The Kassine is PROMMATA’s best selling tool. It’s the lightest (28kg), the most versatile and modular, the most affordable, and the most widely used : more than 600 Kassines work the fields in Europe, and several thousands in the world.

The Kassine is perfectly adapted to small scale and family agriculture. Thanks to its simplicity and affordability it can easily make profitable very small areas, and thanks to its handiness and versatility this can be applied to any kind of land, even the one not very accessible or with strong natural handicap. The option to use a lot of different tools and to build various combinations makes it possible to adapt to any agricultural technique, in particular the agro-ecologic ones that improve the soil’s life. The Kassine can be pulled by any draft animal : horses, donkeys, oxen, mules, who find again their rightful place on the farm. Around the world it is also pulled by any animals which are available, such as zebras, zebus, camels, elephants…

The Kassine comes from the Kanol, a small tool carrier with rigid traction designed by Jean Nolle in 1988. This versatile tool has been improved by PROMMATA and was adapted to flexible traction in 1994, for European farmers. In 2002, after a visit to France of a village chief from Oubritenga, a Kassine was taken back to Burkina Faso, and since then several hundreds have been built in the Kamboincé “Prommata-Burkina” workshop.

In flexible traction, the draft animal is linked to the tool by traces (chains, rope or leather strips), while in rigid traction this is made by rigid parts (shaft or drawbar). The flexible traction has the advantage of being able to make tight U-turns at the end of each line, to give a smoother ride, and to give the possibility to straddle a crop. Rigid traction gives a better longitudinal stability, a better soil penetration, and is easier for a beginner but also requires more strength to lift the tool for U-turns. The Kassine can be transformed into the Kanol thanks to a special kit, which allows the user to benefit from each type of traction advantage in every situation.

Le Kanol avec un timon, en traction rigide

Changing tools on the Kassine can be done easily and quickly thanks to an innovation called “crochaxe”, without needing a key. This system allows the user to use a single tool-carrier with several tools that can be attached to it, saving a lot of time and giving a lot of flexibility. It’s even possible and easy to weld a Crochaxe hook on any tool self-built or any old tool so that it can be used with the Kassine.

There’s also a notched bar, that enables the user to adapt quickly and easily the orientation of the tool on the ground. This setting of the orientation adjusts the way the tool penetrates the soil, allowing the animal to work in good conditions, adapted to what he can bear. Tools that are well set and used at the right moment require less effort for the animal and also for the user : just holding the handlebar in a light and simple manner.

The handle bar is the third big innovation of the Kassine. It has been designed to be perfectly ergonomic, and to allow the user to always find a comfortable working position regardless of the work being done. Four positions are available in order to adjust the handlebar to the height of the user.

This way, the only difficulty left is in the handling of the animal, in our capacity to create a real partner link, and to make him work according to his capacities.

The Kassine was designed to be adapted to every situation. In addition to the notched bar, there are a lot of other possibilities of setting the Kassine to adapt it to the work being done and the soil type : one or two wheels, setting of the distance between the wheels, height of the wheels, position and height of each individual tool in the different transversal bars, distance of the Kassine from the animal…

To do this there are various options the user can add to the Kassine :

All of this thanks to the U-clamps or horizontal and perpendicular clamps, that are opened and closed with a unique key, attached to the handlebar.

The Kassine comes with a whole array of tools to fix to the Crochaxe or with horizontal and perpendicular clamps to a transversal bar or a frame. You can click on the names bellow to see a description :

Other tools are still in development : :

The Kassine received the innovation prize in Pferde Starke (the biggest draft animal event in Europe) in 2005 and 2009. It keeps on evolving being motivated by the innovation prize at the Horse Drawn Innovation Days (Journées d’Innovation Hippomobile) in Romagne in 2014, and coming first in the Innovation Trophy in 2015. Nevertheless we’re still faithful to our values, and in particular robustness, after more than 20 years working the fields we’re now sure that the Kassine is resistant enough and have decided to guarantee it for 20 years !