Indholdsfortegnelse for January 2024 i Profi

The lure of fresh metal was strong at Agritechnica. I honestly thought we had most of the new stuff already covered, from the various preview events and manufacturer announcements on the run-up to the show. But how wrong was I? In fact, there was that much new kit on display, I know there are several bits that simply didn’t make it on to my radar. And this challenge — of trying to see and absorb everything — is only going to become harder in the future. Back in the good old days of big metal and diesel engines, you could easily spot the new machines as you wandered along the show aisles. Yet now, some innocuous black box could be encasing the next game-changer in farming. It’s almost impossible to…

Three North European farm machinery magazines from Finland (Koneviesti), Norway (Bedre Gardsdrift) and Sweden (Traktortech) along with our Dutch colleagues from Trekker tested seven tractors in the 300hp power bracket, all with a continuously variable transmission, GPS and ISObus. Denmark was the proving ground for this comparison. The six-cyl engines of the tested candidates have a displacement of between 6.1- (Deutz-Fahr) and 7.4 litres (MF and Valtra). According to the brochure stats, the maximum output without a power boost ranges from 275hp (John Deere) to 313hp (McCormick). If you do include the boost, the John Deere nudges its way up to 301hp. Although brochure stats are a good starting point, we were more interested in how much of this claimed engine power actually makes its way to the rear stub…

Drawbar power was measured by the Finnish test institute Oy Testmill using hanging scales, one end of which was attached to a 25t Komatsu wheel loader from the Danish importer Scantruck. Pto power and diesel consumption were measured by the Danish company Landbrugets Traktorafprøvning. Further measurements carried out by the editors included step heights, cab dimensions, turning circles and visibility. In the field, they assessed the tractor’s ability while ploughing, harrowing, pulling a trailer etc. and also its handling and operation. We thank the farmers Finn and Poul Bräuner for use of their land and manufacturers Kverneland, He-Va, Pöttinger, Kuhn, Ovlac, Väderstad, Multiva, Krampe, Joskin and Grimme for providing the implements. From the magazines were: Magnus Sorlie and Magnus Mo Opsahl (Bedre Gardsdrift, Denmark), John Christensen (TraktorTech, Sweden) and Tapio…

It is now only available as a stainless steel unit, which is resistant to corrosion from ammonia and muck. The workmanship is simple, and not every weld is neat and tidy. The slide does not close completely and should be stronger, too. With an unladen weight of 75kg, the Maxi is light and pleasantly manoeuvrable. The lower filling height is also a plus point for the Maxi. The belt runs quite fast and only feeds the bedding to the right. On top of that, the belt speed is not adjustable. With sawdust or milled straw, the throw is up to 130cm. Most of the material is thrown 80cm beyond the edge. The 12 volt battery (26amps) should be charged after each use, as we noticed that during prolonged operation the…

It is less than 12 months since we looked at the GreenTec Scorpion, the Danish firm’s forward-reach hedgecutter that allows the flail to work at eye level alongside the cab. Now the company has added a new range, the Spider, which boasts a slewing boom that allows the arm to work on the left- and right-hand side of the tractor and still position the head alongside the cab. Clever stuff. Scorpion arm The hedgecutter arm is borrowed from the Scorpion range, but, in order for it to swing forward next to the cab, the Spider needed more than a simple central pivot to enable it to swing to the left and right. This swivel point is higher up, almost in line with the tractor linkage’s cross shaft so that the…

Amazone is applying some of its proven fertiliser spreading knowhow to lime with the new dual-purpose ZG-TX. The spreader is available as a Special (up to 12.5t, 6,800-9,000-litres) or the tested Super. The latter has a stronger frame that is rated to 21t and hopper capacities of 9,000 to 11,200 litres. There are two electronic versions of both. The Easy machines with a simple set-up with the EasySet2 terminal that automatically matches the application rate to the changing forward speed. And for optimum precision, there is the Tronic option with ISObus operation, new software and functions such as section control and variable rate. Solid hardware With a K80 spoon, the drawbar on our ZG-TX Super extends all the way back to the middle under the machine and is cushioned by…

FENDT 516 VARIO PROFI SCR WITH CARGO 4X80 LOADER Year: 2014 Hours: 7,350 Condition: Above average Comment: Full dealer service history and warranty. 50% tyres. Front linkage, exhaust brake. Fendt loader (Euro carriage). 5 rear and 1 front valve. Good general specification. Price: £76,750. 10,000hr, non-dealer 516 models from £42,500, but £50K more typical entry level price. FENDT 516 VARIO PROFI SCR WITH CARGO 4X80 LOADER Year: 2016 Hours: 8,600 Condition: Good Comment: 80% front and 50% rear tyres. Front linkage, exhaust brake, Power Beyond. Three speed rear pto. Fendt loader (Euro carriage). 4 rear and 1 front aux.valves. Fully dealer prepared. Price: £64,750. Good price for hours, age and loader model. FENDT 516 516 VARIO PROFIPLUS S4 Year: 2019 Hours: 3,698 Condition: Above average Comment: Full dealer service history…

Yes, you're absolutely right: neither the areas with sensitive electronics nor the plant room where the milking robot is located should be cleaned to the point that they are soaking with water. Despite the best efforts by robot makers, there is always a risk of the machine getting damaged. On the other hand, though, thorough cleaning is a prerequisite wherever milking takes place — to keep bacteria and other germs at bay before somatic cell counts and issues become big problems. A temporary solution … for eight years Our search for a farm that had developed the ideal cleaning set-up brought us to Kevelaer in the Lower Rhine region. Here the father and son team, Norbert and Christian Tombergs, farm 210 milkers plus followers with the help of two members…

The Diamond 270 was the top-of-the-range Same just a mere 15 years ago, and it packed a power-lugging punch. Today, second-hand buyers may also have cause to smile when they see the second-hand price — that’s if they can find one. We tracked one of these rare Diamonds to Berd Lösing’s dairy farm in Vreden near the Dutch-German border. He spent about €30,000 to acquire his 2008 Same. The 275hp tractor had clocked 8,500 hours when the deal was done. Solid engineering This Same is identical to the Deutz-Fahr and Lamborghini models, all solidly engineered. Under the bonnet is a powerful six-cylinder Deutz 7.1-litre engine. Moreover, this same motor was also installed by Fendt in the 900 tractor series for over 10 years. With its four-valve, common-rail injection, this engine…

LAMMA 2024 takes place on Wednesday, 17 January 8.30am-5.30pm and Thursday, 18 January, 8.30am-4.30pm at the NEC Birmingham. From its roots as the Lincolnshire machinery manufacturers’ annual event, the show has grown significantly with more than 600 exhibitors showcasing the latest tractors, combines, arable and grassland machinery, as well as a wide range of new technology, services and tools. While more of the multinationals will be present than in recent years, it’s still a show that highlights individual innovators, small engineering companies and component suppliers. It also showcases the still significant agricultural engineering industry in the UK and Ireland. Chafer Sentry and Guardian Chafer is showing a range of updates to Guardian and Sentry trailed sprayers including the EPlumbing RinsePro system which adds a secondary 120l/m piston diaphragm pump to…

We’re an odd bunch, us tractor fondlers, and notoriously hard to buy gifts for … so I’ve been told. Hopefully you’ve been lucky enough to grab this month’s edition of profi pre-Christmas. Or perhaps you'd like to make up for a shortfall in your usual present harvest. Or maybe the unthinkable has happened and you forgot someone. Either way, I thought I’d bestow upon you some gift ideas that might not glitter, but are definitely gold. Cycle bottle holders £5-£20 I can think of a few makers who've given a nod to needs of hydrating the operator by way of providing pitifully shallow depressions in the cab plastics and having the gall to call them cup holders. Only if you are particularly lucky do you find that your drink container…

NEXT STEPS FOR NEXAT Nexat used Agritechnica to announce two more partners. French manufacturer Agrisem is currently building a bespoke 14m disc harrow for the monster gantry, and Italian firm Ferrari is developing a 14m vegetable planter. Both implements are expected to be in the field for testing early 2025. Manufacturers that have already developed kit for the Nexat include Dammann (sprayers), Väderstad (drills and cultivators) and Wienhoff (slurry tankers), and while Kalverkamp made little noise about it at the German show, a fertilizer spreader is also in development. The plan is to have a prototype in the field next season. All the company will disclose now is that the capacity will easily double that of the current largest trailed spreader. At the time of writing, three Nexats were sold…

MF 8S.285 With the 8S, Massey Ferguson introduced a completely new cab generation in 2021. This was by far the largest cab in the test and scored highly with the test team. The engine, transmission, linkage and hydraulics are largely identical to the Valtra Q Series's. Claas Axion 870 The second generation Axion 800 has been on the market in this build since 2013, but has enjoyed several updates, such as the Cemos driver assistance system. Its concept seems to be just right, though; otherwise it wouldn’t have performed so well in this test. Axion 870 testers had the feeling of driving a solidly built machine. McCormick X8.631 The McCormick X8 is the most powerful and biggest tractor in the test group. The cab, however, received the fewest points, both…

The Rollant 540RC isn't a new machine. It was launched back in 2018, but its DNA is actually much older than that. Indeed, for anyone who has owned a Rollant 250 from the late 1990s there will be a certain sense of déjá vu with many elements, such as setting the bale density or altering the amount of net being applied. While the old 250 had its faults, most of us who used the 540 were impressed once we recalled the old Claas nuances. Two of our test team were familiar with the iconic 46 model, but today one owns a Lely Welger, the other a McHale, so they are in an excellent position to compare the Claas with its modern fixedchamber competitors. The only question we can't answer here…

The Fox has a movable head that can swivel sideways and under a fence, making it simple to cut grass under fences and crash barriers. GreenTec now manufactures the Fox itself and has developed a parallel-control attachment for the topper so that it becomes self-levelling. The topper has three blades that are powered hydraulically. The oil flow is either 25l/min or 40l/min. As for hydraulics, the Fox requires one spool and a free return line to the tank. The topper cuts at widths of 60cm or 80cm.…

There are three models in the continuously variable transmission AgriMax Power X2 telehandler range, the 50.8, 60.9 and the 65.8. The first number indicates lift capacity, the second lift height. The 50.8 model we look at here has a nominal 5.0t capacity with a lift height of just under 8.0m. All models are powered by a 172hp 4.5 litre FPT four-cylinder engine installed transverse to the direction of travel with a front mounted cooling pack. This is cooled via a hydraulic fan, its rotation automatically reversing every 15 minutes to keep the radiator pack clean. The fan can also be reversed manually. Stepless transmission A Dana continuously variable HVT1 transmission connects to the engine via a right-angle gearbox, a mechanical connection between the engine and the wheels enabling the transmission…

The MultiStrip 10 from the tool maker Knipex is an automatic wire stripper that can be bought online for around £70 including VAT. In this case, 'automatic' means the pliers can adjust themselves to various cable diameters, from 0.03 to 10mm². This will be sufficient for pretty much all automotive applications. What’s more, it has a patented mechanism that adjusts cutting depth of the two straight blades to the diameter of the conducting wire, effectively protecting the all-important copper or aluminium cores. The housing of the pliers is made out of plastic and seems of decent quality. In addition, the stripper has an adjustable stop that ensures all the strands are always stripped to a consistent and tidy length. Another feature is a cutter on the underside of the pliers.…

A number of manufacturers have returned to LAMMA after an absence, including JCB and Massey Ferguson. “We’ll be at LAMMA in 2024 with our best-ever range of agricultural machines for productive farming and contracting,” says John Smith, JCB Agriculture managing director. “It will be an effective showcase for our products, held at the right time of year in a comfortable environment, and we are looking forward to having face-to-face conversations with existing and potential customers as we present an exciting line-up of existing and new machines.” JCB previews two new high-performance models in its telescopic handler range. The Loadall 542-100 with more lift capacity than JCB’s current high-lift model, a maximum of 4.2 tonnes and maximum lift height of 9.8m. There’s the usual choice of spec packages; the Agri Pro…

LOVOL RETURNS TO EUROPE The Arbos brand disappeared quietly from the European radar in 2021, but Chinese manufacturer Lovol, the company behind it, was back at Agritechnica, this time with a new owner – Weichai. We will probably never get to the bottom of why Arbos failed after spending many millions of Euros, but we understand that the Lovol Group was sold to Weichai - a holding company of Shandong Heavy Equipment. The new company name is Weichai Lovol, and Lovol is now the global brand for the Chinese-made tractors. The most powerful tractor on the stand was the 240hp P7240. The exterior looks suspiciously like the P7240 from the previous Arbos P7000 series and even the paintwork is identical. However, the company stresses that this is where the similarities…

Claas Axion 870 Forward visibility | 69.2% Visibility to the rear | 55.8% Total view | 62.5% Deutz-Fahr 8280 Forward visibility | 61.8% Visibility to the rear % | 65.1% Total view | 63.4% John Deere 6R250 Forward visibility | 62.5% Visibility to the rear | 57,5 57.5% Total view | 60.0% Massey Ferguson 8S.285 Forward visibility | 63.8% Visibility to the rear | 60.9% Total view | 62.3% McCormick X8.631 Forward visibility | 64.0% Visibility to the rear | 58.0% Total view | 61.0% Massey Ferguson 8S.285 New Holland T7.300 Forward visibility | 59.1% Visibility to the rear | 57.6% Total view | 58.4% Valtra Q285 Forward visibility 71,6 % Visibility to the % rear | 69.8 Total view | 70.7%…

Bedding cubicles by hand is physically demanding and time-consuming. But cows enjoy the bedding, and it keeps the surface dry, discouraging bacteria and germs from developing. For bedding up cubicles with sawdust and/or lime, you basically have three spreading options; manual, walk behind or sit-on self-propelled. Our counterparts from the Dutch farming magazine Veehouderij Techniek took a look at two of the walk-behind bedding machines on the market. Less waste The Maxi bedder from AG Products, known as AG for short, and the SE250 from Flingk in the Netherlands were scrutinised. AG is a British manufacturer that has been involved in bedding equipment for a long time; it was founded by Cheshire lad Andrew Garnett. AG used to sell its Maxi unit with a galvanised sheet steel tub. Today, the…

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Did you know over 9,000 farmers currently benefit from our unrivalled advice? If you want to know what they know, take a look at some of our subscription offers where you’ll get the latest news, updates and guidance, as well as our unique DLG tractor tests delivered to your door, every single month. Subscribers can also enjoy free access to our 27-year in-depth test archive, PLUS receive access to a complimentary digital copy of Agricultural Trader every month. Guarantee you make the right choice when purchasing machinery by subscribing to profi today. Merv Editor, Profi International BECOME A SUBSCRIBER & ENJOY THESE BENEFITS: ✤ Enjoy one whole year of profi magazine ✤ Free access to our entire 27-year in-depth test archive, including the unique DLG Powermix…

Samson is known for building robust machines, a reputation that looks set to be enhanced when it comes to the US Universal Spreader models. Designed for intensive contractor usage over extended seasons, these models have several design innovations that should help reduce maintenance demands and operating costs. The test US235 we got to try has two axles and a 35m³ body. An option fitted to our test model are the sides that can be lowered by 700mm to reduce the 4.0m overall load height. This spec choice will suit those loading with a smaller wheeled loader without a high tip bucket. The latter are often the tool of choice for clearing poultry houses, the lowering sides extending the flexibility of a US spreader in mixed contract operations. The tall sides…

The Avatar has been given a few subtle tweaks over recent years. Hence we caught up with the big 12m, Avatar 12.25 SD — to see what it has to offer, and, for those who are still pondering a shift to no-till, how it goes about the job of putting seed in the ground with minimal disturbance. This last bit is not just restricted to those with a hankering for a big drill, as the same coulter is used across the Avatar range. The drill can also turn its hand to working in a min-tilled seedbed, so there’s no need to fret if you still want to chit to encourage weeds to grow or have to level off any wheel ruts. The Avatar family broadly consists of three versions. There…

Sit down with a Fendt dealer to sort out what you want with a new Fendt 500 Vario and the basic package offerings of Power through to Profi Plus (or + as it now is on Gen3 models) will be easy enough to understand. More complex will be the cost of adding further options to those packages. Fendt pricing structures can make it less expensive to add certain features to a Profi tractor than to a Power and, in some cases, the available option will be of a different specification too. As a used buyer you are spared working out the original spec choices as you get what is offered. The following lists key features of each specification package. It is down to you to check if any further options…

With a track width of over 14m and 1,100hp on tap, the Nexat (Next generation agricultural technology) is big. Clearly aimed at large arable farms, German company Kalverkamp which developed and makes it, views the wide-span CTF concept as the key to boost soil fertility, make the best use of inputs, and maximise yields. The first few production machines are running in Germany, Ukraine, North America and Brazil. Australia is also seen as the perfect market for it. Keen to see how the machine performs in the field and what it is like to operate, we spent time with not one, but two Nexats at the Barnstädt farm, near Leipzig in Germany. The farm bought the first, a second-generation vehicle, two years ago. This was later joined by the newest…

SELF DRIVING XERION Autonomous tractors were a big talking point at Agritechnica 2023 and the mainstream makers were not leaving it all up to the new start-ups. Claas kitted out its new Xerion 12 with a full self-driving kit which it is calling Auto Pilot. Still at the prototype stage, this is part of a three level ‘Autonomy Connect’ technology package that for now is only on the four-tracked tractor. The base version is basically an autosteer equipped tractor which is called Driver Assistance. But it is the mid-level offering Co-Pilot where things start to get interesting as it adds LiDAR, radar and cameras with a big dollop of AI so the tractor can then scan its surroundings and drive itself, all the operator is doing is observing. How the…

Bednar Directo NO Bednar introduces the Directo NO direct drill which offers a double-chamber pressurised hopper with a capacity of 5,000-litres, and an additional hopper, the Alfa Drill 400 seeding unit, is available on request, allowing grain/fertiliser, up to three different products or micro-granule application. Inter-row distance between the drill coulters is 16.7 cm and they are arranged in two rows to accommodate post-harvest residues or plant material. The patented disc drill coulters deposit the seed at a consistent sowing depth across the entire machine width and follow ground contours; down pressure of 250kg per drill coulter can be exerted in difficult conditions. Case IH Quadtrac 715 AFS Connect Expect a few crowds round the Quadtrac 715 AFS Connect, Case IH’s most powerful production tractor. It is powered by the…