Tractor test

Massey Ferguson 7720 Dyna-VT

Still room to improve

The 136kW/185hp Massey Ferguson 7720 Dyna-VT (rated power output to ISO 14396) impresses with both its excellent performance characteristics and levels of comfort. All good news, then? Well, not quite. More could still be done to improve overall user friendliness of the cab terminal and its setting menus. Here’s what we found on our test example

Practical test

CBM automatic stabiliser

A steady hand

CBM has introduced automatic hydraulic stabilisers, and we had the opportunity to trial a pair on a New Holland T7030

Pöttinger Aerosem 3002 ADD drill + Lion 303.12 power harrow

Aerosem revisited

Following our look at the Austrian maker’s neat addition of precision seeders to its Aerosem ADD air drill, we see how well the unit deals with autumn cereals. The results turned out to be largely positive…

Two Kotte tanker systems: Plastic vs steel, displacement vs vacuum

A tale of two tankers

Is it true that there’s not much difference between slurry tankers based around a vacuum pump or a positive displacement pump? Specialist maker Kotte offers both, giving us the chance to find out

Driving impression

Shift and clean

Bergmann RRW500 beet cleaning chaser bin

Using a chaser bin to keep high-output combines on song is commonplace, so why not apply the same thinking to other acre-eating kit such as sugar beet harvesters? Fair comment, reckoned Bergmann, which has come up with the RRW500 — a veritable beet hauling monster

Hardi Mega mounted sprayer

Getting a little closer

Shown at Cereals for the first time, Hardi can now offer a high capacity mounted spraying rig. Indeed the firm reckons its Mega is the biggest on the market, with the range’s flagship model boasting a capacity of 2,200 litres

Peecon Pacman Gen2 feeder

Pop in and out of tight spaces

Peecon has introduced a new line of self-propelled mixers, which are based on a forklift from Linde and claim capacities from 12-24m3. Frits Huiden, from the Dutch Trekker magazine, takes this most compact of self-propelled feeders for a trial run

Claas Direct Disc 600 direct-cut header

Direct Disc enjoys a mixed crop diet

When Claas introduced its direct-cut header it was more than adequate for the foragers of the day. But time, crop yields and forager hp have since moved on, prompting the firm to return to the drawing board and tweak its original design. We got hold of a pre-production Direct Disc 600 to see what’s changed

High voltage combination

John Deere plus Fliegl Smart Drive Control

For some time John Deere has worked with Fliegl — a maker of trailers and trailed equipment — on electric implement drive, steadily refining a 2013 system that saw a powered axle added to a trailer. Here’s news of the latest development

Livestock equipment

Rotary parlour for bigger herd

Going for growth

From operating a simple New Zealand style management system, a Shropshire dairying business has done a complete about-turn. Today its focus is on total milk volume while maintaining a healthy herd

Used machinery

Grégoire-Besson ‘R’ mounted ploughs

Tough, simple and affordable?

Grégoire-Besson has recently added the ‘cranked leg’ 6-, 8- and 9-series ploughs to its line-up. The existing R4, R47 and R7 mounted models, in contrast, have been around since the early to mid-90s. So, does this mean the old Rs are now too dated, or could they make the ideal used choice for those seeking a simple plough design?

Workshop

Varma portable infrared heater

Fire without smoke

Just as there is more than one way to skin a cat, there is more than one way to heat the workshop. Here’s a mobile unit that claims to combine instant heat with low running costs

Bending hoses with a spiral support

Spiralling hoses

Simple and inexpensive radiator hoses sell in metre lengths and are kept in stock in many agri-stores and farm workshops for makeshift repairs of a burst item. Yet things can get tricky when the new hose needs bending to fit into place. A solution is available using special steel spirals from Australian firm Unicoil

Small engines Part I: The basics

Good to go

Got a small engine that won’t fire up? Then this step-by-step, three-part troubleshooting guide will help get it back into the land of the living

Machine management

Farming across slopes in Hertfordshire

Getting the most out of gradients

One Herts-based contract farming business prefers to work across its hills, saying the practice evens out hp requirements when compared with hauling kit up and down a slope

Around the world

All aboard the cane train / Up front and in view / Campaign for ‘Right to Repair’ launch / One-of-a-kind grading box

Report

Dutch earthworks contractor runs a mixed tractor fleet

Level heads

Two classic Cameco articulated tractors, a modern New Holland T9.560 and a trio of Cat dozers of various ages provide the grunt to pull a number of modified ploughs and scraper boxes for one Dutch earthworks contractor

Technical

How they work — AC electric motors

Our friend electric

AC motors power milking systems, roller mills, pressure washers and many more machines around the farmyard. The following article explains how these motors work and points to where else they can be found

Under the hammer

Euro Auctions, Leeds

Blue MTXs take centre stage

Over 1,000 bidders from 62 countries around the world hit an online record for Euro Auctions of over £12m in August. At the sale a selection of blue McCormicks proved to be quite a draw

 

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