Tractor test
Tractor test: Case IH Puma CVX 230
Puma continues to roar
The last time we looked at a Puma our main observational beef was with its mechanical transmission. Since then Case IH has provided this tractor range with a CVT option and more recently added SCR technology to meet the current round of engine emissions standards – that’s Stage IIIB, for now. Plenty to talk about, then, on the 167kW/228hp CVX 230 model
Practical test
Get to the bottom of combo drills
Six power harrow/drill combos compared part II-IV:
With autumn planting still fresh in the mind we compare 3m combo units from Amazone, Kuhn, Kverneland, Lemken, Pöttinger and Rabe. This is the first instalment in a three-part series and focuses on the power harrow element of the package. Next month we redirect attention on to the drills
Kuhn Integra GII 3000
Six power harrow/drill combos compared part II-IV:
Kverneland mc-drill Pro 300
Six power harrow/drill combos compared part II-IV:
Amazone AD 303 Super
Six power harrow/drill combos compared part II-IV:
Rabe Ceria 3001 A
Six power harrow/drill combos compared part II-IV:
Pöttinger Vitasem 302 A
Six power harrow/drill combos compared part II-IV:
Lemken Saphir 7/300
Six power harrow/drill combos compared part II-IV:
Six power harrow/drill combos compared:
Get to the bottom of combo drills
In the first instalment of this three-part test we looked at the power harrow element of six combo drills. Now it’s the turn of the drills themselves, as we check out the ‘box’ seeding options from six European manufacturers
Driving impression
John Deere 8360R
A modest little number
Deere’s 8360R heads up the new 8R range introduced earlier this year. Measured under rating standard 97/68 EC, its engine peaks at 301kW/409PS/403hp — enough to stake a claim for the crown of ‘world’s most powerful production tractor’ currently on sale. If that’s not sufficient whetting of your whistle, Deere’s Active Command Steering also receives its first formal airing
Livestock equipment
Farm building design:
As safe as houses…
… or maybe not. Last winter saw over 5,000 farms turn into disaster zones when heavy falls of snow caused buildings to collapse in unsightly heaps of steel and rubble. Andy Collings discovers what measures are being taken to help ensure that new buildings don’t succumb to such failures in the future
Roto Grind 760 straw chopper:
Grind up your straw – American-style
Using straw as a roughage ingredient in a mixed ration is nothing new, but machinery maker Roto Grind believes that by pulverising the straw element of the recipe a farmer is able to produce a better end result. Mervyn Bailey takes a look at the 760 model
Used machinery
Hardi Commander trailed sprayers:
Same name, different sprayers
Hardi replaced its Commander trailed sprayers with new but hardly different machines in 2005. Or, at least, that’s how it first appears. In practice, the still-current Commander models are a ‘generation’ design advance over their predecessors, as James de Havilland finds out
Workshop
From the workshop:
Simple solutions to perennial problems
Now is the time to start work on those winter project ideas that were prompted by what went on, or didn’t go on, last harvest. Remember how you were frustrated by the lack of grain-stacking reach of your telehandler, or by the ground being not quite firm enough in front of the drill? Mike Donovan’s December collection provides low-cost ways of dealing with both of these predicaments
Machine management
Making the move to tracks in Dorset:
Gently does it
Having invested in a low-cost crawler tractor to improve arable operations two years ago, Dorset contractor Andy Fraser turned his used-machinery buying philosophy on its head in the spring of 2011. This was the moment that a spanking new Challenger MT765C arrived ready for work. Geoff Ashcroft pays him a visit
Around the world
Track trend accelerates Gas drilling on US farms Different characters in red – and white Komati farmer wins an award for transport work
Report
Contents 2011
Contractor price guide 2011:
UK contractor charges
This is the National Association of Agric. Contractors’ charge guide for 2011, based on info supplied by its members in the early summer. The figures are ONLY A GUIDE and assume a red diesel price of 66p/litre. Prices will vary according to UK region, size of job, type of kit used etc
Electronics
Four steering-assist systems:
Look, no hands
A quartet of the latest GPS-based steering-assist systems comes under scrutiny from profi’s Andrew Pearce and Geert Hekkert, editor of Dutch machinery magazine Trekker. Here we provide an overview of the technology, before moving on next month to assess each system in detail
Hobby
Models from the past:
Classics in miniature
What tractor were you driving back 15 or 20 years ago? A sweetsounding International 1455, a New Holland 8560 or perhaps even a Fendt 515? Many of us would like to have kept the tractors that we grew up on, but sadly can’t afford to – or simply don’t have enough room for the real thing. A model could be the answer, then. All three mentioned tractors, and many more besides, are available in the
