Tail wheel (agricultural engineering)

in the middle a tail wheel (behind the harrow)

Tail wheel in the front of the picture

Star wheel refers to a component of a seed drill . It is used to control and partly to drive the dosing device.

Star wheels are mainly used in pneumatic seed drills. As soon as the star wheel turns, it starts the seed metering process.

Designs

In order to get a secure contact with the ground, the wheel is not designed without a profile, but has spurs which are welded onto the curve. Star wheels are usually mounted behind the harrow of the seed drill. However, there they protrude far beyond road transport, so that damage can occur. In addition, the star wheel is at risk in the case of a poorly ballasted tractor and obstacles in the field (fences, electricity pylons). As a rule, the star wheel is connected to the metering device via a chain drive. Since this process is maintenance-intensive and prone to failure, some manufacturers rely on a cardan drive.

Alternatives

Because of the risk of damage, various alternatives have been developed. The manufacturer Horsch uses speed sensors with radar technology. Other simple catch crop seed drills reduce the travel speed on the roller of the tillage implement.

Web links

Commons : Tail Wheels  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ DLG test of a Lemken Saphier with tail wheel (PDF; 612 kB)
2. ↑ Lemken Kardanantrieb ( Memento of the original from November 1st, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.