Profi

While the farm machinery trade has without doubt slowed, there is still some business being done. Machine distributors and dealers will agree, though, that a lot more work is having to be put in to eventually win the sale. Which makes it even more mind-boggling that, when you do enquire about a used piece of kit, you have to phone two or five times to elicit a response. Or at least that has been my most recent experience. On the look-out for a used GPS kit, I enquired with a UK dealer who had just the sort of thing I was after, and I would be going by their door the following day. I waited for the promised return call that would let me know if the unit was still…

In the same year it celebrates 60 years of tractor production, the New Holland plant at Basildon recently produced its two millionth tractor. The celebration livery on the two millionth unit, a 225hp T7.225, comprises candy blue body panels, silver and black graphics with the Union Jack flag, a ‘2,000,000 Basildon Tractors’ logo, plus a New Holland leaf bonnet top. Black wheels rims with candy blue rim edges complete the makeover. The tractor will appear at forthcoming events in the UK, and will then be on show in the Customer Centre at Basildon.…

A prototype of a large three-axled combine harvester has been spotted on French roads. The first pictures and video of the machine circulated social media last year, but this image, which we snatched from farm-connexion.com, is the clearest we have seen so far; and in broad daylight with no tarpaulin! The French website provides no technical details, but the picture appears to show a low mounted engine between the middle and rear steering axles. The position of the unloading auger suggests that the grain tank is in the usual place, but the function of the construction behind it is unknown. Could it be a straw/chaff collector or perhaps a pellet press? The guessing game as to who made the prototype has also started. It is speculated that Krone is involved…

The semi-mounted headstock on the Razorblade Blade 500 (5.0m) protects the pto from the tractor link arms when making tight turns. Another benefit of the new headstock is on the move cutting height adjustment via the linkage arms, and the Blade is said to generate plenty of sward uplift to allow for clean cutting at heights up to 400mm. Slip clutch wear has also been addressed and the free-swinging twin blade system is said to provide good cutting capacity with reduced tractor power requirements (minimum 70hp). Capable of outputs of up to 6ha/hr, the standard configuration has four wheels (six and eight wheels are optional). The six-wheeled version weighs just under 2.5t.…

The Professional is flagged up as a more agile and simplified version of Strautmann’s Verti-Mix feeder wagon. Comprising six single-tub machines from 7.5m³ to 14.5m³ and four twin-auger machines from 11.5m³ to 24.5m³, the shortened front end and reconfigured driveline guarding makes the Professional suitable for smaller yards and difficult to access buildings. All are fitted with the same IMS vertical augers as the rest of the firm’s mixers, and the simpler three-point weighing system is said to provide accurate measurements even on rough terrain. The 100mm wider side doors speed up emptying the ration (rear cross conveyor or Danish rear doors optional). Power requirements range from just 35hp for the VM 75 to 146hp for the VM 245. Scan now to get our weekly news email…

FEWER NEW TRACTORS IN THE UK The number of new tractors registered in the UK continues to track below last year’s levels, reports the AEA. July’s total of 948 units is 14% lower than the same month in 2023, and 18% below the average for the time of year over the previous five years. The total of 6,830 tractors registered in the year to date is 10% below the five-year average for the opening seven months of the year. ONE IN 10 TRAILERS STOLEN 10% of checks undertaken on the Equipment Register (TER) database of 1.6 million items (850,000 trailers) in 2023 match stolen items. Findings from Europe’s largest database of stolen plant and equipment support data from the latest NFU Mutual rural crime report, which found that the cost…