Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 379 i Farms and Farm Machinery

Australian tillage equipment manufacturer K-Line Ag has been bought by CNH Industrial, the parent company of Case IH and New Holland, as part of a broader buying spree. While no individual purchase price for the company was disclosed, CNH Industrial says that the combined purchase price of K-Line, tracks manufacturer ATI Track Systems and precision farming software company AgDNA is US$85 million (A$123.2 million). CNH Industrial managing director for Agriculture in Australia and New Zealand Brandon Stannett says K-Line Ag products will continue to be sold under that name in both countries through existing Case IH, New Holland and independent dealers. But the company and its products will be rebranded to Case IH in the North American market, where K-Line Ag equipment has been sold since 2013. “As a company,…

After being used for more than 20 years on a Victorian farm, a restored Case IH Steiger Quadtrac is today sitting in pride of place at company’s main US factory in Fargo, North Dakota. The Quadtrac 9370 is the final exhibit visitors to the factory will see on a tour of the facility – with Case IH saying in a statement that the vehicle is “a classic example of a tractor model that has stood the test of time”. It’s thought to be one of the first Quadtracs to roll off the Fargo line in 1996, before being shipped to Australia and sold to a farmer in Victoria. For the next 20 years it had just two owners, clocking up a total of 17,000 hours in the field. During its…

The four largest models in John Deere’s revamped 8R range, ranging from 310–410 horsepower (231–306kW), will be available in the 8RX four-track version, as well as the two-track 8RT and the wheeled 8R version. Shipments of the range, which will also include a 230hp (172kW), 250hp (186kW) and 280hp (209kW) wheeled model, are expected to begin in May 2020. John Deere marketing manager Tammy Lee says the new 8RX tractors offer all the benefits of tracks while providing a driving experience similar to the wheeled model. “A key component is the John Deere 1700 pivoting beam axle, specifically designed for a four-track tractor to provide the necessary strength and enable adjustability of tread spacings to fit grower needs,” she says. “We didn’t just add tracks to an 8R tractor. This…

Developing cropping varieties able to withstand a drought will be the focus of researchers at a new facility in Boorawa, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) says. The 290 hectare Boorowa Agriculture Research Station cost $11.5 million to develop and four years to design and build. The station is equipped with 100 temperature and humidity probes, 72 soil moisture probes, and six weather stations to monitor experiments in crop science, agronomy and farming systems – all features CSIRO says will give scientists unprecedented accuracy in studying crops. Director of CSIRO Agriculture and Food Dr Michiel van Lookeren Campagne says scientific research to build resilient agriculture systems and increase food production is more important than ever, particularly given current drought conditions in NSW. “Here at Boorowa, we’ll be trialling…

Agritechnica 2019 saw 450,000 visitors flock through the doors to look at the latest in agricultural technology. With the guiding theme of ‘Global Farming – Local Responsibility’, the exhibitors presented innovative solutions for future questions of the industry and society. JOSKIN AND DEERE JOIN FORCES The only gold medal for innovation awarded at this year’s Agritechnica went to a joint effort by Joskin and John Deere for development in electric drives. The heavyweight manufacturers introduced a system where two axles on a tridem manure spreader are electrically driven by motors. The eAutoPower gearbox for the new 8R large tractors from John Deere represents the first electro-mechanical power split gearbox in agricultural technology. Two electric motors are used as a continuously variable actuator and are specified to not only supply the…

Even though the Agritechnica Show in Germany hosted some of the biggest farm machinery in the world, there was also a focus on supplying smaller equipment. Around 450,000 farmers, contractors and machinery enthusiasts took in the many sights and sounds of the week-long event in Hanover, regarded as the world’s largest agriculture machinery show. One key message that visitors to the huge show took home with them was that investing in high tech efficient machinery is the key to a profitable farming future. Just over 90 per cent of the world’s farmers are classed as small, mostly farming less than 50 hectares, and are located in developing countries. With this in mind, a significant number of machinery manufacturers at this year’s show exhibited small tractors, implements and also smart technology…

From memory, the initial conversation went something like this. “Do you know what would make unbelievably cool television? We should use Komatsu machines to carve out a rally track and get me in the passenger seat as a rally champion zooms the car around a quarry.” I think I blanked out from nerves after that, but I’m presuming a few raised eyebrows followed, then a few chuckles, a few sweaty palms perhaps. All rightfully so, the idea was pretty audacious. Yet, fast-forward four months to one sunny weekend in June and there I was, hanging on for dear life, as I rode shotgun to one of the country’s best rally drivers. WALKER QUARRIES Let’s rewind again. After the dust had settled on our crazy Mighty Machines TV idea, I got…

Titan Heavy Industries’ ER 30 wheel loader was nominated for the Henty Machine of the Year award four months after it was introduced to the local market, and 18 months after the brand made its local debut. Luke Scott, the owner and general manager of Titan Australia, is now bringing in roughly 15 of the ER 30s per month, and says that farmers are his “best salesmen”, thanks to word of mouth. “Having a wheel loader which is designed to push, because your tractor is only designed to pull, helps with a lot of other functions on farm,” he says. With farmers creating higher density hay bales than in previous years, the need for a product that can lift heavier weights has grown. “You can get upwards of 700kg in…

On a recent South Island road trip, I caught up with the busy team at Carrfields Contracting. Based in Ashburton, the long-established business (dating back to the early 1970s) offers an impressively full range of services to farmers across the Canterbury region. Although, early on, the business specialised in hay and straw baling, these days the team is widely regarded as experts in all things relating to sourcing and providing new feed preservation techniques and machinery. CLAAS MOWERS While in the past Carrfields have run a set of Claas 9200 triple mowers on a Claas 850 tractor, they felt it was slightly underpowered for the task, so purchased a new Claas Axion 870, which at a max 295 horsepower (220kW) should be just the machine for the job. This is…

The latest generation Navara, the D23, arrived in Australia with much fanfare in mid-2015. The D23 replaced the very successful, Hilux-challenging D40 that debuted in 2004. Before that, the D40 replaced the D22, which in turn replaced the D21. Before that time, Nissan utes went under the names 720, 620, 520, etc., all the way back to the 120 of 1955. Going back even further, Nissan produced its first light truck in 1938, so it’s not new to this business. Much of the fanfare with the D23 was that it had coil springs rather than leaf springs at the back of seven out of eight dual-cab models on offer. The coil springs were not only a departure from previous Navaras but went against the common ute practice of using leaf…

Anew nozzle control system designed to cover paddocks efficiently and minimise overlaps will be installed on two new models of John Deere’s self-propelled sprayers, to be launched in Australia early next year. The new 4,000L capacity R4140i and 5,000L capacity R4150i will use the John Deere ExactApply nozzle control system, offering simple section control and individual nozzle control, with more precise application management. ExactApply uses a GPS-based section control system to control each nozzle individually, depending on a programmed application rate or preferred speed – as well as allowing the operator to change nozzles manually from the cab. The system can also maintain droplet size while changing speed through the use of pulse width modulation (PWM) technology up to 30Hz. With PWM enabled, turn compensation ensures that application rates remain…

Dedicated collectors swarmed to Gellibrand, Victoria, in early November as 36 McCormick Deering, Farmall and International brand tractors went under the hammer. Collected by Eric Larson, the tractors were produced between 1931 and 1964 and most were in working order – the result of almost 20 years of collecting following Larson’s retirement from dairy farming. The lots included a 1953 McCormick International Model DLD2 tractor – one of only 100 prototypes built and believed to be the only one in Australia, a 1941 International T6 Bulldozer supplied to the ordinance department of the US Army and a 1942 McCormick Deering W4 tractor, restored to its original steel wheels. Farms & Farm Machinery was unable to confirm the final sale price on all items, but understands most sold for four-figure sums,…

Bunbury Fibre Exports, an Australian company that provides harvesting, transport, processing, exporting and plantation management services to the plantation timber industry in the south west of Western Australia, has started using drones to undertake volumetric surveys. Terra Drone Australia has been engaged by the company to conduct a volumetric survey of its blue gum wood chip export stockpile located at the Port of Bunbury in Western Australia – a process that Terra Drone Australia says takes a fraction of the time of conventional survey methods, leading to lower costs, higher productivity and improved safety. In the past, like most stockpile assessments, the stockpile volumes have been calculated from traditional real time kinetic surveys, requiring surveyors to climb over stockpiles, taking a number of spot measurements with conventional GPS equipment. However,…

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) will seek further industry input on Grain Harvester Management Schemes (GHMS) as it considers the possibility of developing a harmonised national scheme. The NHVR released an Issues Paper earlier this year looking at the schemes that currently exist in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia, as well as South Australia’s mass loading management concessions for grain loading and transport. The paper looked at what would be involved in creating a national Harvest Mass Management Scheme (HMMS) before calling for broader industry feedback. “We received a broad range of feedback to the Issues paper, which we are using to develop a Discussion paper. We’ll look to conduct further consultation with the heavy vehicle and grain industries in the coming months,” NHVR spokesperson Andrew…

Manjimup Cherry Harmony Festival This one-day event in the Western Australian town of Manjimup aims to celebrate the local horticultural industry of the Southern Forests. Events include wine tasting, a log chopping competition, cooking classes, fashion parade, a food avenue and live music. WHEN: December 14 MORE INFO: www.cherryfestival.com.au IDW Australia, Tatura Park Australia’s International Dairy Week, held in Tatura Park, Victoria, is a forum to showcase the latest developments in Australian dairy cattle, farming practices, dairy knowledge, breeding and genetics, machinery, equipment and technology, environmental management and services. Held during the third week of January each year, IDW is the place to be for all dairy farmers, breeders, producers, companies, organisations and others operating within the dairy industry. WHEN: January 19-23 MORE INFO: http://internationaldairyweek.com.au Eurobodalla Agricultural Show, Moruya Held…

German company Fendt nudged out some tough competition to win Tractor of the Year, beating the Case IH Magnum 380 CVX drive, the Class Axion 960 Terra Trac, the McCormick X7.624 VT Drive and the Valtra N154e Versu. The Tractor of the Year jury — which is comprised of 25 European journalists —was impressed with the 942 Vario’s level of connectivity, the optimisation of its 9-litre MAN engine and its innovative hydraulic system that includes two separate high-flow circuits, they say. This is the sixth Tractor of the Year win for Fendt since the awards induction in 1998, having previously won in 1998, 1999, 2003, 2010 and 2015. The day kept on getting better for Fendt, with the company also taking the Best Utility Tractor of the Year award with…

Australia’s largest construction and earthmoving event will be held at Panthers Penrith, in the heart of western Sydney, for its fifth year. Even if you don’t work in the industry, it’s an exciting place to be for anyone interested in getting up close to big machines, powerful trucks and the heavy equipment that is shaping Australia’s residential, commercial and public infrastructure projects. But if you are part of Australia’s earthmoving, construction or public space maintenance industry, it’s an event you just can’t miss. BETTER EVERY YEAR Spread over three days, you can be sure there is plenty of time for everyone to visit at their leisure and enjoy soaking up the great field day atmosphere that the whole family can enjoy. If you are a manufacturer or distributor of equipment…

The charm of utes was always a bit lost on me. Growing up in Australia, an indifference to the humble utility was – and still is – sacrilege, so this is the first and last time you’ll hear me admitting I wasn’t always a fan. Things changed when, about five years ago (and many cars into my wallet-sapping motoring obsession), I succumbed to the allure of a ute as a budget tow rig. The steed of choice? A BA Falcon ute, which – across many years of trouble-free daily driving – saw more abuse than your average drift car and less maintenance than a uni student’s first set of wheels. Basically, I just couldn’t kill it. On top of its unexplainable reliability, it was handy. Very handy. I was always…

More and more feedlot owners are using wheel loaders to help manage the large amounts of feed they use on a daily basis – but one design obstacle was causing problems for early adopters, Komatsu says. Feedback from those users was that anyone using the machines on a feedlot needed to stop work regularly to remove loose chaff and other high fibre debris. Komatsu national technical manager for wheel loaders Steve Hollins says customers wanted to be able to carry out “a full shift of operation” without having to stop to clean the radiator and cooler on the vehicles. “For years, the need to stop and clean radiators has been an annoying, and as it turns out unnecessary, drain on productivity,” he says. “Operators in the feedlot industry are sometimes…

AJCB Fastrac Tractor has hit a top speed of 217.57km/h, breaking its own world record for the fastest speed a tractor has ever travelled. The record-breaking attempt was overseen by Guinness World Records, which confirmed that the JCB Fastrac Two completed two runs, in either direction through a speed trap set 1km apart, within the allotted time. JCB says the Fastrac Two had also hit a peak speed of 247.47km/h on its way to recording the average speed. The record comes after another JCB tractor, the Fastrac One, hit a top speed of 166.7km/h in June this year. A team of JCB engineers set out to further streamline the tractor and reduce its weight by 10 per cent after the record was set in June – with JCB chief innovation…

An interface enabling farmers to manage different products from John Deere, Claas, Steyr, Case IH and New Holland will be rolled out in Australia in 2020 – a move that is sure to boost efficiency in precision agriculture. While modern telematics-equipped farm vehicles can generate a lot of useful data, when that data can only be accessed within that brand’s own digital platform it can mean that multiple platforms are needed to make everything work together. With the new DataConnect interface, farmers will be able to securely exchange and view basic machine data, such as current and historical machine location, fuel levels, working status and forward speed. They will also be able to control and monitor their entire fleet using their preferred telematics platform, with no additional hardware or software…

The 2019 Tranzmile Truck of the Year Award marks the culmination of the second year of the highly-popular Truck of the Month feature in Owner//Driver. The team here at Owner//Driver has chosen the 12 finalists, but the responsibility of selecting the winner is now turned over to you – our valued readers. Among the nominees are some amazing trucks – so we don’t envy the job ahead of you! Read on to find out how to vote, and what you can win for your efforts! HOW IT WORKS To be eligible, trucks must have appeared as a Truck of the Month in Owner//Driver magazine over the past 12 months. The outright winner will be decided by popular vote – with the winner featured in the March 2020 issue of Owner//Driver…

There is a fair argument to be made that the John Deere 6250R is the best Deere tractor built in quite some time. We’ve surely touched a nerve with someone with that statement, but hear us out. The top of the range model we recently test drove in Victoria’s Gippsland region is definitely a step up from its previous 6 series tractors. It came jam-packed with all the bells and whistles you could think of. It’s important to know that this is the first John Deere to come labelled ‘6250R’, and now acts as the flagship in this range. However, the new John Deere 6250R doesn’t come cheap, so is it the rig you’re looking for? ENGINE The 6250R is the top of the range tractor in John Deere’s 6…

If you’re a farm machinery enthusiast, or if you simply love to see the latest and greatest machines from around the world, you’re reading the right article. Because we’ve just experienced Agritechnica 2019 – the best farm machinery event in the world, full stop. Here are some of the greatest and latest machines on offer. FENDT E100 Now, this isn’t the biggest Fendt you’ve ever seen, but the gorgeous new e100 gets kudos for being innovative. Very close to mainstream production, the Fendt e100 is the German manufacturer’s first 100 per cent electricity-driven tractor. The e100 is powered by a 650v high capacity lithium-ion battery. The tractor has an operation time of five hours, but more impressively it will reach 80 per cent charge in just 40 minutes. Small in…

Lemken says the Nova 14 will complete its range of field sprayers when it is introduced to the German market by mid-2020. Lemken is yet to confirm when the new model will be made available in Australia, but Lemken Australia managing director Cameron West says it is unlikely to be this year. “I envisage it being available in Australia in 2022 or maybe earlier depending on demand,” he says. When launched, the Nova will offer tank volumes of 4,800 or 7,200 litres and working widths of between 24 and 39 metres, as well as a spacious cab and automatic boom control. The spraying application on the unit will be controlled by Lemken’s MegaSpray system and the Lemken CCI-800 and CCI-1200 terminals – giving the operator access to functions including width…

Agricultural innovator, feedlot owner and school principal: Justin Dunn has a lot on his plate – and with regular feedings, so do the sheep under his care. With commitments beyond his feedlot in Temora, NSW, Dunn says he was having trouble making sure his lambs were fed when required – normally up to six times a day when they first arrive on the property, he says. “Feedlotting lambs is very labour intensive, and the only way we could afford to be able to continue with feedlotting lambs while having other professions was to automate the process,” he says. “Everyone is looking for the same scenario – you can hire help, but the issue is the reliability of that help come Christmas, come holidays, come weekends. These sheep don’t stop eating…

Like its feline namesake, Scag’s Cheetah mower thrives in long grass and hunts its prey with steady, ruthless efficiency. But what sets the model apart from others in the Scag range is its operator suspension system, which isolates the mower’s operator platform – its seat and foot plate – from the rest of the unit. With the platform suspended by a coil-over shock and the seat by rubber iso-mounts, the system is designed to ensure operator comfort, International Mowers Scag sales and marketing manager Rob Shearer says. “A lot of farmers are doing big areas and large nature strips and things like that, so that is where the Cheetahs come into their own,” he says. “They are not mowing pretty grass, they are mowing rough areas and they want to…

Reshaping the world of plastics means rethinking what’s already been done. Hamilton-based Pro-Form started life with two blokes sharing ideas in an old chicken shed. Today, the business exports its products to more than 60 countries and has partnerships with global brands such as General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen and Australasian giant ARB. Chances are, if you drive a ute, you’ll be familiar with some of Pro-Form’s automotive accessories such as its Bedliners, Canopies, Sportlids, and the Tango rail system. Particularly popular is Pro-Form’s Sportguard bed protection, offering a non-skid rubber floor to protect both cargo and truck/ ute beds. One of the most innovative bedliners on the market, it is hotly sought after for its five-piece design, which snap-fits together (and the fact it flat packs for more cost effective…