Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 373 i Farms and Farm Machinery

After three years of selling the Vicon RV5116 variable baler across the country, distributor PFG Australia will expand its offering from the manufacturer with a group of new models. Spokesman for PFG’s grass division Brendan Lee says the company has been experiencing a rise in demand for heavy duty, versatile silage balers among professional buyers. “The Vicon RV5200 range is well established overseas and will be a good fit for our market,” he says. The Vicon RV5216R and SuperCut14 models will be available with variable bale dimensions from 60cm to 1.65m, and if larger 2m bales are required the RV5220R and SC14/25 models are available on indent. These heavy duty, high performance, variable chamber balers are high spec and highly versatile, with numerous time saving features, says PFG Australia. Both…

Recent field testing of the newest model in Tigercat’s mulcher range has pleased a group of local contractors, with orders for the model now coming in. Distributor Onetrak held in-field demonstrations in May for people working in mulching and forestry, as well as local dealers and members of Tigercat’s Australian product support team. The 480B mulcher isTigercat’s largest machine in its category with 407kW (546 horsepower) engine. Other machines in the line-up include a smaller tracked 470 mulcher and two rubber tyred mulchers; the M718E and the M726E. The model tested was fitted with a 4061 mulching head, which features reinforced side covers and abrasion resistant skis, as well as having debris door cylinders mounted internally on the housing for additional protection. With the counter-rotate function (CRF), the 480B can…

Chinese manufacturer LiuGong has over 60 years of experience in providing quality equipment for the agricultural and earthmoving industries – with reliability and durability at its core. The new 848H wheel loader was designed with those principles in mind, but tailored for the Australian buyer at the smaller end of the wheel loader market. LiuGong, distributed by AWD Group and their network of dealers along the East Coast of Australia, makes wheel loaders with an operating weight of 50.6 tonnes, and with a bucket capacity of 7 cubic metres. In comparison, the 848H is a bantamweight, with an operating weight of 15.1 tonnes and a bucket capacity of 2.7 cubic metres. But this model packs a punch, with its 175 horsepower (129kW) engine and enhanced chassis – because every good…

For Western Australian mixed farming operation O’Keeffe Farming, the ability to use the same engine oil in all of its farm machines and vehicles is a big plus. With machines spread over four properties as far as 50 kilometres apart, owner Bill O’Keeffe says he has been using the Plus 50 II oil range for 10 years for two headers and three tractors, all built by John Deere. He says having one oil for the entire fleet is the most convenient lubricant option available for the business. “We can run it through all our machines. That is the point of difference for us,” he says. “We are also using Plus 50 II through all other forms of equipment, even our 4WD vehicles. It makes it convenient to be able to…

Saving money on necessary expenses is one of the most important strategies for improving your profit line. Big Tyre, an Australian owned and operated supplier of tyres, tracks and solid wheels, has been helping reduce farmers’ operating costs for 65 years. Whether you’re buying new or getting your products reconditioned to have a second life, Big Tyre is dedicated to helping you get the biggest bang for your buck Besides repairing and rebuilding tyres, over the last 20 years Big Tyre has reconditioned more than 1,000 rubber tracks for agricultural tractors, rebuilt thousands of undercarriage wheels and become a world leader in the design and manufacture of solid rubber wheels. During this time, they have also become the Australasian importer and distributor for Continental and Firestone tracks (which are considered…

Farm Fantastic Expo 2019 – Caboolture WHAT With everything from farm machinery, stock handling equipment and animal health to off-road vehicles, sheds and tools, Farm Fantastic is a big city event, with a strong rural focus. WHEN 5-7 July 2019 MORE INFO farmfantastic.com.au Mudgee Small Farm Field Days 2019 WAHT The Mudgee Small Farm Field Days has been running for 40 years and attracts approximately 20,000 people per year. 2019 represents the 42nd Mudgee Small Farm Field Days, making it very much part of the central-west NSW fabric. WHEN 12-13 July 2019 MORE INFO mudgeefielddays.com.au Australian Sheep & Wool Show 2019 – Bendigo WHAT The Australian Sheep and Wool show is your one stop shop for all things sheep. More than 2,700 sheep and 30,000 people assemble in Bendigo for…

Designed as heavy-duty machines, these tractors are targeted at the larger farmer or contractor for roles such as mowing or twin rotor raking where manoeuvrability rather than the extra weight and cost of a larger six-cylinder machine is required. Aside from fewer cylinders and lower horsepower and weight, the 6130 and 6140 tractors are packed with most of the same features as the larger models of the Deutz-Fahr range. SHADES OF GREEN Overlooking the shores of Lake Taupo, near the holiday spot of Kinloch, Power Farming had organised a Drive Day featuring Kverneland and McHale hay equipment pulled by the mighty Deutz-Fahr tractors. With lucerne still growing well through the summer and plenty of area, there was ample opportunity to see the green machines in action. For our test, Alistair…

The seed and super bin developed by Brookfield had earned a reputation for excellent versatility many years ago – able to handle seed, fertiliser, stock feed and grain at different times of the year. And sales manager Michael McCormick says the latest addition to the OmniBin is designed to help build on that, allowing for the bin to be operated by one person alone. Brookfield has released a new conveyor option which enables a producer to fully operate the OmniBin with a wireless handheld remote control from the top of the seed cart. Using the remote, the operator can control individual door actuators for each compartment of the bin, releasing the seed or fertiliser onto the bottom conveyor, which in turn takes it to the rear of the bin and…

Australian sprayer manufacturer Goldacres has introduced a new spraying system, which it says is the “next generation in spraying”. Based on a rate control module by Raven Applied Technology, the 3TS Pro spray system combines three sets of nozzles, giving a sprayer operator seven tiers, or seven nozzle combinations, while spraying. Available as an option in Goldacres’ G series of Crop Cruiser self-propelled sprayers with 16-section boom control, as well as the Prairie Pro range of trailing chemical sprayers, the system makes all three nozzles work together to maintain constant pressure. The new 3TS Pro system has a pressure differential of only 1.45 bar maximum, well within the tolerance of all nozzles, while also addressing upcoming labelling changes to 2-4D – allowing it to be used safely. The constant pressure…

John Deere’s latest software update for its Generation 4 4600 CommandCenter and 4640 Universal Displays will allow its Machine Sync harvest automation functionality to be used on the Gen 4 platform for tractors and combines. The 19-1 update will also enhance the automation, documentation, functionality and security of the displays, the company says. “It also enables Gen 4 Display compatibility with more John Deere equipment, including 8000 and 9000 Series Forage Harvesters, documentation of weather and field conditions, expands AutoTrac functionality and automation on more equipment, and provides additional levels of security than before,” John Mishler, marketing manager for precision agriculture technologies at John Deere says. With the 19-1 software update, Gen 4 Displays now show area remaining and estimated time to completion for many field operations. Operators can now…

Bundaberg bothers Joseph and Harold Toft were widely credited with revolutionising Australia’s sugar cane industry with the development of the country’s first sugar cane harvester in the early 1940s. By the 1970s, Toft Bros had become one of the world’s major manufacturers of sugar cane harvesters. Much of that manufacturing took place in Bundaberg, but changing market forces a decade later saw Toft Bros move through a number of foreign owners, before the company was re-claimed by Australian interests in 1986 and re-branded Austoft. That company was bought by Case IH a decade later, and with that buy came the eventual decision to close the Bundaberg Austoft plant in 2004 and move operations to Brazil. Despite this, the name remains, with Austoft harvesters today working in Australia and across the…

Telescopic handlers are the specialty of Italian industrial equipment maker Dieci, having introduced the first telescopic boom and telescopic reach fork lifts to the world in 1983. The company got its beginnings as a manufacturer of basic agricultural equipment out of the village of Montecchio, but all this changed when it was bought out by a group of industrialists headed by Ciro Correggi, who invested in updating all Dieci’s facilities and practices. Today Dieci, which means ‘10’ in Italian, is based in Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, the centre which gave the world engineering icons such as Ferrari, Maserati and Ducati – a fact Dieci isn’t above pointing out. The company has learned a bit about what makes a good telehandler since it was founded – and the answer is:…

Extra funding has been made available to a unique autonomous arable farming project in the UK, allowing it to expand. Initially launched in 2016 by Harper Adams University and Precision Decisions, the Hands Free Hectare (HFHa) project was designed to demonstrate that one hectare of grain could be grown to harvest without humans setting foot on the land. Since then, the group has successfully harvested two seasons of grain by only using robots and autonomous machinery, including a tractor, combine and drones. Without setting foot in the one hectare field, the group remotely managed to perform all tasks associated with the crop, including preparing the ground, sowing the seeds, maintaining the crop and subsequently the harvest. With the £200,000 (A$365,000) in government funding the team were able to convert a…

Farms & Farm Machinery’s (FFM) publisher Bauer Media Group has unleashed an action-packed, first-of-its-kind television show called Mighty Machines, showcasing the mightiest machinery the world has to offer. Hosted by young guns Harrison Hunkin and Cobey Bartels, Mighty Machines airs weekly at 4.30pm AEST on 10 Bold, and Prime TV for those over the ditch. All episodes are also available on catch-up service tenplay.com.au. Season one runs for 10 x 30-minute episodes. Each episode features highly-entertaining and engaging reviews, comparisons, adventures and profiles of the men, women and machinery that underpin the transport and machinery world. Road transport, earthmoving, farming, and everything in between – we shed light on industries that traditionally fly under the radar! From a first-of-its-kind ‘Burnout Symphony’, to racing hardcore off-road buggies through New Zealand corn…

With many European manufacturers refining their designs over the last 30 years, the telehandler has evolved into a truly versatile machine. A good example is Merlo, a company that has been building equipment since 1964 and more specifically telehandlers since 1981. Its factory in Cuneo in Northern Italy has been dedicated to the continual improvement of these machines. Because Merlo builds a wide range of telehandlers designed for construction through to farming and everything in between, the machines are built around a modular design. A central heavy-duty steel plate chassis forms the backbone of each machine, and then the components attached to this can be purpose selected to ensure the machine suits its end use. Recently, we caught up with Power Farming Merlo specialist Ken Bill, who showed us around…

That the nearest competitor to Can-Am’s HD10 XT Defender is the HD8 says a lot about where Can-Am has taken this product. The HD8 was top of the best-seller list in Australia and New Zealand when this was being written. The UTV (utility vehicle) that we said “has the best cab in the business” has made its mark. But it had better maintain that speed. Almost every month a new model or brand of UTV drifts into view. Brands with lesser known names and reputations, CF Moto and Kymco for example, have been improving and doing something tangible to justify their rising purchase price. The UTV market’s going gangbusters and everyone’s working hard to keep up. That many farmers buy a UTV to replace a ute for work on their…

One of Dalby’s oldest manufacturing and bulk handling companies, Walsh & Ford, is celebrating 70 years of business success this year. Established in 1949 by Eric Walsh and Percy Ford, the company has grown from a steel fabrication business catering to the needs of local farmers to a bulk handling specialist with a dedicated corporate clientele. Today, Eric’s son Peter Walsh runs the company and continues to operate by the tradition that started with the marketing catchphrase ‘We make anything’. “We’ve been successful in diversifying production and have managed to keep abreast of changes by remaining flexible and moving with the market,” he says. “We’re still producing a range of specialised steel requirements on and off site and this now encompasses an even wider range of industries.” The company specialises…

It was difficult to miss the Antonio Carraro Mach 4 R tractor at the front of the TTMI Tasmania stand at Tasmanian field day AgFest in May. Positioned in front, its four tracks mounted on a stand to show off to a passing crowd, and bedecked in the branding of its new owners, there was no way the new model wasn’t going to turn heads. For new owner Simon Dornauf, the general manager and director of hydroponic berry farm Hillwood Berries, it was a long-awaited arrival, after he had ordered it from its Italian manufacturers about six months prior. Dornauf told Farms & Farm Machinery that he had bought the tractor after searching for something that could successfully navigate the farm’s wet conditions and sloping surfaces. The tractor would need…

A larger fuel tank and improved suspension components will help the Case IH Patriot self-propelled sprayer range go further and last longer in 2019, the company says. The 2019 model Case IH Patriot 4430 Sprayer, the flagship model of the series, will have a 6,000 litre product tank, up from the 4,542l tank on the existing model – though customers will still have the smaller option. The addition of the larger tank has meant lighting changes to accommodate its increased height, Case says, creating the fringe benefit of eliminating light reflection back into the cab and moving the boom lights forward above the cab to allow for better lighting of the full boom. Case’s increased focus on suspension components has resulted in the bushing material being replaced with High Strength…

Livestock export giant Wellard is trialling a water-based supplements developed by Queensland-based Direct Injection Technologies (DIT) as the developer plans further expansions. DIT founder Mark Peart told Farms & Farm Machinery the company was trialling providing its uCALM supplement to animals on Wellard boats after recording good results during testing with a range of wagyu cattle exporters. “We are selling this product already to graziers, but we are specifically working with Wellard. We are hoping in the next six weeks to two months it will be integrated into their operation.” The supplement contains glucose, electrolytes and trace elements to prevent dehydration in cattle, sheep and goats during times of stress – with additional glucose added to the export product to help boost energy in exported livestock. DIT also has technology…

Tractor manufacturer Valtra has helped to develop an autonomous snowplow concept to be used at Finland’s northernmost airport in a move the company says opens the door to new ways of thinking. The Finnish winter can see some parts of the country permanently covered in snow for up to 200 days per year, making the clearing of runways an important challenge for Finavia, Finland’s national airport management body. Finavia machine equipment specialist Tero Santamanner says tractors are an “interesting alternative” in cases where working widths of 4.5 metres were sufficient for snow clearing. “Tractors are considerably less expensive in total cost of ownership than trucks and much more versatile, as they can be used for other tasks such as snow-blowing or mowing during the summertime,” he says. To develop the…

In 135 years of operations, the tractor powerhouse that is Landini has continued to innovate and evolve, but there are some core values that have never changed. Headquartered in Fabbrico in northern Italy and employing around 1,800 people, the Landini factory first opened its doors in 1884, with Giovanni Landini leading the company to build its first tractor engine in 1910. Since then, Landini’s reputation for specialist orchard, vineyard and high clearance tractors along with durable utility tractors has grown from a culture of innovation intrinsic to the company. Landini takes pride in being a true manufacturer with four plants in Italy, rather than outsourcing around the globe. Transmissions and axles are built by Landini employees, including machining housings, shafts and gears. Heat-treating and assembly is all in-house, while cabins…

About 64,000 people went through the gates at Quercus Park over the three days in early May that AgFest was held, checking out new agricultural machinery and accessories as well as some highlights of the state’s fine food and beverage scene. With displays dedicated to the state’s cattle and dairy industries, AgFest also features a dedicated 4WD track and its own equine expo and arena. Manufacturers also took the opportunity to show off new machinery – here are some of the highlights. ALPEGO MATRIX MX 6M ROTARY HOE Distributed by Gendore Machinery, the new matrix folding rotovator features a folding main frame that can hold two Alpego Z range tillers – which can be easily and quickly replaced or dismounted for separate individual use. Available in working widths of 6m…

A Northern Ireland agricultural contractor is deep into the 2019 silage season using the first John Deere 9900i self-propelled forage harvester to be sold in Europe. Lagan Brothers from Moneymore in County Londonderry wanted to upgrade its 2017 John Deere 8800i to a more powerful machine, hence opting for the 970 horsepower (723kW) John Deere 9900i model. The contracting business started off in 2003 and is run by Michael Lagan and his brothers Seamus and Paul. Their father James and younger brother Noel also take an interest in the contracting. The 9900i model is the biggest of the new range of self-propelled forage harvesters launched by John Deere last year, ranging from 625hp to 970hp (466 to 723kW). In a nutshell, the key features of the four model 9000 Series…

You see them everywhere as Toyota’s 70 Series has been on sale in Australia for 34 years now. Over that time the 70 Series has undergone a series of engine, chassis and cabin updates, with the last major revamp coming in late 2016, effectively for the 2017 model and affecting 76 Series wagons, 78 Series Troop Carriers and 79 Series single and double-cab utes. Those 2017 updates underpin what you see here in this latest model and were largely a result of compulsory government-mandated emissions and safety compliance requirements. Between them they brought a diesel particulate filter, piezo fuel injectors (replacing electro-magnetic injectors), both for cleaner exhaust emissions, and ESC for improved accident avoidance. Additionally, and to meet industry demands for five-star ANCAP safety, single-cab 79 Series models also received…

Staff at the Port of Brisbane were forced to reject more than 70 truckloads of grain for export in 2016 as their levels of toxic phosphine gas exceeded the workplace safety limit – a time weighted average of 0.3 parts per million. According to researchers from the Queensland Department of Agriculture & Fisheries, while the majority of trucks rejected had gas concentrations of between 0.5–2.5 ppm, some had very high concentrations of 32, 82 and 440ppm. Fumigants containing phosphine, often sold as phostoxin or fumitoxin, are popular among grain growers for controlling insect infestation – they are inexpensive, accepted by international markets and control almost every pest when used correctly. Further to this, because phosphine is an indirect toxin that reacts with oxygen in the cells to kill pests, it…

In the past, the average-sized farm could get away with using an 8-inch (20.3cm) grain auger at harvest time and still get things done efficiently. But Australian farms are increasing in size and output, and today smaller augers just can’t keep up with the high capacity of a modern harvest – and they often end up creating significant bottlenecks. It’s all well and good to invest in a big harvester which can thresh up to 800 tonnes a day, but if your auger is flat out processing 70–80 tonnes an hour, you’re going to end up with a line of idling trucks, unable to quickly unload at your silos. Depending on your travel distance, your auger needs to be able to process at least four times as fast as your…