Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 362 i Farms and Farm Machinery

Agricultural giant John Deere has announced several MY19 updates for its large 9R, 9RT and 9RX tractors. For the first time, John Deere will offer a 3.05m (120-inch) track spacing option on 9470RX, 9520RX, 9570RX and 9620RX series tractors equipped with 76.2cm and 91.4cm (30- and 36-inch) tracks. “The extra wide stance of this machine is ideal for customers wanting to control traffic patterns and enhanced stability on hilly terrain,” John Deere product marketing manager for large tractors Tiffany Turner says. “A wider stance also makes it easier to perform daily maintenance and service, plus it offers hassle-free material cleanout.” Turner says customers requiring a John Deere 9RX equipped with a three-point hitch must select the 2.21m (87-inch) track spacing option with the 76.2cm (30-inch) tracks as the wider 3.05m…

Built in state-of-the-art facilities in Montecchio Emilia, Italy each machine is tested on a specially-equipped Dieci test track. Extremely easy to handle, surgical precision movements, maximum power in the wheels and boom, and absolute comfort; these are just a few reasons why the Agri Plus 40.7 telehandler is the most innovative machine in its sector. The Agri Plus 40.7 comes with two transmissions to choose from: the Vario System Evo 2, which has a choice of four work modes, allowing farmers to find the best speed/power ratio under any operating condition; and the Power Shift option, which offers the option of either a manual or automatic gearbox with six gears forward and three in reverse, along with an inching pedal to ensure maximum power at all operating levels. Unparalleled maneuverability…

Agri-tech company Agersens has named animal health expert Dr Cameron Ralph as its new production science manager. Former deputy director of the Animal Welfare Science Centre, Ralph has been brought in to support the development and rollout of the eShepherd smart collar system. Aimed to help farmers with livestock, the eShepherd is a GPS-enabled, solar-powered smart collar that contains a CSIRO training program. Agersens says the program trains the animal to stay within the virtual boundary when it hears an audio signal. If the animal continues in the wrong direction the collar releases a small electric pulse which the livestock quickly learns to respond to (resembling when animals avoid fences using their sense of sight). Agersens CEO Ian Reilly says animal health and wellbeing is at the core of the…

New South Wales’ central west is an agricultural stronghold with an abundance of home-grown manufacturers and distributors. Ahead of the upcoming Agquip Field Days in Gunnedah on August 21-23, Farms & Farm Machinery headed out to showcase the best local companies the west has to offer. DAVIMAC Our journey started in the small town of Molong to visit the Davimac group. A company rich with history, Davimac’s bread and butter comes in the form of chaser bins and its range of tillage equipment through the Agrowplow business. “We are completely Australian made and we are very proud of that,” Davimac relationship manager Dean Symons says. “We are always striving to make a quality machine, but we are also proud of our back-up support. “We don’t walk away when something goes…

What do you get when you chuck a 20-year-old Goldacres Crop Cruiser prototype and a brand-new Case IH Patriot 4430 in a paddock? A bloody good day! The unique comparison also aims to demonstrate how far technology has come over the years. The inclusions of GPS, intelligent on-board software and modern engines have changed the farming landscape and it’s becoming more advanced by the day. But baby boomers are still telling us that new machinery is too complicated; that electronics, dust and water are a recipe for disaster; while millennials don’t want a bar of anything that requires manual labour. So is all this tech to the detriment of the ‘machine’? To the detriment may be to the extreme, but what about the longevity and ruggedness of modern machinery, especially…

As the need to extract more dollars per hectare continues, farmers often push the soil to its limits, grazing more cattle and more intensively grazing high-yielding crops in situ, and using tillage in poor soil conditions. While this may give a ‘quick fix’ to the balance sheet, in most cases it ends up detrimental in the long run, reducing the quality of soil, its moisture-holding capacity, and micro-organism activity. Now, I am not a ‘greenie’, but I am a farmer who wants to see a prosperous farming future for the following generations. The weather has become more extreme in Australia and New Zealand, and combined with the massive intensification of farms (driven by land prices), the high debt per hectare means more cattle per hectare are run on a more…

If you’re after a single-cab 4WD ute then they don’t come much more attractively priced than Mitsubishi’s Triton – outside of the Chinese and Indian brands. Right now the Triton 4WD single cab-chassis is listed at $32,500 for a six-speed manual. The only Japanese single-cab 4WD that has a lower list price is Nissan’s Navara and then there’s only $510 in it. And that’s before Mitsubishi’s regular factory discounting and drive-away pricing. All that’s good reason alone to have a close look at the Triton if you’re after a basic farm or work ute. This is what’s known as the Triton MQ, which arrived in Australia in mid-2015 as the fifth-generation Triton to be sold in this country. It wasn’t entirely new but more of a remake of the previous…

Attachment manufacturer Kerfab has placed a focus on efficiency, safety and reliability when it comes to its attachments, with the Tuskan Bale Grab proving to be capable in all three areas. The company says that the grab’s innovative design will see farmers being more efficient and much safer. “The Tuskan is a safer and more-efficient way of loading hay bales into a feed mixer,” general manager Jay Chirnside says. “The design allows the operator to clamp, lift, and turn the bale on its side, allowing for the strings to be cut well away from the mixer. The bale can then be dropped into the mixer from the safety of the tractor cab. “This makes the task much quicker and with no need to lean over the feed mixer, the job…

Silvan Australia has listened to the demands of farmers and has released the new motorised Lightfoot Vineboom sprayer. Designed for smaller vineyard owners and managers, the unit features a 300-litre capacity polytuff tank mounted on a mud puppy pneumatic-tyred axle assembly that gives in field stability. The Lightfoot Vineboom is powered by a Honda GX100 engine coupled to a MC/20/30 pressure pump to deliver a maximum of 18.5-litres per minute open flow at a pressure of 20 bar, or 290 psi. “The standard spray assembly is a galvanised steel boom on which is fitted on each side a spray bar of five adjustable nozzles that give a fine misting spray with the ability for each nozzle to be individually shut off,” the company says. Boom height and width is easy…

Brookfield will live up to its brand ‘Farming the Future’ when the company unveils the all-new D60 Series 2 (D60-II) ChainBar at AgQuip this year. As with all Brookfield models of ChainBar, the D60-II has been built to optimise soil health and ensure all tillage needs are covered – from stubble management post-harvest, weed control during fallow, right through to levelling and preparing the paddock for seeding. The new model is simple, clean and has been built with a high clearance to provide a greater trash flow capacity. The addition of larger wheels has improved floatation of the frame as well as individual floating wings that improve results when working in rough terrain. The D60-II is a heavy-duty implement frame made for real Australian conditions. The main frame is made…

Changes to global emission standards have resulted in engine manufacturers requiring the next generation of oils that can survive for longer at higher temperatures. Original engine manufacturer (OEM) test standards are used to ensure oil manufacturers comply with these new engine oil requirements. Valvoline’s All Fleet PLUS E900 has been tested to these standards with formal OEM approvals, together with comprehensive proven performance in the field to ensure trouble-free operation of your equipment. The next generation of diesel engine oils have been designed to meet the latest specification, in this case API CK-4, the standard endorsed by the American Petroleum Institute (API). While reducing costly servicing is one of the key considerations for OEM’s, next-generation oils are designed to perform in higher temperatures like those found in the latest low-emission…

AFS Harvest Command automation is not designed to replace operator decisions, but to enhance them. Three new combines forming the Axial-Flow 250 series have just been launched by Case IH in a bid to maximise operator efficiency and crop quality. The new models, 7250, 8250 and 9250, replace the Case IH 240 series and will go into production this October ready to be rolled out for the 2019 harvest. There have been a number of new automated features added to the 250 series which the manufacturer says will allow operators to ensure they are operating the combine at maximum efficiency whilst ensuring grain quality is also the best it can be. Replacing the 7240, 8240 and 9240 models in the older 240 series, the 250 series will focus on more…

If you are a young aspiring entrepreneur looking to get into the market with a mini-excavator and skid-steer combo, well, check this out. It’s not very often that I get a bit stuck for words. I certainly met my match recently when I was fortunate to track down a Mecalac MCR8 excavator/skid steer owned by a good mate of mine in Queensland. Andy Haggarty is a legend amongst marine and civil projects up here and is one who definitely cannot be defined as a person stuck in the past. Always looking for better, more efficient and cost-effective ways of developing his fleet of machinery, he recently purchased one of the first Mecalac MCR8 machines into the country with the idea of converting it to an amphibious excavator. But having had…

Back in 2004 the Milstak Clamp was put to work as a prototype in southern California. Tim Bickley, director of the Australian-owned company Tenpack, was there that day and put the prototype through its paces stacking 3x4x8 bales of Lucerne hay. After driving the Milstak and stacking bales 12 at a time he knew there was a future for this machine in Australia’s hay industry. Fast forward to 2017 and Tenpack is once again very proud to offer for sale here in Australia the Milstak. This unique machine completes the task of retrieving and stacking most large square bale sizes neatly with the end user in mind. The Milstak travels in the same direction as the baler through the paddock gently and quickly clamping the bales off the ground. Once…

The new Claas Disco Move 3600 and 3200 mowers are set to arrive in Australia. Available early next year, the Claas Disco Move mowers feature impressive ‘give’ of up to one metre vertically and 30 degrees laterally, allowing them to work with optimal efficiency and safety even in the roughest paddocks. With width options of 3.4 and three metres respectively, the new configurations feature a highly manoeuvrable headstock that allows the mower to move independently from the tractor front linkage. “The Move has 600mm of travel up and 400mm down, making it ideal for uneven fields,” Claas Harvest Centre product manager of Scorpion and Greenline Shane Barratt says. “The mower can also pivot up to 30 degrees laterally, further improving its ability to follow contours or swing backwards to avoid…

For the first time, Australian farmers can forecast grain yield at the touch of a button, thanks to a new smartphone app developed by Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO. The innovation, known as ‘Graincast’, allows growers to estimate yields ranging from a single paddock, right up to their entire farm. “Having a yield forecast can help farmers with crop input management, setting yield targets, diagnosing yield constraints, risk management, marketing decisions, forward selling and more,” CSIRO scientist Dr Roger Lawes says. “The app is easy to use, and growers need to input just three pieces of information – the paddock they want analysed, the crop grown last season, and the crop they plan to grow or are growing in the current season. That’s it.” The CSIRO claims it is the…

While the Case IH Patriot 2230 may be dwarfed by its 4430 and 3330 cousins, it is certainly ready for the party. Despite its size, the Patriot 2230 does pack a punch with a 175hp FPT engine and the same technology offerings as the larger Patriot models. Case IH says the grunt from under the bonnet, combined with its array of features, makes it perfect for vegetable farmers to cotton growers. “Its capabilities in the field are proof you can get all the features of a big sprayer in a small-chassis package,” Case IH ANZ high horsepower/sprayer product manager Alyx Selsmeyer says. “This is a cost-efficient machine with the Patriot DNA – consistent and accurate application every time in all conditions; great fuel economy; and cab comfort that delivers on…

As its 40th anniversary approaches, the Mercedes-Benz G-Class is about to receive the first major redesign it’s had in those four decades. The new G-Class has a bigger and lighter body to improve passenger space and fuel efficiency, while the hard edges of the boxy original have been rounded off to improve aerodynamics. More significantly, the age-old proven formula of a ladder-frame chassis with live axles front and rear has been tweaked for the first time. The new W 463 will utilise independent front suspension (IFS) to greatly improve the wagon’s on-road ride and handling characteristics, as well as the overall driver experience. Traditionalists will be happy to know there is still a G-Wagen that sticks to the original recipe and keeps its traditional body and live front axle. The…

In a harvesting operation, operators get cranky when they lose even 3 per cent of their grain. However, did you know a 30 per cent loss of material in a hay harvesting operation is quite common? In fact, hay losses can be as high as 70 per cent in between cutting, storing and feeding out. What’s going on? Consider this. In a hay production operation, about 90 per cent of hay is baled. Before it is baled the hay crop has to be cut, in some instances cut and conditioned, then swathed or windrowed before it is baled and hauled away. In each of these processes, losses accumulate so in a hay production operation, time is everything. As cut hay respires, respiration losses need to be kept down to reduce…