DUCAT - operational tips

DUCAT disc harrow is one of the old-timers in the range of LOZOVA MACHINERY. For more than ten years, the brand has been manufacturing a line that shows flawless operation on the fields of agricultural enterprises. To keep it this way, our own service department, together with the service departments of the company's dealers, are working on high-end commissioning of each purchased unit of equipment, and train the consumer's personnel how to operate the units.

The head of the department, Aleksandr Shepel, warns about the most common mistakes in the operation of disc harrows.

“The first mistake that a professional can make when preparing the unit for operation is the wrong adjustment of the depth of soil cultivation by the front and rear rows of tools. The discs in the front and rear rows need to be buried to the same depth during operation. If there is a significant difference between the cultivating depth of the rows, the quality of cultivation will decrease: the sole will be uneven, with the so-called “slates”. Visually, this will manifest itself in moving the unit away from the direction of movement of the agricultural assembly.

The main purpose of disc implements is stubble ploughing, soil loosening and mechanical weed control. Our units are of high quality, therefore the farmers often use them for pre-sowing soil cultivation. In this case, the “slate” is just unacceptable for the arrangement of the sowing bed.

When making turns or sharp corners when running, the complete raising of the unit’s tools is mandatory. If this requirement is not met, the spring tines may bend and collapse. Therefore, we cannot consider such breakdowns as a warranty case, and a consumer has to bear additional costs for the purchase of tines. However, even such material costs cannot be compared with the loss of time during agricultural operations. Reverse movement of the unit with buried tool can lead to similar results.

DUCAT series disc harrows are high-speed units, but, nevertheless, we do not recommend to disregard the agrotechnically allowable speeds during tillage. In the low speed modes, it will be almost impossible to achieve high-quality cultivation of the field, and when the speed is too high, the service life of some elements of the unit is sharply reduced.

It is possible to achieve the operation of the unit-tractor assembly at optimal speeds only if the disc harrow is correctly selected for the specific tractor according to its traction class. By the way, the working width of this type of manufactured units is from 2.5 m to 16 m. They can be mounted, semi-trailed, and trailed according to their type. When choosing a unit for completing a unit-tractor assembly, you need to take into account the prevailing topography of the fields, and the type of soil in order to ensure the tractor's required power reserve.

Furthermore, there are times when the farmers use the unit in the conditions that do not meet the required ones. For instance, the unit can be operated on overdried heavy soils with light attachments. In this case, it is impossible to achieve stable high-quality operation. Keep in mind, that each type of field work has its own agrotechnical terms, and each unit has its own working environment conditions, which cannot be neglected.

The bearing joints used on DUCAT units are maintenance-free. They do not require periodic replacement or replenishment of grease during the entire period of the unit operation. Such a period is at least 7-8 years. Nevertheless, when, during the warranty period, the farms need to determine deviations from the normal operation of the bearing joint, we recommend not to open its cavity and not to try to restore the unit on their own. The company provides the customer with an exchange guarantee fund as soon as possible. We are also able to determine the cause of the malfunction, and take appropriate measures.

By the way, the warranty period for the operation of bearing joints is 24 months. Moreover, the twofold increase in the standard warranty period is established for reason, due to the reliability and high service life of the bearing joints of DUCAT disc harrows.

The LOZOVA MACHINERY disc harrows have been using the ZERO MAINTENANCE principle for two years. This means that these units do not require lubrication of the articulated and other joints throughout the entire period of operation. By means of constructive solutions, we exclude the effect of “human factor” on the total service life of the unit.”