Dawn Equipment ZRX-Roller/Crimper

A Farmer Driven Design

The ZRX was originally created and patented by a farmer in SE PA named Charles Martin. Drum style roller crimpers had existed for years, but Charles saw a way to improve them by making a design with individually floating row units that could articulate with the profile of the surface of the field. The original ZRX also incorporates a row cleaner and hydraulic pressure control

The original ZRX is now known as the ZRX Plus and has model numbers 5050 to 5054. A common misconception of roller crimping is that you can't effectively incorporate corn into a system with a lot of grasses. The clearing disks on the ZRX Plus do not really engage the soil, rather, they cause the cover material to deflect to the sides where the roller can grab it. This produces the chevron pattern in the mat of residue associated with the ZRX. Having a clear path to plant into is very important in conventional herbicide systems. On the other hand organic growers will often opt for the ZRX without the clearing disks

Forms Itself to the Field

The essential characteristic of all ZRX Roller Crimper designs is that they are constructed of modular roller sections that are different for each row spacing. The rollers have a spherical bearing on each end that connects to the parallel linkage module installed on the centerline of the row unit. The spherical bearings allow the linkages to move up and down independently, so the pressure exerted on the cover is always the same. This allows the ZRX to have the most even crimping and most uniform termination of any roller crimper on the market.

ZRX Basic

Many modern front folding planters have frame configurations that require a slightly different unit. It is also common that a customer will want to run a typical row cleaner behind the ZRX Roller-Crimper.

The ZRX Basic fits on a wide variety of planters like the 1770/1775NT. You can hydraulically lift the system up if you desire. The overall concept is still the same, utilizing the same type of spherical bearing support on the roller sections. You can get the ZRX Basic for 20", 30", 36", and 75 cm.

Articulating Rollers Move Independently

Over 8 Inches of Vertical Travel

Your Fields Aren't That Flat