Understanding Active Hydraulic Fertilizer Opener Down-Pressure SystemNOTE: Active hydraulic down-pressure system requires tractor to be equipped with closed-center or pressure/flow compensated hydraulics. If tractor has open-center hydraulics, operate in NEUTRAL and manually recharge system when disk blades do not penetrate to correct depth due to hard ground or hitting an obstruction. Active hydraulic system keeps the opener gauge wheels in contact with the soil surface to follow ground contours over uneven terrain. Mechanical setting at the gauge wheels (A) determines fertilizer depth, not hydraulic pressure. The amount of down-pressure needed to keep gauge wheels in contact with surface depends upon soil hardness, moisture and residue cover. Too little down-pressure causes insufficient spring compression and inconsistent opener penetration resulting in uneven fertilizer depth. Do not use more down-pressure than necessary for openers to penetrate soil and to maintain firm contact between gauge wheels and surface. Too much or too little down-pressure will effectively change opener arm operating angle, causing front (leading) or rear (trailing) of gauge wheel to contact surface, resulting in inaccurate and/or uneven fertilizer placement. Rear (transport wheels lifting off the ground is an indication of excessive down-pressure and/or insufficient ballast. When adjusting active hydraulic down-pressure, it is important to keep following in mind:
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IMPORTANT: Too much down-pressure can lift entire machine, causing it to become unlevel and resulting in uneven opener penetration. Never use so much down-pressure that transport wheels lift off surface as this causes over-rotation of openers (beyond normal operating angle) which adversely affects machine operation and can damage machine. Excessive down-pressure increases draft and may cause gage wheels to bulldoze soil. In addition, excessive down-pressure increases wear on components. Use only as much down-pressure as necessary to achieve consistent operating depth. GREEN ZONE (A) pressures are normally used. In some clean-till conditions, it may be necessary to operate with very low pressure showing on gauge to prevent openers from bulldozing. YELLOW ZONE (B) pressures between are normally used in fields with the harshest conditions. RED ZONE (C) pressures, above high limit of YELLOW ZONE should not be used. |
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