Danish ploughing championship 2019 was won using unique plough components developed by Moller International and partners

Odense, Denmark, 1^st November, 2019 - Moller International, a Danish components expert, developed the components on the plough that Danish ploughing championship contestant Soeren Korsgaard used last weekend to become champion for the 10^th time. Named after the ploughing champion himself, the “Korsgaard plough” has been uniquely designed for precise handling to deliver a uniform result across the field, a key criteria contestants strive to achieve.

Every single component of the Korsgaard plough is important and each is finely tuned with each other to maintain perfect balance and precision. Complex maneuvres conducted by the hydraulic system and also by the shares and disc coultiers must work together. Load tolerance must also be considered with special measuring tools developed for this task.

“We developed each component for the Korsgaard Plough using Moller International's tillage engineering experience, which spans over several decades if you add up the experience of everyone in our team,” says Per Moeller, CEO of Moller International.

“The frame of the plough must be designed to be stiff enough to work precisely and at the same time it must be robust enough to cope with the stresses caused by the ploughshares, mouldboards and disc coulters on the complete machine. This requires both astute metal choices and forging and casting and heat treatment expertise. We are extremely proud that these components did exactly what they were designed for. We worked closely together with other parts makers to achieve this end-result, notably with Frank Original who designed the unique ploughshares, that can cut finely into the soil, and other wearing parts.

“But it takes exceptional operator skills to manage such as a fine instrument which this plough really is. Congratulations to Soeren Korsgaard for operating the equipment to such precision,” added Moeller.

Preparing a plough for work on the field takes skill. “I spend a lot time adjusting the plough parts ahead of a competition. Components need to be precise and sharp. This plough has over 2000 different components so the design must be optimised to allow each part to perform to its maximum,“ says Soeren Korsgaard.

The new design of the Korsgaard plough allows the wheel to be positioned in the middle so that the plough follows the soil surface much more precisely than a standard wheel setup whilst maintaining its stability.

Danish tyre company NDI also appeared as sponsor on the plough. The plough is expected to be further developed for the world championship, to take place in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2020.

The Danish ploughing championship consists of both a standard and a reversible plough competition conducted on a green and a stubble field that are judged according to 12 criteria. The jury is looking for a uniform look and straight lines on the field. This is not just for aesthetics. When the ploughing championships started in the 1950s, the objective was to expand knowledge about ploughing. Today it is recognised that if a field has been evenly ploughed, like in a competition, there is less visible weed, lower fuel consumption and a better seed bed.

Soeren Korsgaard is looking forward to Agritechnica where he will be looking for tillage parts for his plough. He will be visiting the Moller International stand on 14^th November. If you wish to greet Soeren, please send us a message via Linkedin.