Innholdsfortegnelse for 337 i Farms and Farm Machinery

Korean manufacturer Branson has introduced the new 60hp 6225 compact tractor to Australia. Branson tractors are distributed in Australia by Midway Sales, and company director Scott Spring-Brown says the release of the new 60hp 6225 tractors is an exciting development. “We’ve worked closely with Branson to bring the best of this world-class range to our market,” Spring-Brown says. “A cast-iron rear end and transmission housing give this range the best ballast for maximum traction.” The 6225 sits at the top end of the compact tractor category, weighing in at more than 1740kg excluding the loader. Sporting a 2.3-litre turbocharged engine, the 6225 range is available in four variants. The baseline open-cab model is fitted with ROPS and shuttle shift transmission – another model is ROPS with hydro transmission. There are…

Flexi-Coil has released its biggest air drill yet – the 80-foot (24m) 5500 air drill – to the Australian market. New South Wales crop-grower Chris Condon trialled the air drill on his broadacre farm this year and saw a 33 per cent boost during his trial period. Condon and his mother Jan own an 8000-hectare farm near Griffith, and drilled 4000 hectares with the new Flexi-Coil 5500 air drill in combination with a Flexi-Coil 60 series air cart. He sowed the remaining 2000 hectares of the cropping programme with his existing Flexi-Coil ST820 precision cultivator. “We have had the ST820 for five years and we have been very happy with it,” Chris says. “But we are now in the market for a new machine to expand our operation and I’ve…

With the end of winter sowing, there will be a few winter crop farmers who got caught off guard with machinery breakdowns. While sometimes they are not preventable, often they are. And when it comes to farm machinery, the best offence is defence. Case IH national aftersales manager Patrick McVeigh says there is tangible value in having machinery prepared and running for the sowing season by having it serviced early and buying genuine parts. “On the surface, it might seem that breakdown repair is cheaper because you only need to budget for the one-time expense of repair and parts,” McVeigh says. “But that’s just not accurate. “Breakdown repair costs extend far beyond labour and materials, because breakdowns are never planned, they force work to stop for an undetermined period. “This…

Makinex Construction Products has taken out Safe Work Australia’s Award for Good Design at an awards ceremony in Sydney for its powered hand truck. The Makinex powered hand truck is a materials handling tool enabling one person to safely lift and load small equipment or bulky goods weighing up to 140kg. Makinex says it provides a quick and trouble-free alternative to using a forklift. The hand truck gets its lifting power from a 12V linear actuator and averages around 50 lift cycles with each charge. The unit comes with a hook arm attachment as standard, and a forklift attachment is also sold separately. The machine can lift objects on the hook attachment up to a height of 1.9m and with the fork attachment to a height of 1.55m, allowing equipment…

A$6 million subsidy scheme for farmers to make their quad bikes safer has been announced by the Victorian Government. Eligible farmers will be offered up to $600 each for up to two ATVs (all-terrain vehicles) to fit rollover protection, or $1200 towards the cost of buying a safer ATV or UTV (utility task vehicle). Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced the scheme at a recent Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) conference, saying: “Too many Victorians have died or have been seriously injured using quad bikes, and that’s why the Victorian Government is taking action to protect our farmers. “This is about saving lives and we encourage every eligible farmer to make use of this rebate and stay safe,” he added. The scheme provides rebates to farmers to either fit rollover protection devices…

Watching the Rio 2016 Olympics, you realised there were going to be some casualties. A classic example was the French gymnast who fell awkwardly to break his leg – then, to add insult to injury, was dropped by the paramedics as they entered the ambulance. There were also many athletes who gave their all but came away with the silver medal after being pipped at the post for gold. Which is a nice segue into this review of the Top Tractor Shootout 2016 runner-up: the Deutz Fahr 5105.4G. It was very close – within a whisker of winning – and rightfully so, as it was a cracking little tractor. I think what we can safely place the blame on is the fact that the 5105 is actually rated at 102hp,…

The new John Deere StarFire 6000 GPS receiver, which is designed to give sprayer, combine and tractors-operators greater precision, has been launched in Australia. It’s been 16 years since John Deere introduced the first StarFire guidance system, with improvements made in the following years with StarFire iTC and StarFire 3000 receivers. The StarFire 6000 can track up to three satellite signals at once, intelligently choose the one that will deliver the best performance, and automatically switch to an alternate signal to help maintain accuracy and performance if the primary signal is blocked. The satellite-based guidance system in the StarFire 6000 receiver and the new SF3 signal are highly advanced, according to John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group spokesperson Mike Moeller. “The StarFire 6000 Receiver offers a full range of differential correction…

A parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of the iconic Massey Ferguson TE20 tractor turned heads in Coventry, England recently. Led by the Mayor of Coventry, the ‘70 tractors for 70 years’ procession was organised by Coventry Transport Museum event and attracted tractor enthusiasts from far and wide. The first TE20 tractor rolled off the assembly line at its former Banner Lane manufacturing plant in Coventry in the UK in July 1946. The tractor was the invention of engineer Harry Ferguson, a founder of Massey Ferguson, which is one of the biggest names in farm machinery. The tractor was unique in its three-point linkage implement attachment system, controlled by the tractor’s hydraulics. Designated the ‘Ferguson System,’ this effectively turned the tractor and implement into a single working unit, replacing previous methods…

Agricultural products and services provider Elders is using a range of Toyota 8-Series FG forklifts for a number of tasks across 50 of its branches around Australia, saying it made the choice due to Toyota’s ability to provide sales and service in every area of its operations. “It was a critical consideration for us, given that the nature of our business means we’re operating in some pretty remote locations,” Elders fleet manager Jeff Howarth says. “Being able to not only supply the forklifts, but most importantly provide service and backup, either directly or through reliable local agents right around the country, was very important to us.” Howarth says the forklifts, which range in capacity from 1.8 to 3.0 tonnes, are used primarily to load and unload trucks and customers’ vehicles.…

Farmers in Southern Australia can expect above-average rainfall and cooler-than-average daytime temperatures, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM). A negative Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) pattern in the Indian Ocean has prompted BOM to also predict warmer day and nighttime temperatures in northern Australia. Current weekly IOD index values are the lowest they have been in the last 15 years. Climate models predict the negative IOD pattern will persist and develop through the southern winter and spring. Sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean have continued to cool in recent weeks, and the tropical Pacific Ocean is in a neutral El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) state. But a large volume of cooler than normal water below the ocean surface suggests La Nina remains possible later this year. This means the…

In the teaser posted on the TradeFarmMachinery.com.au website before the Top Tractor Shootout in ’Straya, there was apparently a sentence that mentioned how trans-Tasman rivalry was going to be put to one side. Having not read this, or the kind words said about my good Kiwi self by the Aussie crew, I decided that, since there had been a number of underhand tactics used by the Aussies over the years, it was time to get some of our own back. Enter the tight, winding course with the chicane at the end. It needed plenty of side brake action, which I was more than happy to give in generous doses – purely for your viewing pleasure! This, followed by the bark loading and hay stacking, was something that allowed the tractors’…

After many mathematical equations, the winning tractor by the slimmest of margins was the Massey Ferguson 5609, with only 0.01 points separating it from the second-placed Deutz Fahr 5105.4G. Hopefully after reading this article, you will see there was some rationale behind our decision, rather than a random decision by a cowboy boot-wearing cow cocky from New Zealand and his much more sensible Australian offsider. If not, I apologise in advance. Only weeks before we cracked into testing the new Massey Ferguson, the company celebrated 70 years since the first little grey Ferguson TE20 rolled off the line in Coventry, UK. It has built over 500,000 in a 10-year period. Significance? As we’ve seen with the invention of the PTO in the Case IH Farmall’s heritage, the thing that made…

Italy’s Landini tractors have returned to the Australian market after a break, appointing Inlon as the sole distributor here. Landini specialises in vineyard, orchard and vegetable row crop tractors, high clearance tractors and utility ROPS, but also produces a range of general farm tractors with cabins and front-end loaders, Inlon sales and marketing manager Gary Surman says. “Landini has been manufacturing tractors for 132 years, so they have a solid reputation,” Surman says. “We launched the new Landini range at Inlon’s recent dealer meeting, and the overwhelming feedback was that farmers and contractors will welcome the specialism that Landini brings, especially to Australian orchards, vineyards and fruit or vegetable farms.” Inlon first introduced the Landini range to Australia 25 years ago. “Back then, Landini was part-owned by Massey Ferguson,” Surman…

French UAV manufacturer Lehmann Aviation’s new 2016 L-A Series drones for mapping and precision agriculture, construction and mining are now available in Australia. The redesigned drones have a wingspan of just under 1.2m, detachable winglets that make the craft easier to transport, and weigh just 1.2kg. The aluminium, carbon fibre and EPP foam-constructed UAVs have a range of 25km, with 45 minutes of flight time and a long-range data modem. The LA500-RTK model is designed for high-precision mapping, and supports cameras such as the Sony A6000 with its large 24.3-megapixel sensor. The LA500-AG agricultural model includes Parrot’s multispectral Sequoia sensor which, according to Lehmann Aviation, is ideal for crop monitoring. These UAVs use an updated version of Lehmann’s OperationCenter software that is designed to run on Windows 10 touchscreen devices.…

Construction has started on a new pipeline that will boost the volume of water available to horticulture growers and expand production in regional Western Australia. It will increase the current water capacity from 183L/sec to more than 550 once completed. Construction company SSP Diverse is contracted to build the 25km Northern Borefield Pipeline as part of the WA Government’s $25 million Gascoyne Food Bowl project. WA Department of Agriculture and Food (DAFWA) project manager Tony Della Bosca says the construction of the pipeline is the culmination of four years of work towards providing a better water supply to increase irrigated agriculture production in Gascoyne by 400 hectares. “The pipeline will be supported by the electrification of the northern bore field, which will ensure the consistent and more efficient delivery of…

When you think about a Top Tractor Shootout, you may be envisaging a boring diatribe by two blokes with clipboards debating the benefits of different PowerShift transmissions and holding conflicting opinions on the location of hydraulic hoses. Or you may be thinking that this is all a charade and the judges will let brand bias and the promise of a free lunch sway their integrity. Well think again! This year’s Farms & Farm Machinery Top Tractor Shootout turned out to be an action-packed affair that has sparked a bitter trans-Tasman rivalry. And there was no free lunch. I should know because it was my job to get the coffee! I admit it – I was prepared to be bored, but nothing prepared me for the manic glee and kamikaze enthusiasm…

Arguably the best tractor in the competition, the John Deere 6105M was the most powerful, had the best traction, and was easily the most stable. It ranked best for hydraulic oil flow, maximum rear linkage lift, driver’s seat comfort and lighting. Add to the mix a front-end loader with a hydraulic quick coupler and boom suspension, as well as front axle suspension, and the John Deere entry was always going to rank highly. However, despite having dominated on the scoresheet and amassing the highest points tally for the event, the fact that it was also the dearest tractor resulted in the 6105M being relegated to third position overall in the value-for-money competition. At 105hp, it is the most powerful tractor in the field, exceeding the 80-100hp criteria. To negate any…