Rogro Zero Till Bitza Coulter Planter

The Bitza ZeroTill Disc Planter was developed as a fully modular unit capable of summer and winter plantings in a wide variety of conditions. It is designed to provide better trash handling, better depth control and more precise contour following ability when planting winter and summer crops.

The planter is designed to operate effectively in moist conditions. As soon as machinery can be move on to a paddock following rain the the Bitza Planter can commence planting with a minimum accumulation of mud on the planting coulters. This unique feature is made possible because of the position of the guage wheel in relation to the offset sowing disc which has a self-cleaning action as it cuts through the soil.

An added advantage of the position of the guage wheel means it is not travelling over disturbed soil and therefore not collecting any lose soil created during planting. The position of the guage wheel also minimises hair pinning of stubble – the stalk is held firmly while being cut by the coulter.

The double sowing unit at the front of the Bitza row unit is made up of two offset discs on a walking beam, giving accurate depth control and reducing sideways movement. Depth of sowing is controlled with an adjustable gauge wheel.

The coulters are followed by a tyne (or a double disc if preferred) set back half-way between the coulters for side banding of fertiliser in winter plantings or for summer plantings seed may be sown using the tyne and discs used for fertiliser application. This configuration means 3 operations can be happening at the same time: planting two rows of seed while fertilising in the one pass or farmers who prefer adding high rates of nitrogen when sowing, and /or the addition of urea or anhydrous gas.

Press wheel design allows each frame section to float independently and gives uniform seed firming regardless of terrain, leaving the field in ideal condition.

Row spacing is set manually within the row unit on the walking beam and with row settings across the machine and can range up to 1metre across the planter. Depth of sowing when using discs can be up to 75cm and can range up to 250cm when using the tyne for summer plantings.

To summarise there are three main components of the Bitza Disc Planter.

1. The walking beam heavy duty parallelogram:

Maximum flexibility
Independent depth control for tyne and/or disc
Tyne adjustment to 25cm (10 inches) depth
Disc adjustment to 7.5cm (3 inches) depth
2. The Bitza Frame:

Can be to 12 metres (40’) in 4 equal sections
Of modular construction, each section floating independently
Gives maximum ground following ability
Phasing rams and linkage arms control the lift
3. Walking Press Wheels:

Press wheel design allows each frame to float independently.
Gives uniform seed firming regardless of terrain
Leaves field in ideal condition