Venterra VR4 inter row hoe

Precise row guidance

Damage-free hoeing of row crops requires maximum precision. The Venterra's row guidance system, consisting of control unit and shift frame, allows the operator to react immediately to slight changes in the crop rows by controlling the parallelograms with centimetre precision. Hoeing is only carried out between the crop rows where the weeds are present – the crop remains undamaged. 

The VR 4 shift frame is fully integrated in the frame and minimises the distance of the centre of gravity of the hoe to the tractor. This means that the lifting power requirement for the tractor is much lower and less front ballast is needed, especially in the case of large working widths.

A row guidance system is particularly suitable for cultivating large fields or fields on hilly terrain. Here, the system supports the driver by controlling the parallelograms in the row, and driving errors or the gradient can be easily compensated for. This increases driver comfort, protects the crops and also usually results in higher forward speeds and so more area covered.

• The Horus and Smart Vision camera systems offer maximum comfort and precision in row guidance

The machine can be kept on track with different control units. Various options are available, from row sensor systems and manual steering to electronic steering via a camera.

Row sensor

Sensitive running along the plant row 

• Supplements the Smart Vision or Horus camera system 
• Row sensor can override the camera signal 
• Row sensor in solo operation 
• For crops which develop a strong stem, such as maize or sunflowers, and for crops in late growth stages, such as sugar beet or soya beans 
• Accurate row guidance up to row closure or in crosswinds

Manual control

Precisely along the row with a co-pilot

• Hydraulic displacement of the shift frame via the steering wheel 
• For specialist crops or crops in very early growth stages 
• Safety back-up for heavily weed-infested crops 
• Comfortable working conditions in the steering seat thanks to integrated drink and parasol holders

The proven standard

• Detection starting from a plant size of 2 x 2 cm 
• Multiple-row detection for up to 5 rows 
• 2D and 3D mode 
• Colour selection 
• Working speeds of up to 20 km/h 
• Work lights for working after dark 
• Intuitive touch display

Maximum precision with AMAZONE's in-house development

• High-contrast image with full HD resolution 
• Automatic slope correction via a tilt sensor 
• Detection starting from a plant size of 2 x 2 cm 
• Multiple-row detection for up to 5 rows 
• Working speeds of up to 20 km/h 
• High-resolution 10” display 
• Additional WorkCam camera possible; this is trained on the hoeing tools 
• Work lights for working after dark

Linear shift frame VR 4

• The fully integrated specialist for large working widths up to 12.8 m
• Shift travel 600 mm (+/- 300 mm) 
• Up to 5 support wheels on the sliding frame 
• Optional flanged wheels 
• Flexible track widths: 1.5 – 2.25 m 
• Easy to maintain due to the central lubrication point for the shift frame 
• Hydraulic system and electronics protected behind covers 
• Oil supply via single-acting spool valve and pressure-free return flow or via load sensing 
• Centralised oil circuit for the shift frame, part-width section control and FT-P front tank

Row spacing of 75 cm and sowing widths of 6 m or 6.75 m

The illustrations above show how different track widths (TW) and working widths can be implemented for a row spacing of 75 cm. Depending on the tractor track width, the hoe is configured symmetrically (examples 1 and 4) or asymmetrically (example 2). For large sowing widths, it is also possible to use a hoe with half the sowing width (example 3).

In addition to the classic hoed crops such as maize and beet, mechanical weed control is also possible in cereals or legumes. It is important to sow with a double row width (25 or 30 cm). The example below (5) shows an example of sowing with double seed row spacing. This means that every second coulter was closed on a seed drill with a 12.5 cm row spacing. To ensure that a row spacing of 12.5 cm and a tramline of 37.5 cm is also produced in the second pass, a double row (12.5 cm) is sown at the centre of the tractor. This division with a double row and tramline width results in a track width of 1.5 or 2 m. The hoe is configured symmetrically.

The diagram (example 6) illustrates the following situation: sowing was carried out with a 6-row precision air seeder with a working width of 4.5 metres and a row spacing of 75 cm and an RTK-guided tractor.

The attempt to weed the crop with a 9-row hoe and a row spacing of 75 cm is shown below.

It can be seen that perfect matching up to the next seed row cannot always be guaranteed due to the inaccuracy of the RTK correction signal with a deviation of up to +/- 3 cm per each working width of the seed drill.

In this example, the distance between seed rows 6 and 7 from the first and second passes for sowing is 75 cm + 3 cm, while the distance between seed rows 12 and 13 from the second and third passes for sowing is 75 cm - 3 cm. 

Due to this offset, seed rows 7 and 8 are damaged during the first pass with the hoe, as the hoe blades of the last two parallelograms travel in the crop row. In the second pass of the hoe, seed rows 9 to 12 are hoed correctly, but seed rows 13 to 17 are damaged.

This would not happen with a hoe whose working width is the same as the working width of the seed drill. Consequently, hoeing cannot be wider than sowing, even when sowing with RTK precision.

The Venterra can be tailored to the Precea or Precea-TCC precision air seeder from AMAZONE.

Precea 6 m with 8 rows and 75 cm row spacing and Venterra 6.5 m with 9 parallelograms and 75 cm row spacing

1. A track width of 150 cm is ideal for crop care, symmetrical mounting
2. A track width of 225 cm is possible for crop care, but asymmetrical mounting is necessary

Precea 6 m with 9 rows and 75 cm row spacing and Venterra 6.5 m with 10 parallelograms and 75 cm row spacing

1. A track width of 150 cm is possible for crop care, but asymmetrical mounting is necessary
2. A track width of 225 cm is ideal for crop care, symmetrical mounting

Precea 6 m with 12 rows and 50 cm row spacing and Venterra 6.5 m with 13 parallelograms and 50 cm row spacing

1. A track width of 150 cm is possible for crop care, but asymmetrical mounting is necessary
2. A track width of 200 cm is ideal for crop care, symmetrical mounting

Note: The examples and appropriate hoeing configurations shown are specified for typical profiles of standard tyres of 710 mm and narrow tyres of 300 mm.