was important not to have any subsequent passes, and this has now eliminated the use of a subsoiler in the establishment regime.

Leaves level and even fields
- The TopDown is a very versatile machine that is easily changed from shallow tillage, using the discs to incorporate straw, through to deeper working using the tines to remove a pan or rutted tramlines, adds Mr Reck. The machine incorporates all the straw and leaves a very level and smooth finish. This makes the following pass with the drill much easier.
- The machine is extremely versatile. With individual adjustments for each element it is easy to set it up to produce the exact tilth and finish we require, explains Mr Reck. The combination of the min-till system using the Väderstad TopDown and the Rapid drill produces a very even surface on the field.

Improved soil structure lowers draught requirement
- The land has been in min-till for the past six years and, with the humus from the chopped straw, the soil is noticeably more friable. This, undoubtedly, helps make the TopDown easier to pull, adds Mr Reck.
Working in medium loam soils, the tractor and TopDown have no difficulty achieving workrates of about 4ha/hr at speeds of 12 - 14 km/h. Average fuel consumption is about 12 litres/ha.
- We needed an economical, onepass cultivator. In our experience of working the machine you are not going to find any better than the TopDown – it can’t be faulted, adds Mr Reck.