WILLIAMES SELECTIVE TRANSPLANTERS
Williames Selective Transplanter leads the world in high speed selective automatic transplanting. Each head automatically selects seedlings from a tray, transfers it to the drop tube and plants it in the ground. Our Selective Transplanter can accommodate a very large variety of plant types and plug sizes.
It is our long experience and understanding of how plants respond to mechanical handling that enables us to design complex but rugged equipment that contributes to increased operational throughput. One person planting up to 16 rows reduces labour costs. Real efficiencies are achieved because of the flexibility designed into the machine which allows the Field Transplanter to be quickly adjusted and set up to suit different row configurations. Sensor-controlled selectively gaps up for blank cells, and the adjustable pressure control on the soil bed can be changed to suit planting out in a wide range of soil types and under different environmental conditions.
Productivity can be increased by each head planting up to 2 plants per second, from the precise control over plant spacing, depth and placement regardless of ground speed. Using Williames indexed trays ensures reliability and accuracy of operations. There is the option to use twin drop tubes for close row spacing, and skis or tamping wheels can be interchanged to suit changed ground conditions, depending on weather condition.
Williames Selective Transplanter eliminates the very costly need to manually fill in gaps in the field created when a seed fails to germinate or when it fails to grow into a seedling.
The video below shows the Williames vegetable transplanter planting six rows of tomatoes through plastic.
The Williames G6 transplanter in operation
Lettuce seedlings grown in the Williames 260 cell tray being planted by a 16 row machine, with only one man feeding trays into the machine. Large acreages can be planted in a single day with minimal labour. The video shows later the quality of lettuce that has been transplanted.
Williames G6 side-shift vegetable transplanter, planting 10 rows with five transplanting heads.
Williames G6 transplanter using a Williames 144 cell tray, planting 3 rows. This video shows the vegetable transplanter in operation, and then a walk along the planted area.
Williames G6 Transplanter planting tomato seedlings. It is operating without a field walker patching up. Tomato plants need to be planted deep, this vegetable transplanter can accommodate different planting depths depending on the type of plant. A water tank fitted to the front of the tractor is used to water the seedlings as soon as they are transplanted, creating mud around the root ball. The transplanter puts the root mass down the same height from the surface.
How Growers Benefit from Williames Transplanters
Benefits to growers of using Williames vegetable transplanters include reduced labour costs and increased productivity.
Hills Transplants is a grower of vegetable and forestry seedlings, with customers who use the Williames automatic transplanter. Here is what John and Stephen Hill have to say about the Williames growing system – from seed all they way to transplanted seedling.
And here’s what Joe Cook Ag., which provides transplanting services, has to say about the Williames automatic transplanters:
High quality planting
The Williames selective automatic transplanter plants seedlings at even spacings and even root ball depth.
The need for field walkers to patch up behind the transplanter is slashed with the Williames selective automatic transplanter. This is achieved by selectively ejecting seedlings which haven’t germinated or are badly stunted, before they are planted, and then at machine-gun speed replacing a dud seedling with a vigorous one, thus keeping the even spacing of planting shown in the photo above. The image below shows dud seedlings which have been rejected and ejected.
The images below illustrate the quality of broccoli and lettuce planting achieved by the Williames selective automatic transplanter.
