Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2024 i Profi

While the farm machinery trade has without doubt slowed, there is still some business being done. Machine distributors and dealers will agree, though, that a lot more work is having to be put in to eventually win the sale. Which makes it even more mind-boggling that, when you do enquire about a used piece of kit, you have to phone two or five times to elicit a response. Or at least that has been my most recent experience. On the look-out for a used GPS kit, I enquired with a UK dealer who had just the sort of thing I was after, and I would be going by their door the following day. I waited for the promised return call that would let me know if the unit was still…

As well as providing additional storage capacity, the 500l central area on the latest Agriweld tractor weight is designed to house a 210l fuel tank. Developed following customer requests for a fuel tank option, the standard configuration of the new Utility weight includes weighted flanks with up to 1800kg. A compact version offers the same features and 500l internal capacity, but in a slightly smaller form with weight up to 1100kg. Ordering the two versions without a fuel tank increases the storage capacity. RRP of the Utility weight without fuel tank is £3,650 for up to 1100kg and £4,295 for up to 1800kg. The optional CEMO 210l fuel tank costs £595 (includes pump). These prices also include laser cut faceplate, colour choice, LED side stalks, chevrons, central marker rod, gas…

CNH Industrial blames lower industry demand for the 16% drop in net sales in the second three months of this year to US$5.49 billion (US$6.57 billion Q2 2023). Agriculture (Case IH, New Holland and Steyr) accounted for the largest share of the total of US$3.91 billion, but this figure was a fifth lower than the US$4.89 billion in Q2, 2023. Following a similar pattern to the first three months of this year when the concern’s ag net sales of US$3.37 billion were 14% lower than from January to March in 2023, the company says it continues to be affected by decreased industry demand and dealer inventory requirements across all regions. The company forecasts that global industry retail sales will remain weak for the remainder of this year.…

Tractor Implement Management (TIM), moisture sensing and the ability to tie the bale using film, in place of net wrap, are just some of the upgrades for Vicon round balers for next season. TIM is now available on the fixed chamber FixBale 500 model and the RV5200 Plus-series variable chamber balers, as an ISObus solution that enables the baler to automatically carry out repetitive processes and manage several key tractor functions, when used with any TIM-ready tractor. These include a pre-programmed rate of tractor deceleration to pause baling and apply net, along with opening and closing the tailgate after the bale has been tied (a built-in inclinometer prevents unsafe bale ejection on steeper gradients). Film binding is a new option for the FixBale 500 model, thanks to a range of…

There are plenty of things to consider when designing a shallow cultivator. Fully or semi-mounted? How many rows of tines are needed to move all of the soil without the risk of the machine becoming blocked with trash? Which tines to use? How much weight does it need without making it too heavy? Amazone has partly done its own thing with the Cobra. Two working widths — for now There are currently two semi-mounted Cobra working widths, 6.0m and 7.0m, while other sizes are being planned. There is a left and right wing with six rows of tines, although at first glance you may count eight, as there are two part rows to work the ground behind the running gear. At 65cm, the distance between the tine rows is comparable…

Strautmann has extended its Magnon forage wagon family, not with bigger capacities cap, but with extra knives to produce proc a much shorter chop. While the three-model a theoretical chop length of 35mm, the Magnon 11 is kitted out with 84 knives for a shorter 22mm chop. To shoehorn in the extra chopping power, a number of changes chan1 had to be made. More torque Shorter 5h01 cutting demands more power. To handle the extra required grunt, Strautmann reinforced the familiar, proven driveline so that the Röglberg gearbox now transmits up to 3,000Nm to the rotor. The rotor has eight rows of tines arranged in a helical formation. The tines are made of Hardox and are only 6mm thick with a 10mm wide leading edge plus hard-faced tips to ensure…

Blackgrass is not just a UK phenomenon; this prolific weed is also spreading to more areas in Germany along with volunteer oilseed rape and rye grass. Saphir believes its latest cultivator could be a post-harvest solution. Together with the University of Applied Sciences in Cologne it has developed the Grindstar, a ground-driven rotary cultivator for ultra shallow mixing of soil and harvest trash. But it is not just the ground-engaging knives that led to the Grindstar wining a silver medal at Agritechnica last year. Saphir holds the patent on the special depth control system, which is based on pressure compensation and suspension that differentiate it from the likes of the Busa machine (refer to profi magazine 07/2023). Spotlight on the rotors The main frame consists of two 80mm x 80mm…

Some five years ago, Cornelius 1rnelius Effing wanted to solve a problem when the family farm needed to use a slurry tanker fitted with a load sensing control with tractors with fixed gear pump open-centre 1tre hydraulics. As a Master Fitter with German hydraulic and mechanical engineering company WHM Wesseler, he was perhaps better placed than most to come up with a solution. Now farm proven, the : system he came up with is being offered as a plug in kit. It is possible to come up with a simple solution for some fixed gear pump hydraulic tractors. Simply switch a load sensing spool to a constant oil flow by removing the load sensing LS line. The problem with this simple dodge is that there is a risk of generating…

At Agritechnica there was a stand collectively exhibiting the closed-filling liquid systems from Agrotop, Lechler, Pentair and Tefen, side by side. There was one thing they all shared in common — a holder for the emptying of plastic canisters with an EasyConnect lid. The EasyConnect lid is a screw-on cap with a dust seal in the top and an integrated inner lid underneath. This sealed combination not only makes the traditional form of sealing film pretty much obsolete, but it also closes the can automatically and makes it leakproof if it’s only partially emptied. EasyConnect lid The EasyConnect lid was developed by the agrochemical giant BASF along with various third-party manufacturers such as Pentair and Tefen. The developers say it is an ‘open’ technology that is available to all players…

For some time now I've been crafting these monthly musings, so why am I constantly caught off guard each time a request is raised for another instalment? This month is no exception, but in my defence I have been a little busy of late. Summer set off to a damp start with a lot of my customers choosing to 'hang fire' and wait for drier conditions as crops were still holding up well. Cue another wet fortnight, and those crops were beginning to go past their best, taking with them the prospects for a good second-cut. A missed opportunity early on in proceedings generally passes with little afterthought — never mind, we'll get it next chance. If only we'd known how far off that 'next chance' was, we may have…

Since scaling back his own 1,600 hectare contract silage operation in 2012, Geraint ‘Gog’ Jones found himself ploughing, lime spreading, hedge cutting, slurry and muck spreading, silage carting and buck raking, as an owner-operator. It was a more relaxed pace, clamping 600ha of grass, and was one that came with little stress. But that 11-year hiatus from full-time contracting came to an abrupt halt at the start of the 2023 silage season, and Geraint was suddenly presented with a career-changing decision. “Nothing is forever, and circumstances can change in an instant,” he says. “And when the contractor I was working with unfortunately passed away suddenly at the start of the 2023 silage season, I faced a choice – restart silaging as a whole or lose the buck raking and carting…

PRACTICAL TEST Fendt Katana 850 Last year we put a Katana 850 through its forage-munching paces. You can read what the 850hp Fendt can do well — and not so well — in our Harvest Special issue. REPORT Autonomous asparagus Asparagus growers are struggling with labour shortages, like so many in the produce sector. Looking to the future, Muddy Machines is developing a robot that can not only harvest autonomously but also provide valuable crop data. DRIVING IMPRESSION Sampo Rosenlew Comia C12 combine We wander off the familiar combine path and catch up with the latest generation C12 to combine some oats. How does the Finnish maker’s offering stack up against the big boys'? DRIVING IMPRESSION Roc RS1000 merger If you're judging a machine’s performance on its price tag, then…

In the same year it celebrates 60 years of tractor production, the New Holland plant at Basildon recently produced its two millionth tractor. The celebration livery on the two millionth unit, a 225hp T7.225, comprises candy blue body panels, silver and black graphics with the Union Jack flag, a ‘2,000,000 Basildon Tractors’ logo, plus a New Holland leaf bonnet top. Black wheels rims with candy blue rim edges complete the makeover. The tractor will appear at forthcoming events in the UK, and will then be on show in the Customer Centre at Basildon.…

Globally speaking, the 8R/RT/RX is almost certainly John Deere’s most important tractor range. So, it was a bold step to introduce a completely new stepless transmission on which all the hydraulic power splitting items have been replaced with electric hardware. Why is it a bold step? Well, as with any new technology, the high voltage system requires special training for the service engineers. Then there is also the issue of being the first to the market with a tractor that can produce a usable amount of electrical power. Up to 100kW at 480 volts is available for external demands, but no such implements are on the market … except the wheel drive system on Joskin slurry tankers or in the US where the Spudnik potato harvesters can harness the electrical…

We have seen a flurry of knife rollers come on the market in recent years as a handy means of mechanically breaking down cover crops and, in areas where corn borer beetle is an issue, smashing the maize stubble stalks in which these beetles can hibernate over winter. Yet such tools could also be a solution for farmers wanting to chit seeds and perform a shallow incorporation pass while retaining as much moisture as possible. Working at speeds of up to 20km/hr or more, the Cultro TC from Horsch can cover a lot of ground quickly. Our 5.0m wide test machine was able to scoot across 8-10ha per hour without any big issues. And such acre eating doesn’t demand a lot of fuel: our admittedly oversized Fendt 939 was using…

In the UK and Ireland, grassland rollers are generally in the region of 70-90cm in diameter, but over in Germany they like to have a much larger drum. One firm making such rolls is Lomma. Based near Dresden, it has recently introduced the three-gang Profi series, and, though it’s not available here, we were intrigued enough to take a closer look. Full spec The Profi 7600 has a working width of 7.60m and is the second biggest model in Lomma’s roller range. The line is captained by the 8.40m wide version, the Profi 8400, while the smaller machine is the 6.20m Profi 6200. To achieve these much wider working widths, Lomma has gone with a three-gang layout. The central unit is the 2.70m wide ‘Single’ roller, which has a heavy-duty…

Aleaf spring auto reset ploughing system combined with a red and green colour may be very familiar, but the name Sukov is definitely not. The Czech firm has been focused on building ploughs since the mid-90s, but it has yet to officially make its way this far west. Its four-furrow Downhil Spring 4+ certainly made a good impression on us during our time in the field. Is it enough, however, to make Kverneland fans take a second look? Entry-level spec The fully mounted Downhil models represent Sukov’s mid-range offering. They come in two variants with an 85cm or 95cm interbody clearance. The machine we went to look at and featured here is the one with the wider body spacing. It has a Cat III headstock with two elongated holes for…

Here we provide another selection of handy tips and tricks that operators have come up with to mod their drills. Some are simple tweaks, others involve a bit more engineering, with the tips ranging from hose racks and calibration testing improvements through to proximity switches. And, of course, there are also those perennially popular retrofitted cameras for monitoring the quality of work and keeping an eye on what is happening inside the hopper. PROXIMITY SWITCH ON OLDER DRILL WIRELESS CAMERA TWO CAMERAS FOR A NEW DRILL CALIBRATION TESTING MADE EASIER HOSE RACK JOHN DEERE DRILL REJUVENATED…

There has been a lot of research carried out on linking cow performance with optimum health in the first few weeks after birth. If you can properly meet the feeding needs at this stage, then these animals also undergo a form of 'metabolic programming' (Geiger et al. 2016). The first 50 days count In the first seven weeks of life, cells in organs divide faster than they do after this early stage. As a consequence, if intensive feeding occurs during this early stage, the organs will produce more cells than they would under a restrictive feeding regime. This means that, within a fairly short period of time, they are ‘programmed’ to maximum milk performance. Sounds good. At the beginning of their lives, calves are dependent on whole milk or comparable…

If you believe the UK no longer makes anything, then take a trip to the North East of England — still a massive engineering area in Great Britain producing all sorts of components and equipment. One of the more familiar names is Cummins, which last year produced 72,325 engines and 41,785 exhaust after-treatment systems out of its Darlington plant as well as carrying out research and development on new-generation engines. And it doesn’t look as though things are going to slow down any time soon. The site has been extensively upgraded in recent years to drive efficiency and update facilities, yet one of the biggest investments, which has just been officially opened, is a new powertrain testing facility. Although diesel fuel has been the bread and butter for Cummins since…

JULY 2023 COVER STORY Watercess Festival INSIDE Fruit Focus preview, show results, Biddenden Vineyards AUGUST 2023 COVER STORY NP Seymour INSIDE Fruit Focus review, Forma, Hole Farm SEPTEMBER 2023 COVER STORY Lyding Farm INSIDE Ploughing matches, Groundswell, JRJ Construction OCTOBER 2023 COVER STORY Sarah Calcutt INSIDE National Fruit Show preview, ploughing match results NOVEMBER 2023 COVER STORY Perry Court Farm INSIDE Vineyard & Winery Show, The Golden Boot, JD Richmond & Son DECEMBER 2023 COVER STORY The Oaks Poultry Farm INSIDE National Fruit Show review, End of year property review JANUARY 2024 COVER STORY Springham Farm INSIDE Vineyard & Winery Show, CLM, Farm Construction FEBRUARY 2024 COVER STORY Supply chain pressures INSIDE Farm Expo preview MARCH 2024 COVER STORY Lambing at Hadlow College INSIDE Wiltshires APRIL 2024 COVER STORY SOES…

FEWER NEW TRACTORS IN THE UK The number of new tractors registered in the UK continues to track below last year’s levels, reports the AEA. July’s total of 948 units is 14% lower than the same month in 2023, and 18% below the average for the time of year over the previous five years. The total of 6,830 tractors registered in the year to date is 10% below the five-year average for the opening seven months of the year. ONE IN 10 TRAILERS STOLEN 10% of checks undertaken on the Equipment Register (TER) database of 1.6 million items (850,000 trailers) in 2023 match stolen items. Findings from Europe’s largest database of stolen plant and equipment support data from the latest NFU Mutual rural crime report, which found that the cost…

John Deere is hoping the headline figure of €2,990 for its ‘Essentials’ autosteer hardware package will entice fresh business from new and existing customers. This kit includes the larger G5 Plus display, StarFire 7500 receiver including the SF1 signal (+/-15cm) and the JD-Link M-Modem. The latter allows you to use the free of charge Operations Center for machine monitoring, sending data and job documentation. Users then need to connect this kit to a steer ready vehicle using the appropriate additional cost wiring harnesses or use Deere’s ATU300 motorised steering wheel. The wheel kit is around €2,500 plus wiring and fitting. There is then the choice of two annual license packages. For €1,490 per year you get AutoTrac guidance including Row Sense and ISObus compatibility including variable rate. The higher cost…

Having cut his teeth developing a panbusting tool bar and disc coulter system to mount on power harrow drills, farmer Philip Bramley has now devised a modular tine coulter drill with a specific emphasis on keeping the machine light enough for modest horsepower. Indeed, the 6.0m wide version can be operated with as little as 150hp. Depending on the adaptable layout — three rows of coulters, depth wheels and following harrow or leading disc, two rows of coulters and rear press wheels — the weight of the rear drilling unit can be as little as 1,500kg or as much as 2,500kg. Also doing its part to keep the total power requirement low is the 25cm coulter spacing — on 12mm points the 24-coulter, 6.0m version is moving just 288mm of…

Stitching in fresh seed to an existing pasture was once the domain of a tine-based grass harrow, but, with the increasing cost of seed, farmers are wanting a better guarantee that each seed will strike. This demands more precision and is where APV’s GP comes into its own. We had the opportunity to operate a preproduction GP750 model that had already covered more than 700ha in the past season. Full production machines will benefit from a number of tweaks such as improved hose runs. Getting going The machine couples either to the link arms or a K80 ball. With the latter it is raised on the running gear and by an additional ram positioned on the drawbar. Also on the drawbar is the well-designed hose rack with somewhere to store…

Any item of machinery that has been available over several years will typically have been subject to numerous updates and developments. This is not as applicable to Amazone ED precision drills as you might think. The key metering element of the drill’s design remained largely unchanged over their long production run. As a used buyer this is good news. Key wearing and replacement parts commonality makes it a great deal easier to find what you need to fettle even the oldest of drills and it makes ordering OEM spares easier too. Amazone UK holds most replacement parts in stock. Rather than describe the models and developments the ED has undergone over its production run in detail, a precis is listed separately. As to core specs, these drills were offered with…

The idea of using electricity to kill off green plants is not new. In principle, it works. High DC voltage causes cells within the plant to burst and thus destroys their vascular system. The result: the plant’s water supply is disrupted and the plant dries. However, the voltage and energy required are higher than actually necessary due to the plant’s protective waxy layer. The Crop.Zone design reduces this physical barrier in a very simple but clever way — a conductive saline solution is sprayed immediately before the current is applied, increasing the electrical conductivity of the plants. Volt.Fuel overcomes resistance Working together with Nufarm, Crop.Zone has developed spray solutions that reduce the electrical resistance of the plant’s surface tissue by a factor of ten to fifteen. As well as mineral…

Moving less soil has become a tick box on many drill shopping lists; for Sebastian Blanch of JB Farms in Crudwell there were a number of other considerations. “We’d used a Väderstad Rapid for 20 years and we purchased a 6.0m Seed Hawk to take us towards direct drilling.” Aims, he explains, are to tackle blackgrass and boost soil health; there are a range of soil types across the farm to contend with. Other objectives include opening up the heavy soils and improving soil structure, establishing cover crops to assist with this. He decided go with a tine drill as a route to no-till; feeling that a disc drill would be a ‘step too far’ and perhaps not best suited to the proportion of land which is Cotswold brash. “We’d…

Claas acquired over 51% of Renault’s tractor division in 2003 before scooping up the remaining shares in 2008. Initially, they continued with the existing model ranges including the Ares and the higher powered Atles but donning the familiar spring green colour scheme. In 2006, Claas presented the Axion 800s, the first tractor range that was developed inhouse as the successor to Ares 700 and 800. We chat to the farmers Georg Budde and Phil Brintrup about their years of experience with their first-generation Axions. These are mainly used for carrying out arable work on their respective 80 and 100ha farms. Georg bought his 820 Axion in 2011 when it had just 2,200 hours on the clock; Phil’s father bought their 810 in 2014 with around 4,000 hours clocked. Powershift.. The…