LIRA HARROW

Today, more and more domestic farmers refuse to use herbicides in favor of mechanical soil tillage. The Ukrainian farmers apply spring tooth harrows for the early spring harrowing for crust destruction and encouraging the weeds germination, even distribution of stubble remains on the field, destruction of weeds in the «white thread» phase etc. What is the difference? Which producers do domestic farmers prefer? We tried to understand, addressing to the producers.

The head of the farming ZLAK (Sumy Region, Krasnopolsky district, Krasnopolsky village) Fedor Klimashevsky admits that he prefers mechanical technologies, completely refusing from the use of herbicides in soil tillage. The spring tooth harrows, produced by Lozova Forging-Mechanical Plant (Lozova, Kharkov Region), help him to cope with weeds. «Previously we used composite harrows, but they aren't absolutely suitable for seedbed cultivation and don't cope with the weeds. The implements become blocked and broke up. They also didn't perform the necessary result», – tells Fedor Klimashevskiy. The farmer got the expected effect after purchasing LIRA tooth harrow. «What can I say? This harrow is almost self-maintenance. It is distinguished by metal of good quality. The tooth work 3-4 years, as against to majority tooth harrows, where they should be changed annually. One more advantage: it is portable. Moreover, it copes with weeds during pre-seeding, post-seeding and 2-3 soil tillage in one season».

On the fields of the farming VESNA (Dnipro Region, Shirokinskiy district, Andreevka village) Viktor Kovalenko grows oilseed crops, mustard, flax, rape and sunflowers. The farmer regrets to admit that he doesn't have tooth harrows in his own machine and tractor park. However, during the season, the farmer takes equipment from the agricultural company TAVRIYA-SOYUZ. "Before I used ploughs, but they didn't cope with clods smashing, – says Viktor Kovalenko, – Today I till the soil, using tooth harrows of LOZOVA MACHINERY. They perfectly cope with harrowing and destruct the weeds due to vibration effect of spring teeth. It can be sometimes that the soil is prepared for seeding, but there is no moisture, and weeds are still growing. All the weeds in the “white thread” phase are destructed with the help of tooth harrow tillage. I also prepare the soil for winter crops seeding, using this implement. Moreover, the tooth harrow of LOZOVA MACHINERY has perfect efficiency, and convenient in transportation and exploitation. Only one person can fold and unfold the harrow.

The fact wasn't surprise that LLC AGROSVIT-K (Dnіpropetrovska Region, Krivorіzkii district, Radushne village) prefer LIRA spring tooth harrow of LOZOVA MACHINERY. Another advantages of tillage implement are well thought-out compact transportation and the ability to be serviced by only one operator. "We have two harrows produced by LKMZ with working width of 15 m and 24 m. We purchased the first harrow in 2004, – tells engineer of LLC AGROSVIT-K Boris Berezhnoy. – In that time nothing similar was produced in Ukraine. It was innovative machinery. For 13 years the harrows has been working perfectly. For the exploitation time I didn't change the full set of teeth. If it was necessary, I just changed the separate teeth, which operation life was ended. The welding works were also done perfectly in the implement. I can point out excellent technologies of production of the other tillage implements of LKMZ, not only of tooth harrows. LKMZ established itself on the Ukrainian market as a qualitative producer, understanding the farmers needs".

We tried to understand why farmers in the segment of tooth spring harrows prefer the implements of LOZOVA MACHINERY.

As it is turned out, LIRA is the first spring tooth harrow of the Ukrainian production, established itself on the country market in 1999.

Almost immediately LIRA (before – ZPG) gained popularity among farmers. It is cheaper than foreign analogues and isn't worse in quality. After it entered the market, the other producers of agricultural machinery in Ukraine started production of such implements. No one could overcome the popularity of LIRA. The big experience of Lozova Forging-Mechanical Plant in production of spring harrows is reflected in deep preparation for production, in keeping strict quality control of metal and all production technologies.

The spring teeth are made of high-quality steel, which two-level heat treatment, what make the spare parts solid. As practice shows, domestic harrows require replacement of teeth once a year, LOZOVA MACHINERY has an extended life span up to 3-4 years. Our survey among farmers has shown that the life span could be longer with the replacement of only individual teeth.

The crosses in LIRA, used for turning, are made like the metal of one piece, as against to the majority of other domestic producers, where the cross is a welded part. And welded seams are the concentrator of the tension and the potential risk of the implement braking up.

The more accurate approach to hydraulic technicians is embodied in the spring harrow of LOZOVA MACHINERY. The elements, placed in the hydrosystem, are rated at the pressure of 200 atmospheres, what excludes the risk of leakage. Many other domestic producers set hydraulic cylinders, designed for 160 atmospheres.

Today, many farmers purchase LIRA wide-level harrows together with REAL complex for the application of the plant protecting agents and complex fertilizers, produced by LKMZ.