Farms and Farm Machinery Issue 397

TGB has brought a new line of quad bikes to Australia ahead of new safety laws coming into effect later this year. The Taiwanese manufacturer’s Blade 600 SE series provides a step-up in power and size from the 520 series and has been shown at events, including Farm World in Victoria late last month. Crucially, TGB quad bikes sold after October will include the mandatory rollover protection equipment – once the laws kick in – while machines sold before then will have rollover protection available as an option The Blade 600 SE offers 42.1 horsepower (31kW) and 53.6Nm of torque, 240kg payload capacity and a 561cc four-stroke single cylinder engine and a digital display. Other features include heavy-duty front and rear racks, double A-arm front and rear suspension. TGB also has a slightly higher-specification…

Built in Ireland and available Australia-wide, the Erth Agriseeder drill is a simple disc seeder with a lot of brains behind it. Manufacturer Erth Engineering says the Agriseeder range is a flexible drill perfect for sowing cover crops, fodder crops and cereals into existing swards or burn-off. Australian distributors Gendore Tractors & Machinery were showing off the 24-row, 3m model at this year’s Farm World show, with managing director Derek Genoni telling Farms & Farm Machinery that the new model has attracted a lot of interest. Requiring a tractor of more than 100 horsepower (75kW), the unit has a 400L hopper and weighs 1,500kg, with row spacings of 125mm. “Most disc seeders on the market are $130,000–$150,000,” he says. “This one is about $58,300 [including GST], because it is not as complex as all the…

Kuhn has introduced an automatic steering axle system as an option on its Metris 2 and Oceanis 2 trailed sprayers to enable more precise driving and reduce crop damage when spraying. Fitting a machine with steering axle technology is usually a time-consuming task, with brackets to make and the linkage to attach to the rear of the tractor. The Track Assist system simplifies the process by replacing the mechanical connection with a gyroscopic sensor, which is fixed to the rear of the tractor with a magnet. The gyroscopic sensors detect the steering angle of the tractor and the sprayer follows the tractor’s trajectory, without the risk of the link touching the crop. Simple to fit and easy to use, Track Assist has a wide operating angle of 23 degrees (28 degrees on the Oceanis…

Cervus Equipment will get its first shipment of Kramer telehandlers by June this year, with the dealer also considering having some more arrive by November. Late last year, John Deere signed a deal with Kramer Group for its dealers to distribute their range, with Cervus Equipment the first to sign on for distributions in Victoria and New Zealand. Cervus sales consultant Nathan Day told Farms & Farm Machinery that the company currently had two demonstration models in stock locally, and they were looking forward to having more. “We are bringing them in with full LED packages and reversing fans and automatic greasers as a basic standard package – so we are bringing in a premium machine without overspending too much,” he says. “We are bringing in a few different models – and if people…

Using drones instead of traditional methods to herd sheep could have health benefits for the animals involved, a new study has claimed. The study, conducted by UNSW Canberra and published by Scientific Reports, says that drones are not only an effective herding tool, but drones that emit certain sounds actually reduce stress in sheep. “What we found through this study is that the sheep had higher heart rates when they’re being shepherded by traditional means,” one of the lead researchers on the study Kate Yaxley says. “The simple act of moving them to another paddock for food is actually putting the animal under stress. “We measured the variations in their heart rates and we found it to be much lower when using unmanned aerial vehicles with appropriate approach speed and that the animals actually…

Case IH will revamp its Steiger tractor series for Australian and New Zealand farmers, with a new operating system, redesigned cab and the next-generation connectivity technologies of its AFS Connect systems. While the company rolled out similar upgrades to its Magnum series last year, the new Steigers will benefit from additional horsepower that local product manager Jason Wood says will help propel the range into the future. Powered by anywhere between 400–600 horsepower (298–447kW), depending on the model, the Case IH Steigers, are available in wheeled, Quadtrac and Rowtrac configurations as well as two transmission options – a 16-speed PowerDrive Powershift option, or Continuously Variable Transmission (CVTDrive) for more simple operations. “The power, durability and efficiency that have been the hallmarks of the Steiger range for more than 60 years remain the same,…