The Ausplow  CDS Combine comprises a three-bin, 6000 litre Ausplow Multistream PDS which is attached to a three row DBS Auseeder.  The combined weight of the bin and bar is carried on four wheels within the frame and on the tractor drawbar.  The CDS operates exactly as the bigger broadacre models with the capability of a dedicated air seeder or liquid dispenser, or both at the same time, with variable rate application if required.

The CDS comes after four years of prototype testing in WA and the eastern states.  The CDS can be plumbed to the DBS as an all granular seeder or alternatively as a combined liquid and granular seeder.  If the CDS is configured as a combined liquid / granular seeder, liquid compound fertiliser (N,P,K) and mixes to include trace elements and chemicals via a Dosetron are delivered in a pencil stream under pressure and into the soil. 

Placement can be either to the side of the seeding furrow or deep banded.  The liquid is plumbed to run from one or two tanks through a positive displacement pump equipped with a corkscrew rotor shaft and stator, through two separate lines, each of which runs to a standard non-drip nozzle body mounted on a press wheel scraper.

The industrial-grade plastic nozzle orifice comes in various sizes to cater for a range of rates, as low as 50L/ha.  The manifold hose is attached to the bar from which 13mm T-lines are plumbed down to the nozzle bodies.  Filtration is achieved at the in-fill, suction and pre-delivery at the pump.

The tillage component of the CDS is a specially designed three row DBS model with 260mm (10in) spacings and working widths up from 5.2m (17ft) to 7.3m (24ft).  Bigger models have not been contemplated because of the rigid frame design and horsepower limitations of front-wheel assist tractors generally available today.  It is an ideal machine to handle tight spots and do a better job on steep slopes.  But importantly it has been designed to maintain its ability for precision placement of product.  That has always been a critical feature of crop establishment which we believe we have achieved with the DBS and now integrated into the CDS.  The ability to dispense liquid fertiliser in a similar precise manner is a logical extension of the CDS. 

The combine seeder had been almost an agricultural icon for decades with its ability to sow accurately.  As technology has evolved, farmers have tried to upgrade combines with air systems, bigger boxes and wider floats.  But the CDS represents the first major change to embrace current technology while maintaining the proven concepts of the combine seeder.