A diverse range of Australia’s agricultural and horticultural crops pose challenges for their growers in the post harvest clean up and breakdown of the crop and plant residues.

For instance Queensland pineapple growers face a post harvest residue which is thick, tough and doesn’t breakdown readily and usually stands about 1.2 metres in height.

Glasshouse Mountains pineapple grower Murray Pike has successfully utilised a Tiger 190 rotary hoe ( 3 metre working width ) behind his John Deere 125 Hp tractor.

He considers he now has an effective way to deal with the crop trash and in aiding its breakdown effectively.

Implement manufactures like CELLI, the leading Italian manufacturer of rotary cultivation equipment have responded to the change by developing and releasing large machines which are designed and engineered specially to complement the big horsepower tractors.

The latest addition to the CELLI rotary hoe range is the double drive range of rotary hoes designed for tractors up to 190kw (260hp).

The hoes are available as folding models with working widths of 4.2, 4.7, 5.2, and 6.2 metres. With future machines out to 8 metres.

The folding versions hydraulically fold and lock for road transport with an overall maximum folding width of 2.54 metres.

CELLI designers were not satisfied with approaches being taken to accommodate the large horsepower tractors and set out to perfect the double drive system where each side section of the hoe is independent from the other with its own safety clutches, gearbox and side drive.

Two speed gearboxes are standard with extra heavy duty drive shafts from the central gearbox.

Extra wide cage rollers and heavy two piece rear covers are hydraulically operated from the tractor seat, enabling the worked condition of the soil to be easily managed.

Heavy duty steel construction is used throughout to accommodate the tractor horsepower provided, with particular attention to the sealing of the hydraulics and lubrication systems. The CELLI double drive range of cultivation equipment is supported by a three year, direct factory warranty backed by celli’s Australian subsidiary company headquartered in Brisbane.

The CELLI double drive rotary hoes have had an enthusiastic response from large acreage growers who have acknowledged that finally a range of heavy duty cultivation equipment is available to match their big tractors.

The productivity benefits and savings in input costs from working bigger areas of vegetable, horticultural and cropping ground now comes from matching the larger horsepower tractors with specially designed cultivation equipment.

CELLI is also taking its big horsepower cultivation equipment range further and has just released in Europe is new Maxi range of power harrows with working widths up to 8 metres and suiting tractors of 240 kw or 320 hp.

These even bigger, heavy duty models will also be available in Australia shortly.