Väderstad's Crosscutter: a sharp-bladed roller to destroy cover crops and chop straw

The Vaderstad Crosscutter is a cover crop destruction tool made up of sharp blades mounted on a drum. It can be fitted to Carrier cultivators in the front position.
According to the Swedish company, the Crosscutter is also suited to crumbling cereal and oilseed rape crop residues to promote their decomposition. The Crosscutter will be available in France in the autumn 2012.

Presented for the first time at Agritechnica, the Crosscutter is an implement that can be fitted in front of the rows of discs on Carrier 650 and 1225 stubble cultivators. Entirely developed and manufactured by Väderstad, it is a drum fitted with 6 rows of sharp, reversible steel knives.

The drum is made up of independent sections of 1m to 1,5m mounted on rubber suspensions, which both ensures good ground contour following and protects the cutting parts from damage by stones.

The Crosscutter lacerates and crushes the woody part of cover crops in particular, thereby making it easier for frost to destroy them and for them to decompose well before spring operations resume. The working height of the drum and its down pressure can both be adjusted hydraulically from the tractor cab.

Destroying cover crops: a necessity

Cover crops must be destroyed in early winter so that they can supply part of the nitrogen they have trapped to the following crop, make sowing easier, allow the soil to start drying out and let the available water reserve build up again.

The choice of date and method for destroying cover crops depends on several factors: vegetative development, sowing date, soil type, etc.

Rolling is often essential because sufficient frost cannot always be relied upon, particularly for mustards, the most widespread species used for cover crops. Cost is another important criterion.

The Crosscutter aims to address both concerns because it is an implement that can be fitted to existing equipment and because its efficiency is maximal.

The Crosscutter could also be used to lacerate rapeseed stalks, maize stalks, etc.

Several trials were in fact carried out this autumn in France, notably at Boigneville (91). A mustard crop between 1m and 1,20 m tall was rolled with a Carrier 650 with a rubber roller fitted with a Crosscutter.

This very first trial shows excellent work with the discs set to a working depth of only 1 to 2 cm.

Efficiency increases the higher the speed (15 km/h), with power demand being moderate. The 180 cv used during the trial pulled the Carrier 650 very easily.

The Crosscutter is also suited to crumbling rapeseed stalks, cereal stubble, sunflower or maize stalks to speed up their decomposition.