Knight announces major expansion of cultivator range

Knight Farm Machinery announces a major expansion of its cultivation machinery range as the result of a marketing agreement with Bednar FMT sro, based in the Czech Republic. The first machines will be on the Knight stand at Cereals (1-M-114).

Under the agreement the Rutland-based company becomes the sole importer of Bednar equipment, which is already well known in central and eastern Europe, including Germany, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Russia, as well as the Czech Republic itself. Bednar Farm Machinery, trading at the time as Strom Export, started manufacturing disc harrows in 2000. Over the last 13 years the range has expanded considerably and now includes a wide variety of cultivators, as well as seed drills and rotary mowers.

Knight currently manufactures several types of multi-purpose cultivators with interchangeable soil-working elements at its Rutland factory. The Bednar models to be marketed by Knight have been chosen to complement these machines and create a product range that covers virtually all the soil types and cultivation regimes found in the UK .

Announcing the new agreement, Knight managing director Brian Knight, said: ‘Bednar is a family-owned firm with a similar background and business philosophy to ours. They produce good-quality equipment designed to maximise productivity and profitability for their customers. It also fits neatly with our own product range and enables us to offer UK farmers a comprehensive choice of models.’

Bednar’s Fenix FO is a versatile cultivator with four rows of auto-reset tines that can be adjusted to work from 50mm to 350mm deep. The tines have quick-change SpeedLoc points. Behind the tines is a row of levelling discs and a rear packer roller that can be raised out of work in unfavourable conditions. This model is available in working widths from 4m to 7m.

The Swifterdisc range includes models that considerably increase the working widths available from Knight and allow very high daily acreages to be achieved. These machines have two rows of 520mm aggressively serrated discs with hydraulic depth control and can work at high speeds to maximise work-rates. Working widths are available from 4.5 to 14 metres, and there is a choice of packer rollers at the rear.

Bednar’s Swifter Concept models have been developed for final seedbed preparation after ploughing and in minimum tillage systems. A mounting frame allows different soil-working elements to be used to suit soil conditions and produce the fine seedbeds required for crops such as sugar beet and vegetables. A typical layout includes four rows of tines, rear levelling bar, double crosskill roller and finishing roller.

All these Bednar models will be available for demonstration post-harvest this autumn.