Wear and tear on plough blades goes with the territory.
To combat this Agroplow are in the final stage of testing an upgraded blade, designed to have increased durability and lifespan.
Agrowplow, purchasing and parts manager, Pav Melnichuk said the new number nine blade had been sent out to a few dozen Australian farmers as the final stage of the development process.
“We noticed that some our customers were replacing their plough blades pretty regularly,” he said.
“Great from a sales point of view, not so great for the farmer who’s going through a handful of blades every other week. So we started looking at ways of toughening up the blade’s design.”
Mr Melnichuk said a feature of the upgraded blades have three rock teeth across the leading edge of the blade.
“The rock teeth help the blade really slice through the soil,” he said.
“Because they can make short work of most obstacles, there’s a lot less potential wear and tear on the blade.”
Mr Melnichuk said the blades have also been improved by including enhanced grade tungsten carbide tiles across the upper surfaces of the blade.
He said the tiles are designed to catch the soil as it passes over the top of the blade, forming a protective barrier of earth over the top of the blade to further reduce wear.
“We’re really happy with the new design,” he said.
“Our own testing indicates these enhancements should add as much as two to three times to the life of the blade depending on soil conditions.”
Mr Melnichuk said the new number nine blade is expected to be available for purchase by late February, while a number eight blade is set for release later in the year.
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