ROGRO Machinery

Spring Ridge Engineering Pty Ltd

THE AUSTRALIAN ZERO-TILL SPECIALISTS 

Air Seeders up to 4,500 ltr can be mounted on machines. Larger Air seeders trailed rear. All machines costume built to suit your own farming programs.

Spring Ridge Engineering P\L opened its doors for business in 1984 as a repair and maintenance operation. In 1986, we were approached by a local farmer, to help with a new concept and design that he was trying to develop for his Rogro Zero-Till planter. We embarked on a series of paddock trials and research to develop the Rogro Series 2 planter. The Rogro proved to be robust and maintenance free and was handling the situations well, but it was only a summer crop configuration. So more research and frame development went into designing the Rogro to handle both summer and winter settings.

This dual-purpose planter went into production in the early 1990’s and carried through until 1994 when with the help of another local farmer, the Ground-Hound model was developed. The Ground-Hound tine assembly was modified to keep its robust design but to have a greater stubble handling capability. It uses a four part system in its planting method with part one being the coulter which cuts the trash and slices the soil. Part two, the tine and seeding boot, removes trash and loose soil and creates a groove into which the seed is deposited. The distance from the coulter to the tine can be adjusted on a slide for a greater trash clearance. Part three is an independent hollow rubber presswheel, which maximises the press but reduces mud buildup. The presswheel operates in the groove left by the tine leaving a moisture-trapping groove. The final part is the optional finger harrows which then drags loose soil and trash into the tine groove.

With more research and paddock trials, came the Rock-Wheela row assembly. In 1996, we, in conjunction with progressive local farmers, saw a need for a planter that would apply urea at the same time as sowing to minimise time spent in the tractor and on the paddock. This concept has the dual capacity of having the same robust design and stubble handling capability of the Ground-Hound, while it also handles high rates of urea at sowing. It places the urea in the coulter groove which can be 50mm to 90mm from the planting tine, without breaking the ground alongside the seed.

In 1998 the Trip Release tine assembly was introduced. This does away with the old shear pin breakaway with a 1000lb breakout and 300lb reload pressure. The Trip Release can be used where there are stumps or rocks and a shear bolt is not practical. The Trip Release is designed not to move until it encounters an immovable object.

Now in 2000, Spring Ridge Engineering P\L, with the assistance of progressive farmers, believes itself to have a machine that is versatile and robust, can plant in wet or dry conditions and adapt to all manner of cropping situations. The Rogro Zero-Till Planter is the planter needed for success in today’s competitive and conservation farming conscious world.

Spring Ridge Engineering Pty Ltd has been striving to meet these requirements of conservation farming. Following are the basic options available for the ROGRO Zero-till Planter:

Machine Specifications:

Three Point Linkage : 8ft to 40ft as: Fixed Toolbar, Folding toolbar or made to your requirements.

Trailing Models: 8ft to 60ft built to your requirements with a wide range of seeding and fertiliser mechanisms.

Row Spacings for all Models: Winter: 9" to 20" Summer: 27" to 40"

Currently 5 ROGRO planters are in operation in African Countries, demonstrating our flexibility and awareness of needing to build planters to suit their surrounding requirements.

Conservation farming and zero-tillage has, out of necessity for both economic and land management reasons, become the farming way of the future. Soil structure is improved enormously with the increase of organic matter, and the retained stubble protects the soil from sun and heavy rain to aid in avoiding the soil surface from setting and crusting. Higher yields are obtained through the ability for the soil to have a greater water infiltration, less moisture loss and better soil quality.

The concept of controlled traffic used by zero-till farmers, means less soil compaction giving higher yields and lower planting costs. The economic advantages on reducing tractor wear and tear, lower fuel costs as well as greater crop yields, make zero-tillage not only the most cost efficient manner of broadacre farming, but the most beneficial manner of farming to aid in our ever present need for conservation and land management to protect our industry into the future.

We are willing to work with you to design a planter to suit your specific requirements as influenced by your local weather, crops and soil types.

Contact

Chris Holland to discuss your individual requirements.

Ph: 02-6747 3846 Fax: 02-6747 3900