HORSCH is seeing growing demand for 18m variants of its existing products for customers looking to increase efficiency and productivity. An 18m version of its highly regarded Avatar direct drill is already on the market, and the company is developing an 18m Joker cultivator and 18m Serto drill too.

“Contractors and farmers are looking to work faster and more efficiently, to take advantage of tighter operating windows that are being brought on by changing climate conditions,” explains Stephen Burcham, General Manager at HORSCH UK. “Our versatile min-till and direct drilling machinery have low draft requirements for their size, so moving to an 18m model does not require a huge jump in horsepower. This enables customers to do more with the tractors they already have.”

 Increased output and reduced compaction.

Hertfordshire-based farming enterprise AT Bone purchased an 18m Avatar, a decision that was largely driven by output and weather resilience. “The Avatar is marketed as a direct drill but as a cultivated drill, it’s fantastic,” explains James Ashley, Operations Manager at AT Bone.

 Headlands was a key concern. “If you look at people’s field yield maps, it’s always the first 15m that will let you down, because that is where you are turning with everything. It gets a pounding, but with the Avatar, you’re 9m from the edge which reduces compaction.”

 Pulled by a 410hp John Deere 8RX, James notes that not requiring huge horsepower has been another benefit. “It’s a great combination, and only needing a 20-tonne tractor helps keep diesel costs down. I’m doing 55 acres per hour at 13kph, I’m not going fast or stressing. I’m not wrecking tractors by pushing them to the limit, and I’m burning just 50 to 60 litres of diesel an hour: it’s a dream.”

 18m working width, 3m transport width

HORSCH carefully considers the full operating spectrum of its machinery including transport. The 12m Joker RT, introduced in 2024, featured a new folding mechanism and twin axle to keep the transport height to 4m. Innovations such as this will ensure the new Joker and Serto models are as easy to handle on the road as in the field.

 Joker RT is ideal for stubble cultivation, mixing of harvest residues and efficient seedbed preparation. It produces a high amount of fine soil in the germination horizon and can handle high amounts of straw, organic fertilisers or catch crops.

 The Serto SC is a compact seed drill with working widths currently extending from 10m to 13.5m. It already features a sophisticated folding technology to keep the transport width to 3m, and a low horsepower requirement due to separate seedbed preparation and seeding operations. This offset seeding method allows for wider seeding windows, especially in very wet years.