Tractor test
Claas Xerion 4000
Room with a view
It has taken a bit of time, but we’ve finally got our hands on a Claas Xerion for the profi tractor test. So, was the 308kW/419hp (ECE-R120) 4000 worth the wait?
Practical test
Section control on fertiliser spreaders
Back up the Amazone
Earlier this year we set out to compare GPS-modulated section control on four spreaders. Amazone’s entry met problems, so accuracy results were published for only three machines. We promised the ZA-TS a re-run — and here it is
Kuhn Vari-Leader 8 NSH semi-mounted plough
Following the Leader
Farming has a tendency to come full circle. Which would certainly seem to be the case with cultivations, as many arable businesses return to the plough as a key weapon in their ongoing battle against blackgrass and other pernicious grass weeds. This month’s practical test candidate is the eight-furrow Vari-Leader semi-mounted model from Kuhn
Driving impression
He-Va Grass Tiller subsoiler
Get the air flowing
Over recent years cultivation kit manufacturers have started providing stock farmers with grassland subsoilers capable of working at shallower depths and not leaving a surface resembling that of an old ridge and furrow pasture. He-Va’s offering is the Grass Tiller … but is it really a proper grass tool?
Castleagri Möscha swivel spout
Shake it all about
If you want to know how the Möscha swivel spout works, get a water hose and wave it side to side so it creates larger droplets. Benefits are said to be a reduced odour, better nutrient uptake, faster emptying times and a wider working width
JCB Fastrac 8330 tractor
Fresh faced
New steering, styling and cabs are the order of the day for JCB’s latest 280hp (max 306hp) 8290 and 335hp (max 348hp) 8330 Fastracs. We get behind the wheel of an 8330 to see how the changes stack up
Big changes afoot
Lemken Solitair 25/600 KA drill
Pretty much new from the ground up, the only familiar components on the Lemken Solitair 25 are its OptiDisc double- disc coulters. We had a chance to sow some oats with a 6.0m pre-production model
Livestock equipment
Making the change from beef to dairy production
Switch to milk
he end of milk quotas meant the Doran family was able to move from sucklers to dairy. One of the biggest investments for the new venture was a milking parlour with a sensible amount of tech to optimise milking times and herd management. So how did the Dorans set about making their choices?
Used machinery
Orgarth Hill sale
Clean kit
Over 800 lots of arable kit were up for grabs at Orgarth Hill Farm, with most of the machines commanding top prices. The sale proved how recent currency fluctuations have increased internet bidding and the export trade
John Deere 7R series tractors
Cures for early problems harden used values
First appearing in the UK at the tail end of 2011, John Deere 7230R, 7260R and 7280R tractors looked all set to take over from the outgoing 7030 series, with a host of developments to include the promise of improved efficiency. Teething troubles, however, put paid to this early promise, and residual values of the first 7R series suffered. What went wrong … and are these tractors now a sound used
Workshop
Small engines: Part II Ignition
Brighten your sparks
For the second helping in this three-part series, we investigate an ignition fault as a possible reason why a small petrol engine won’t burst into song
Machine management
Tyres beat tracks in Southern Counties
Choosing tyres over tracks
Ford Farms has turned its back on rubber tracks, favouring a standard-frame New Holland T9.560 artic tractor on Trelleborg TM900 high-power tyres for all its heavy draft work
Around the world
Where there’s muck, there’s … / Think ATV, think safety / Autonomous tractors that look like tractors / Tip in a new direction
Report
Whatever happened to … Deutz-Fahr’s eight-wheeled tractor
Eight wheels and gone
Back in 2009 Deutz-Fahr stunned us with the prototype of its 600hp V8 articulated eight-wheeled tractor. Seven years on, has the pin now finally been pulled on the XXL project?
Contractor price guide 2016
UK contractor charges
This is the National Association of Agricultural Contractors’ (www.naac.co.uk) charge guide, based on info supplied by its members this spring. The figures are only a guide and assume a red diesel price of 40p/litre. Prices will vary according to UK region, size of job, type of equipment used etc
