KUHN Krause Gladiator 1210 Strip-Tillage System

May 27, 2024

Paired With the Montag Dry Fertilizer System

KUHN Krause’s Gladiator 1210 strip-tillage system takes precision nutrient and seedbed management to the next level with its ST-PRO II row units, Montag dry fertilizer system, and STRIK’R soil conditioner.

Curt Davis, director of marketing and product management at KUHN Krause, recently spoke with Farms.com to provide a rundown of the unit and its benefits.

The Gladiator 1210 is available in several configurations predominately for row crop farmers that require various crop spacings. They also have configurations up to 40 inches for those cotton farmers.

This versatility ensures that there is a suitable model for every farm size and requirement.

One of the key highlights of the Gladiator 1210 is its ease of use, specifically designed for daily efficiency with minimal maintenance. The machine features all sealed bearings and bushings which eliminate the need for daily greasing.

Plus, its ST-PRO II row units can be easily adjusted in minutes, without the need of tools. Not only convenient, but essential for quick setup to suit changing field conditions—less time adjusting, more time spent tilling.

Adjustments for shank depth can be set between 6 to 12 inches by hand in the field as can adjustments to the closing blades. This flexibility allows you to adapt quickly to varying field conditions, optimizing your work without the need for tools.

The ST-PRO II row unit is noteworthy for its independent movement of the large 24-inch coulter and floating row cleaners, which work in conjunction to create a well-defined strip for planting.

The STRIK’R reel condition system, particularly effective in wet conditions, ensures continuous operation by allowing mud and moisture to exit while still conditioning the soil effectively.

The Montag dry fertilizer system complements the Gladiator by allowing for precise fertilizer application. It comes in capacities ranging from three and a half tons for smaller units to up to nine tons for larger configurations.

The system can handle either single or dual product applications, with the option of section control for precise delivery. This capability is critical for applying the right amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, or a blend of these, enabling you to be more economical with your inputs while maximizing crop yields.

“The ST-PRO row unit really does a good job of placing fertilizer as well as producing a good wide strip for the planter to run on next spring and being able to place that fertilizer,” adds Davis.

In today's costly fertilizer environment, the Gladiator 1210 with the Montag system is essential for keeping those costs down.

Davis talks about precision, ease of use, and efficiency in the below video.

Video: Western Canadian Agriculture: Hard Times Made the World's Best Farmers

Western Canadian agriculture produced the most advanced farmers in the world not through abundance but through adversity. The crow rate fell. The wheat price went nowhere. The brown envelopes stopped.

When the subsidies disappeared, the bad farmers left and the good ones stayed. And the ones who stayed could not just grow wheat anymore. They started growing lentils and canola and peas and flax and faba beans. They built crop rotation. They got serious about agronomy because there was no government backstop. That process produced the Western Canadian agriculture Dennis Bulani describes in this clip: the most advanced, most educated farming culture in the world.

His contrast with Iowa corn and soybean farmers is sharp. At a DeKalb farmer meeting in Okoboji, Iowa, he asked what crop rotation they ran. Beans on corn stubble, corn on bean stubble. How do you fertilize? The co-op agronomist handles it. Have you considered other crops? No need. We make so much money on corn and soybeans. Western Canadian agriculture was never allowed that comfort. And now those Iowa farmers are watching soybean markets lock up with China and corn prices slide, and they do not have the agronomy knowledge or the research base to pivot. Western Canadian farmers adapted on a dime because they had done it before.

Dennis also makes the case that Western Canadian agriculture keeps adapting in real time. Low commodity prices over the past year have pushed growers to look seriously at precision spot-spray technology. He knows a neighbor who bought a sprayer with the seeing-eye system and sprayed only 80 out of 320 acres. As a chemical retailer Dennis acknowledges that will affect his sales. He supports it anyway, because if it advances Canadian agriculture and makes farmers money, that is a good outcome.

The lesson Dennis draws from the tale of two farms: continuous improvement is the only durable strategy. When canola was $22 a bushel some growers went to Arizona instead of the Crop Production Show. When the price came down those same growers came back to the research and the discipline. Products do not go on Rack Petroleum's shelves unless they pass a replicated trial first. That is what Western Canadian agriculture built through hard times: farmers who do the work whether the times demand it or not.

Dennis Bulani is CEO of Rack Petroleum and Ultimate Yield in Biggar, Saskatchewan. Dan Aberhart hosts GTF Productions, Western Canadian Agriculture's foremost live briefing platform and its foremost AI training platform for ag operators