Sommaire pour April 2021 de Profi

Weaving has expanded its implement range with the new ShortDisc cultivator. As the name suggests, this is a short disc harrow which will be available in working widths of 3.0m, 4.0m and 5.0m. All three models are mounted and feature two rows of 560mm concave discs with rubber cord dampening. There is a disc hitting the ground every 125mm and the spacing between the two rows of discs measures 1.0m providing enough room for trash flow. Working depth for the corrugated discs is up to 15cm. Simon Weaving points that each disc is mounted on a longer arm than its previous disc harrow for increased clearance and it also features removable scrapers. And unlike the previous Polish made range, the ShortDisc is being manufactured in England. Standard roller is a 700mm…

This Doe Triple D style tractor, based on a pair of Ford New Holland 70 series, has hit the market from Hertfordshire dealer Oakfields Ag and caused quite a stir on their Facebook page. It is project that the used machinery specialist has been working on for a number of weeks, mating the front 8870 to the rear 8670 using the SuperSteer front axle to steer the two. Chris Brock informs us that while the rear 6,000 hour tractor is in fine fettle the engine in the front unit is currently a non-runner and needs to be reconditioned. Indeed, to get the front and rear tractors to work in synchronised harmony is going to take a bit more time and money and possibly a lot of head scratching. Chris says…

Wheely-Safe’s intelligent tyre pressure monitoring system is now available for tractors, combines, telehandlers and other farm machinery, in the form of a new range of connected devices. The company reckons its patented sensor technology already protects thousands of vans, trucks and buses in the UK against tyre underinflation which it says can increase running costs, CO² emissions and stopping distances. The same benefits are now available to farmers and contractors with standalone kits (prices start below £200) providing driver alerts, or fully-connected open platform systems which plug into a machine’s telematics or CANbus. The patented sensor technology includes an auto-calibrating internal tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) sensor. Adhering to the wheel rim the sensor distinguishes between intentional pressure adjustments, and genuine underinflation or leakage. The sensors auto-pair with the receiver, which…

The Knoll MultiBaler XL is described as a high-capacity machine for baling and wrapping chopped maize and grass silage in the yard or it can be used directly behind a self-propelled forage harvester in the field (see profi 2/2020). The result of nearly three years of development, and produced together with Finnish company Agronic, the XL has a claimed output of upwards of 60 bales an hour. In the field, the forager fills an 8.0m³ capacity bunker. From here, the material is fed to the hydraulically driven bale chamber, which is equipped with 17 rollers and two belts. The wrapping system comes from Agronic and the machine is equipped with a patented binding system. Film or net is fed in hydraulically and then tensioned by using an adjustable hydraulic braking system.…

Bullock Tillage has developed a front mounted version of its pneumatic seeder. Called the T17 it is offered in four working widths from 3.0m to 6.0 with manual fold booms. Tank capacity options are 250, 400, 600 and 800-litres. With a starting price of £2,800, the seeders come with three metering rotors for different seed and either a standard control box or it can be plugged into an ISObus socket and operated from the tractor terminal. The fan is electrically powered with the optional hydraulic unit recommended for the 5.0m and 6.0m T17. Nigel Bullock points out that an advantage of the new model is that it can be lowered for easier hopper filling and quickly removed when not needed.…

While the traditional comb harrow is quite capable of mechanically weeding cereals, it does have its limitations when it comes to crops grown in beds or ridges. And this is where the likes of the APV Vario VS come in. Each of the Vario's VS tines is linked to a coil spring, which maintains the same tip pressure regardless of whether it's working the top or bottom of a ridge. Introduced at Agritechnica 2019, we had a VS600 M1 on test all of last season. It is part of a line-up that goes from 1.5m wide all the way up to 12.0m. Harrowing beds Our test unit measured 6.23m in overall width when folded out, matching the range of crops produced on our test farm. These included cereals, maize, peas,…

Spurred on by user feedback, Kuhn has updated its mounted mower offering with the new GMD105 series, which for now will be offered alongside the long-serving 100 series. The new mower line comprises three models, with the smallest in the range now featuring a working width of 2.80m; the other two are 3.10m and 3.50m. Easy on The French firm has redesigned the headstock so that it now sits level when the mower is unhitched — so you no longer have to adjust your lift rods to get it back on, making the whole operation much more convenient. Cat II spacing is standard, and there are two mounting options. This alters the amount of offset by 19cm, allowing you to better match up with a front mower or accommodate tyres…

Fresh grass has up to 20% more energy than silage, but taking heavy kit into wet fields is not exactly yield enhancing. It is another daily job that needs to be done, which is why many farms with indoor herds opt for silage. Reducing the labour burden is one of the reasons Lely has been developing the Exos. This electric-powered robot is guided by GPS to the field up to 1.5km away, where it can harvest 1,000kg of fresh grass before returning to the yard and distributing it along the feed fence. Working in tandem While cutting the grass the Exos logs data such as yield, and there is even the option to apply liquid fertiliser as it gathers its load. The zero-grazer can also be combined with the Vector…

STOLL DEUTZ FZ PROFILINE 30 Year: 2012 Condition: Good Comment: Deutz branded Stoll Profi Line loader with cable controls and mechanical attachment carriage. Standard hydraulic coupling. Parallel lift. All pivots and rams in good order Price: Will add £2,500 to £4,850 to a used tractor according to spec and condition STOLL NEW HOLLAND TL750MS Year: 2012(Tractor T6.155 2016) Condition: Good Comment: New Holland branded equivalent to Profi Line on OEM loader ready T6 with mechanical self-levelling, Comfort Drive, third-service with Hydro-Fix connection. Loader on its second tractor but in good order Price: Will add £3,850 to £5,650 to a used tractor according to spec and condition STOLL ROBUST FZ+ 60.1 Year: 2009 Condition: Good Comment: Top spec Robust (Profi Line from 2012) model with mechanical self-levelling, Comfort Drive, third service…

“My reseeding machine comprises a double row of harrow tines, a mounted seed box and what was once a trailed roller,” says Tim Junk. The cast iron rings from an old Cambridge roller were the starting point for the project. A new frame was fabricated from 60mm box section. “I then fitted a Fiona seeder in the middle of the new frame,” Tim explains, “The 60mm box was also used for the bars to carry the two rows of 8mm spring tines. There are 28 tines in total, and I've spaced them 20cm apart. Two cranks with a 30cm range allow me to adjust the depth of the tines.” The original outlets on the drill had spoon-shaped baffle plates to spread the seed. Tim removed these and added 30mm wide…

Full bodied is a good description for the classic Maxxum 5150 Pro, which was manufactured in the now defunct Case IH factory in Neuss on the River Rhine in Germany. The turbocharged, 5.9-litre Cummins smooth-running motor just sounds like it wants to roll up its sleeves and get stuck in to whatever job you put its way. The engine in the featured 5150 has never been troublesome in its 10,000 hours, says former owner Andreas Böggering, who farms at Ramsdorf, close to the Dutch border. He runs a 115-head dairy farm along with 60ha of arable and 16ha of grassland. He traded his old 5150 in 2018 against a brand spanking new Maxxum 145 ActiveDrive8. “Before we made the decision, we tested a demonstrator machine for a while,” recalls Andreas,…

The grunt in the Stage V versions of JCB’s three mid-range ‘Agri’ wheeled loader models; the 411, 413S and 417, comes from the latest 4.8-litre four-pot DieselMax, with Autostop automatically shutting down the engine after a pre-set period of idling. Meeting emissions regs with DPF and SCR, the 417 has a 4.0% increase in maximum power at 97kW/130hp, while the 413S gets a 5.0% increase at 122kW/150hp and 7.0% more torque at 600Nm. Peak power and torque figures for the 411 are unchanged at 81kW/109hp. These mid-range loaders benefit from new features first seen on the 435S Agri, the flagship model in the range. These include rubber cushion-dampened steering stops at the chassis pivot to soften the contact when steering to full lock. The new models also come with a rear-view camera…

RVW Pugh, which has held the Fendt and Massey Ferguson franchises for 20 years, is to separate the two brands over a phased period during the course of this year. Similar to changes at other dealerships up and down the country in line with AGCO’s exclusive distribution strategy, RVW Pugh as we know it will hold the Massey franchise. A new company is being set up to take care of Fendt. The official splitting of the business is not expected to happen until the middle of this year. The new Fendt business will be headed up by managing director Tom Shakeshaft (who recently moved to Pughs from John Deere dealer Rea Valley Tractors), who over the next 12-18 months will be setting up a new purpose built full service, parts…

Danish manufacturer Danfoil has developed a sprayer for use with the Robotti field robot. Dubbed the Spitfire, the nozzle spacing of 12.5cm is said to be ideal for band spraying in a wide range of row crops, but can also be used to apply low-volume applications in cereals. Agrointelli, the Danish manufacturer of the autonomous vehicle, says the possibility to shut off individual nozzles results in chemical savings of up to 80%. There is no information on spray tank capacity and boom width, but the Robotti is available in two different versions; the 75S (75hp Kubota diesel engine) and 150D, which uses two of the Kubota blocks.…

Steketee is installing a new assembly line for small implements at its Dutch base at Stad aan’t Haringvliet. When finished it will allow the company to make more machines to keep pace with rising demand for its weed control solutions. Part of the Lemken group since 2018, Steketee sales rose by 30% last year, and the order books are said to be well filled for this season. The increased demand is not just coming from established west European markets, but also from new countries in central and eastern Europe. “The trend towards integrated crop care is unstoppable,” comments Steketee managing director, Iljan Schouten. “There is strong demand for hoeing machines, ridgers and band spraying implements for reducing the use of pesticides.” Another change at the Dutch facility sees the products being…

Fly screen saves the downtime Anyone who has used a front-mounted mower or potato topper will be familiar with blocked up vents, but it was when mulching cover crops that led to this creation. The cooling pack would regularly get covered with blossom from the mustard crop, requiring regular pit stops. As the older Fendt pulls the air in from the front, the owner decided to add a fly screen. This is fabricated from galvanised steel and mesh purchased from the local hardware store. There is enough room between the screen and grille for the fan to drag in a plentiful supply of air. In total the parts cost less than £30.…

Brothers Wesley and Adam Cooke, along with father Thomas, are familiar with the two-stage steering system of the Torion Sinus, having owned a 1999 Liebherr L514 Stereo since 2011. They looked at several other telescopic loaders and shovels to replace the 14,000-hour plus machine on their Tipperary dairy farm before eventually purchasing the first Claas 956 in the country. Since arriving at the 150-cow dairy farm in December, the new machine has clocked over 200 hours. Wesley points out that, since it hit the 100-hour mark, it feels a lot sprightlier. Compared with the old model, which was limited to 30km/hr, the 956 is better on the road, even on the many hills the 40km/hr machine has to climb while travelling to an outlying farm. Adam notes it is just…

You would think that with Horsch’s penchant for big kit, the factory would be surrounded by large flat fields, tilled and drilled by wide-working arable gear. But it is actually at the opposite end of the scale, with the Bavarian machinery maker based in the heart of rolling countryside, where the traditional power harrow drill combinations are still as popular as ever. So, you can understand why it has decided to develop a power harrow box drill. Still on test Horsch has now been offering the Kredo power harrow combined with a pneumatic drill since 2015. Indeed we looked at the grain and fertiliser version of the Express 3KR in Ireland in the 6/2017 issue. While the new rig relies on the same power harrow, the Versa drill is a…

Nearly all self-propelled diet feeders use a milling head to cut or pluck forage from the pit face, feeding it into an elevator and onwards to the mixing tub. Trioliet, however, takes a different approach. The 17-24m³ Triotrac, which was introduced several years ago, depends on a wide, fastmoving belt to fill its hopper. But now on the new entry-level 14m³ Triotrac M, the Dutch feeder firm has opted for a different approach that will be more compact and user-friendly than the Smarttrac feeder that it replaces. The Smarttrac had to be reversed up to the silage clamp face for loading, making it very awkward to see what was going in and, after mixing, what was coming out. Why throw when you can push The centrepiece to the new filling…

With a view to more critical consumers, stricter environmental regulation and a growing demand for food, Lely is placing a lot of emphasis on sustainability of milk production as it develops new products. It is convinced that, on the farm of the future, nutrients from liquid manure should not be lost to the atmosphere. Filter holds back nitrogen The Lely Sphere could make it possible to reduce ammonia emissions by up to 70%. The muck and urine are separated through small openings in the floor. While the wee drains, the Discovery Collector robot scrapes up the manure and places it into a separate collecting channel. At the same time a ventilation system sucks in air from the slurry channel and feeds it into a chemical exhaust cleaner. Up to 20kg…

Proper prior planning prevents poor performance certainly rings true when it comes to fertiliser application. Somewhat often forgotten about for months of the year, gathering dust at the back of a shed or (hopefully not) growing deeper into the nettles, the twin-disc fertiliser spreader dates back more than 60 years, and levels of sophistication vary enormously. At one end of the spectrum, the manually set spreader with hydraulic spool valve control of shutters (as seen here) offers simple, nofrills approach to the job. At the other end, GPS section shutoff and variable rate control offer the ability to reduce fertiliser use and fatigue on the operator. And, while most spreader manufacturers offer a vast database containing all manner of fertiliser and seed setups for their machine, it is still down…

“Ooh there’s a Xylon, and another one … and another one.” Take a proper peek inside the various sheds belonging to Joachim and Lukas Sauer in Southern Germany, and you'll find no fewer than seven examples of the distinctive Fendt systems tractor. The father-and-son team operates an organic arable farm as well as a contracting business that also undertakes work for the council. Moreover it was this municipal enterprise that caused Joachim to purchase his first Xylon in 2003. At the time it had clocked just 3,000 hours and was a bit of a bargain. Today, this initial machine shows over 15,000 hours. The Xylon has proved to be the ideal tool for mulching, mowing and pruning with a hedge trimmer or branch saw. Joachim fabricated his individual carriages for…

One smooth, one jolty In automatic mode, the 145 shifts seamlessly through the eight powershifts and the B/C ranges on its own from B1 to C8. “It then runs almost like a CVT tractor,” says Andreas. In field mode, the driver works the transmission using the buttons on the Multicontroller. On the old 5150, the shift lever on the righthand console is used to work the gearbox. At the beginning of the 1990s, the combination of a manual transmission with four powershift steps in each gear and a powershuttle under the steering wheel were genuine ground-breaking innovations. A thumb switch on the side of the gearstick allows the operator to flick through the four powershifts, although initially all Maxxum models used a separate stick to shunt through the powershift steps.…

We’ve made eight changes to this picture of a Claas Scorpion 7055 telehandler. Simply locate our changes and then mark them on the gridline picture at the bottom of the page. Submit your answers (A1, B2, C3, for example) via our website profi.co.uk by the 24th March 2021 and we’ll pick one correct entry at random and send the lucky winner a profi goodie. Don’t get too competitive — it’s just for fun! The differences spotted in last issue’s picture of a Case IH Maxxum 130 MC tractor cab were correctly identified by: Mark DobleIlminsterSomerset Congratulations! THE DIFFERENCES WERE IN THE FOLLOWING SQUARES: B4/5, B6/7, C1, C/D2/3, C/D10/11, D6, G2, G/H4 To submit your answers, please visit profi.co.uk and look for the Competition tab.…

Danish manufacturer Frejma has developed a mechanical post-harvest technique to control crop weeds such as couch, thistles and docks. Called the Root-up 4000 (4.00m) and developed in conjunction with fellow Danish company Phidan Engineering, weed roots are teased out of the ground by 60 tines. Spaced at 67mm intervals along the two contra-rotating rotors, from here they pass onto a slatted conveyor where soil returns to the ground. Working at speeds of 7-8km/hr, and operating to a maximum depth of 18cm, exposed weed roots are deposited on top of the soil. Optional equipment includes a belt to deposit the material in swaths for collection. The trailed machine folds to 3.00m for transport and can be equipped with hydraulic or air brakes.…

The growing market for four-wheel self-propelled slurry machines has led Vervaet to team up with German tanker maker Garant Kote to create the Quad. Supplying the grunt is a Volvo 13-litre, six pot motor churning out 550hp. This is linked to a hydrostatic transmission and mechanical axles. The firm making a point that the new machine has been developed to pull 6.0 and 8.0m cultivators up hills as it applies slurry and has diffs on both axles. There are a wide range of big tyre options, with the 900/R60 R42 Michelins producing a ground clearance of 70cm. The Quad has a 21m3 tank, and there are long term plans to be able to use it with a trailed tank set-up. Plus the flat chassis can be used to accommodate a…

Agriargo Iberica, the Spanish subsidiary of Argo Tractors (McCormick and Landini), has signed a collaboration agreement with the Spanish FG Group for this company to supply it with mounted and trailed sprayers. FG Group brands include Gaysa, which makes orchard, vineyard and arable sprayers and some of the McCormick XPS mounted and XPR trailed ranges were recently unveiled to the Spanish dealer network at Agriargo Ibérica HQ in Villamarciel near Valladolid. The agreement currently only applies to the Spanish market, but Argo Tractors is believed to be gauging interest from branches in other countries.…

A haulm topper has been added to the options list for Grimme’s fourrow Ventor 4150 self-propelled potato harvester. Suitable for high quantities of long, tough material, the company reckons haulm topping prior to the harvesting process reduces the risk of losses on the deviner web and results in a significant increase in throughput. Automatic depth control is monitored via skids on the potato rows and can be adjusted from the operating terminal. The haulm topper, the HT400, is hydraulically folded over the intake unit for transport. Other notable developments include the possibility to fit the Ventor with large-volume Michelin CereXBib 2 VF 900/60 R38 tyres and bunker emptying times have been reduced from 90 to 60 seconds.…

A plain disc mower is increasingly becoming the tool of choice for topping overgrown paddocks, and a triple mower set-up can take output to a whole new level without a massive hike in horsepower. Indeed during our test we regularly used the Samasz combination on 120hp, six-cylinder tractors, and even in heavy silage crops we were never short of power. And if that hasn't raised an eyebrow, the price of the Samasz combi should; the Toro 302 front mower comes in at £8,765, while the rear KDD912 lists at £25,870. Light on the nose The front mower is a relatively light 840kg, partly due to the canvas covers, which have good and bad points. The tarp is strapped to a frame and fulfils its protective purpose. However, opening the buckles…

From the start of this year, machines below 56kW/76hp had to meet Stage V. This has spurred on Weidemann to update its T4512 compact telehandler, which featured in our group comparison test in the 12/2012 and 1/2013 magazines. The main changes can be found in the engine and transmission departments, while the chassis and boom, including VLS (Vertical Lift System) parallel lift, remain the same as before. Pick a power — 25hp or 45hp Yanmar stays as the engine supplier of choice for the T4512, with the base-spec machines now coming with the 1.6-litre, three-cylinder 18.4kW/25.0hp motor. But there is also the £4,500 option of a 33.3kW/45.0hp version, a slight power increase on the 40hp model we previously tested. The 25hp unit doesn't require any exhaust gas after-treatment, while the…

The first ‘Lely Future Farm Days’ took place in 2018 as a way of showcasing new products such as the A5 milking robot, with almost 10,000 A5s now sold. There was also a glimpse of future tech in the shape of the ‘Orbitor’ on-farm dairy (see our 10/2019 issue), which is currently being trialled on three farms. Due to Covid restrictions, the 2020 event shifted to an online format so we were unable to quiz the on-site engineers and peek under the panels. Of the three products, only the ‘Horizon’ management software is going to be available in the near future; the Exos and Sphere are a bit further off. More news from Lely The Dutch business is currently doubling its production capacity at Maassluis, and a new plant is…

Which cow will stay, which should be inseminated and how great is the risk of ketosis in Doris? Lely is promising reliable answers to these and many other questions with the newly developed Horizon dairy management software. This is based on sophisticated logarithms for which data from 18,000 dairy farms around the world was evaluated. Over 100 test farms in several countries supported by vets, artificial intelligence specialists, consultants and engineers developed the technology to bring it to the market in just two years. Intelligent software The aim was to create a software that thinks for itself and, as a result, is able to intelligently free up farmers from routine decisions so they can take better care of their stock. An intriguing new feature is the Horizon app becomes the…

Beyond the sinking feeling of diesel piddling over your boots, the sight of a leaking tractor fuel tank is sure to spoil your day. The expense of a new one, the hassle of fitting it, the downtime; it’s enough to make a strong man weep. Much the same goes for a ripped-up mudguard. Yet all may not be lost. Before getting to what can work, it’s very unlikely that a hot soldering iron, glue sticks, epoxy adhesives or similar will fix a problem. Waxy plastics are generally unimpressed by glues, while localised melting with an iron seldom works for long, if at all. Sometimes silicone can be used as glue for a patch, but as the Americans say: ‘Your mileage may vary’. So what’s left? That depends on the damage.…

Auctioneer Cheffins hosted an online timed sale of over 100 bits of second-hand ag machinery on behalf of JL Carter and Sons from Knutsford in Cheshire. Over 150 potential buyers attended the on site viewing day in Allostock before the online sale took place the last week of January. All off the lots found a new home both in the UK or overseas. The sale included well-maintained tractors, a self-propelled sprayer, harvesters, vehicles, potato kit and a range of implements. Tractor highlights included a 2017 John Deere 6215R tractor with 2,315 hours on the clock which sold for above the estimate at £85,000. Similarly, a 2008 John Deere 7530 with 8,650 hours made a healthy £35,500, whilst a 6930 with 6,879 hours made an astonishing £42,750. Also, on offer was…

It goes without saying that front mowers increase mowing output to match the pace of harvest offered by high capacity balers and foragers or to take advantage of weather windows in a catchy season. With the wide range of sizes on the market they can be an equally good addition for a trailed or mounted mower on tight, undulating fields as for a butterfly combination on more expansive acreages, making use of commonly-available tractor front linkages. Attachment of the mower to the tractor’s front linkage is key, enabling the cutterbar to travel over undulating ground smoothly without scalping, handle side slopes and offering some protection when meeting and obstacle such as a large rock, although some mowers also have additional impact systems within the mower bed itself. For more even…