Indholdsfortegnelse for November 2023 i Profi

It's probably been 14 years or more since there was this number of press launches in the run-up to Agritechnica. It has been manic … and some. But at least I can now momentarily enjoy the lull before the storm of what is undoubtedly going to be a busy few days in Hannover in November. We have crammed a sizeable chunk of the new kit that we know about into our show preview in this issue, and there'll be more news going on the profi.co.uk website over the coming weeks. So, click on and have a look. As well as displaying shiny new metalwork, there were two other predominant themes stressed by nearly every manufacturer we've visited over the past couple of months. The new machinery trade is expected to…

AGCO AND TRIMBLE Agco is to acquire Trimble’s precision agricultural business and technologies through a joint venture in which Agco has an 85% stake. The other 15% is held by Trimble. Agco will pay Trimble US$2.0 billion in cash and contribute JCA Technologies to the joint venture, which will not only develop and sell Trimble's agricultural products, such as monitors, steering motors and software (excludes certain Global Navigation Satellite System and guidance technologies), but also the Müller and Bilberry brands that are already part of Trimble Ag. Agco says that the joint venture will allow its brands – Fendt, Massey Ferguson and Valtra – to develop faster in precision agriculture. The acquisition is expected to be finalised in the first half of 2024, and Agco expects its combined precision ag…

A telescopic loader boom that can extend the lift height by 1.45m has been developed by Stoll and with good reason too. Tractors in the 120-150hp bracket are the most popular for adding a loader and this generally coincides with a maximum lift height of 4.0m, however, if you want to load an HGV trailer which can be up to 4.0m high, it doesn’t take much of an upset in ground conditions to stop the loader being able to do its job. The extra reach boom will be available on all Profi Line models and is a two stage approach. The first part of the boom telescopes out 0.5m, as a secondary movement, the forward section of the boom can be straightened out for extra lift height. When fully stretched…

The wide adoption of precision guidance will have a growing impact on techniques to include mechanical weed control. With its DynaTrac systems, French manufacturer Laforge enables exiting kit to be easily adapted to active row following. At present, there are five DynaTrac linkage systems on offer: • Classic. This weighs 190kg and attaches to a tractor’s lower link arms. It offers lateral travel of up to 500mm. • Compact. Suitable for pto powered equipment weighing up to 1,500kg. Unit weighs 410kg and offers a side-shift range of up to 300mm. • Premium. Suitable for non-powered attachments weighing up to 4,000kg, the linkage weighs 690kg and offers up to 500mm of lateral movement. • Premium+. Suitable for pto powered attachments weighing up to 5,000kg with a shift range of up to…

We probably haven’t reached this level of applicator requirement in the UK or Ireland just yet, but contractors in other countries putting digestate on arable crops often have to deal with varying tramline widths, as well as customers wanting to avoid double doses on headlands and short work. Plus there are the usual in-field obstacles of electricity poles, which can be a nuisance especially with a 36m wide boom. The boffins at Bomech believe they've come up with a solution with the firm's entry to the dribble bar market, a 36m wide boom with extendable end sections that can be retracted by up to 7.50m on either wing. This feature allows operators to seamlessly adjust the working width between 21m and 36m. Although the boom is still at the prototype…

Dribble bar, trailing shoe, injector or splash plate? For several years now the Bavarian State Research Centre for Agriculture (LfL) has been looking into the effects of employing different slurry application methods on silage quality. The studied topics have included grass hygiene, fertilisation strategies, timing, application methods and ensiling qualities. In a trial during 2020 and 2021, slurry was applied on a trial plot in a drought-prone grassland site in Lower Franconia, Germany. A total of 170kg/ha of N in the form of slurry was applied using a splash plate, trailing shoes and disc injector. As usual, the application was carried out in spring and immediately after every cut, and the results were compared against a test plot that was grown exclusively with mineral fertiliser. When the grass reached the…

Bobcat has extended its compact wheel loader portfolio upwards with the new top-of-the-range L95. Suitable for a wide range of jobs, such as buckraking and silage clamp work, power to the 5.3t machine comes from a 2.4l 75hp Bobcat Stage V block. The two-range hydrostatic transmission provides top speeds of 25km/hr and 40km/hr, respectively, and forward-reverse response times have been improved. Other notable points include the full length glass cab door. Inside is a new joystick (integrated with the suspended seat), fully adjustable and heated premium seat, two-way adjustable steering column, 5-inch display and a DAB+ radio and hands-free function for phone calls. Bucket capacities range from 0.6-1.5m³. Lift capacity is 2.3t and maximum lift height is 3.3m. Standard equipment includes the redesigned Power Quick-Tach system. This simplifies and protects…

Developed by engineering teams in the US and Italy, aided by partnership with Californian based Monarch Tractor, the T4 Electric Power has a peak power of 120hp, maximum torque of 440Nm and maximum speed of 40km/hr. Said to be well suited to mixed and livestock farms, orchards and specialty applications, it depends on the workload, but the battery is said to provide a full day of use, and recharge time with a fast charging system of just one hour. The tractor can also be used as a backup power source for other devices and machines and can power electric implements. Stand out features include Smart Roof, a 360° system which integrates sensors, cameras, and control units to detect and avoid obstacles, and the Follow Me Mode allows the tractor to…

Cordless impact wrenches belong to the basic tool inventory of a farm workshop. These cordless units are very convenient for use in the field, for replacing worn cultivator metal or even new flails on a mower. But will they also loosen an M8 screw on a panel? Yes, possibly. So, we asked a bunch of manufacturers to send us their most powerful model with a ½-inch square anvil. Since the Makita TW008G wasn't of the same size and power as the other test candidates, the firm delivered another wrench with a ¾-inch square anvil, the TW001G. We tested this one outside the ½-inch comparison. With the exception of the Makita (40-volt system), all tools are operated with 18 volts. How the tests were carried out First, we tested the tools…

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It would seem there is still a global appetite for big horsepower, and, to meet these needs, Case IH has pumped an extra 80hp under the bonnet of its new flagship, the 715. The result won't just be the top dog in the Case IH range, either, as it'll also be the largest commercially available farm tractor when it starts production in 2024. So, how has the Fargo engineering team gone about getting even more power into the big Quadtrac? First step is a larger motor: in place of the FPT Cursor 13 is the larger 15.9-litre Cursor 16 engine, which is ably assisted by two turbochargers in delivering an incredible 3,255Nm of torque to the crankshaft — that's 200Nm more than the previous top model, the Quadtrac 645. Geometry…

There is an ever-increasing array of cultivators capable of working just the top few inches of dirt. Alongside the spring tine machines that we looked at in the 10/2023 issue, 12 other implements were demoed at the German field event organised by the Chamber of Agriculture in Lower Saxony in the north of the country. The machines are as follows: • four universal cultivators • two short disc harrows • two chain harrows • two powered tillers • two shallow ploughs Some of these implements are very much specialist tools, while others can be used for a much wider range of work. Chain harrows, for example, are designed for shallow tilling, whereas the Lemken Koralin is a somewhat more universal implement, with its handy mix of discs and tines primarily…

As is so often the case with silage teams and harvesting fire-power, the arrival of bigger, more powerful kit can easily create a bottleneck at the clamp. For many, the short-term solution is a brace of tractors at not inconsiderable cost, or a purpose-built loading shovel stretching into hundreds of thousands of pounds, to spread and compact grass at a pace brisk enough to keep up with the forager. Not content with such a costly option, Staffordshire dairy farmer and engineer Richard Hine had other ideas. And his current king of the clamp is based on a self-propelled beet harvester that has been subjected to a ‘cut and shut’ along with some creative engineering to deliver a self-propelled buck rake complete with a 12ft push-off fork. “The whole machine probably…

There has already been several bits of big and little tractor news announced ahead of Agritechnica, but don’t be surprised if several other new tractors make an appearance – Deutz-Fahr and Massey Ferguson have both decided to hold off until the doors open before revealing the details of the new 6 and 9S series respectively. But there are also rumours of something new from Claas. Implement makers have also been working hard the last few months announcing details of their latest wares. Just have a look back over our news section to see some of the new kit that is planned for 2024 that we have already reported on. But there is still lots more being announced so have a look through our show preview and keep an eye on…

Back in July at an international press meeting Kuhn announced that it will reveal its autonomous Kuhn field robot at Agritechnica. The technical details remain under wraps, but the company has released a sneak preview in the form of a six-second video. The exhaust clearly highlights it is fitted with an internal combustion engine, and our colleagues at Mechaman.nl reckon that it has a power output of at least 90hp and a rear linkage that can lift 1.8t. The orange cable protruding from the suggests Karl is a diesel-electric hybrid. Another cable leads to the top of the track drive unit. It remains to be seen if the rubber tracks and PTO are powered electrically and whether Karl is able to power an electric implement.…

The GrindStar cultivator developed by German company Saphir Maschinenbau is designed to conserve soil moisture and provide the optimum conditions for volunteer cereals. Developed jointly with the University of Applied Sciences (Cologne) and fellow German company Seed2Soil, sharply angled 740mm-diamter ground-driven rotors work the soil to a depth of just 2.0cm. Each one is mounted on a parallelogram linkage so it can maintain its depth. Power requirement is around 26hp per meter.…

Zunhammer has developed a solution to ensure application accuracy when using wide working slurry injectors and trailing shoes. Called Eco-Duo Vario, it comprises two positive displacement pumps. Individually controlled by ISObus, pump rotational speed is automatically adjusted to maintain the required application rate. The frame comprises separate feed hoses for both the left and right this allows slurry volumes to be regulated independently on each side (for example, working width of 30m corresponds to two sections of 15m), without altering the application rate on the rest of the machine.…

The sensor system developed by Lemken and Dutch firm Track32 alerts the driver should a soil engaging part be missing and forecasts when wearing parts need replacing. Known as IQblue, and described as a useful aid on a standard tractor and essential for autonomous vehicles, tool analysis is carried out when the implement is lifted at the headland by analysing camera images using an AI algorithm. The system displays warnings in the form of a traffic light system. Coulter loss is displayed as red and damaged or worn wearing parts are highlighted in yellow. All is well when a green light is shown.…

Makita sent two wrenches to the test — the compact TW008G and the next higher-spec. 40-volt model, the TW001G system. We tested this in a separate test, because it has a higher output and is equipped with a ¾-inch anvil. Nevertheless, we put it through the same test programme as the other machines, which explains why we included it in the graphs. In terms of size and weight, the power tool differs only slightly from the largest ½-inch wrenches. Without a battery it is only 100g heavier than the Granit unit. The handle unit and the setting options, in four levels or three programmes, are the same as for the the smaller models. The extra LED work light at the bottom of the handle gives excellent lighting. The stats given…

McHale has now completed its mow-to-wrapped-bale product line-up with the introduction of what will be a three-model tedder range, the cleverly named Propel. But it's not just the range name that makes sense, as the model designation carries a certain logic, too: for instance, the M6-770 model featured here is a mounted unit with six rotors and a working width of 7.70m. Refreshingly simple. As it has done before, McHale had a thorough nose around the competition before deciding what direction to take. And as a lot of the key people involved in the Propel tedder project at the Irish company are also doing a spot of farming, there has been a welcome chunk of logical thinking employed within the design of the mounted M4 and M6, along with the…

A key plus with British made self-propelled sprayers is the chance to have a used buy ‘refreshed’ directly by the people who made it, helping overcome the need to root out the exact specification you need. In the case of Househam, it has a dedicated workshop in which used kit is fettled, with work ranging from a service and basic tidy up through to a full refurb. It is even possible to ‘update’ the controllers of some earlier models to current levels and retrofit the company’s own autosteer and boom levelling systems and more to some sprayers. There are of course specialist third-party resellers who can rework a used buy to rebuild and enhance its specification. Whatever route you take, to get the best buy you need to be patient,…

Many farmers will apply a standard dose of 100-150kg of diammonium phosphate (DAP) when planting their maize crops, but is it really necessary? Jan Lossie and Michael Lepage do not see this type of fertiliser as the only way to promote early plant development and meet the crop's nutritional needs. They believe in an alternative approach … and one that seems to be finding increasing favour. Jan is one of four partners in DSL Agrarservice in Rodewald, Lower Saxony. The contracting firm primarily focuses on crop establishment on farms in the area north of Hannover. Its services include precision planting sugar beet, maize and oilseed rape. As well as a Grimme mechanical precision drill, the firm operates three Horsch planters. The business has modified one of the Horsch CV machines…

HARVEST 23 COVER STORY: John Deere 9500i INSIDE: Case IH Axial Flow 9250, Arb-Tec Cutaro SR1100 OCTOBER 23 COVER STORY: 8S.305 Dyna-VT INSIDE: Self-propelled Lucas G, Erth Agriseeder SEPTEMBER 23 COVER STORY: JCB Fastrac 4220 INSIDE: Amazone Tyrok plough, How to repair a pto AUGUST 23 COVER STORY: John Deere 6150R & 6155R Buying tips INSIDE: McCormick X6.414 JULY 23 COVER STORY: Sands Infinity 6000 INSIDE: Super shallow Treffler cultivator, Gea milking robot tested JUNE 23 COVER STORY: Claas Arion 470 INSIDE: Quicke loader pin overhaul, Buying a used Spearhead hedgecutter MAY 23 COVER STORY: Fendt 1167 Vario MT INSIDE: Used Joskin tanker buying tips, Increasing nitrogen value of slurry APRIL 23 COVER STORY: John Deere 6R150 INSIDE: Green harvest focus, Test: Pottinger Jumbo 7400 MARCH 23 COVER STORY: Giving…

The cleanest, low-houred second-hand kit will always sell, almost irrespective of the state of the farming economy at the time, according to Brown & Co auctioneer George Watchorn. Mr Watchorn cites the stand-out item at the recent Glebe Farm sale, held near Retford, Nottinghamshire, as a prime example. With just 3,442 hours on its clock, Glebe Farm’s 12-year-old Massey Ferguson 6480 Dyna-6 40km/hr tractor went to a local farm buyer for a strong £42,500. And this figure looks all the more impressive when compared with the £57,000 paid by a trade buyer for the farm’s 6715S Dyna-6 — a 50km/hr model, eight years younger and showing 2,200 fewer hours albeit with a four-cylinder motor. “The price paid for the younger 6715S isn’t bad, but the money made by the 6480…

Besides favouring a lucky pair of underpants in my youth, which in hindsight had mixed results, I did not consider myself in the least bit superstitious. Now, after recent events, I'm not so sure. Starting out with a well-used D1010s baler, not all bales were blessed with a full complement of four strings, as the old girl liked to keep you on your toes. No sooner had you solved one knotting issue, another was waiting in the wings. On the other hand, consistent knotter problems have always been the result of component failure, which spookily have all happened within the confines of lower Coverdale — my very own Bermuda Triangle. Most recent of these failures saw a twine disc gear strip the corresponding teeth from the cam crown wheel. Knowing…

DRIVEN There's been a whole heap of detail changes implemented on the best-selling baler wrapper combination, as McHale looks to keep ahead of its competition. Denser bales and faster wrapping are the key claims TEST Samsz P10-1100T tedder The P10-1100T model is the largest tedder to ever come from Samasz. Our test team has been working with the 10-rotor machine to see how it fares in both light and heavy Irish grass crops. REPORT A move to a greenfield site allowed Staffordshire farmers T Swift and Son to design their new beef unit from scratch … with the help of LM Bateman and Co. TEST Giant electric versus diesel Can a battery-powered compact loader really oust its diesel-fuelled opposite number? Our head-to-head test of the Giant G2200E and G2200HD reviews…