Table of contents for Harvest 2023 in Profi

Welcome once again to the extra magazine in the profi calendar, our annual ‘Harvest Special’. And while this season hasn’t been a bumper year, or the easiest year, for the arable sector, the conditions have suited grassland farmers … if you could just get a window long enough to snatch the crop. As we wrap up this issue, the hot and mostly dry conditions have led to a scurry of activity. As mentioned in previous mags, September is proving to be an extremely hectic time for press launches of new machines. Indeed, I think the last time it was this manic could be as far back as 2008. The good thing about these trips is that you get to hear a bit more of what’s going on in the trade.…

There’ll be no more blue, green and red from now because Sulky, Sky and Prolog have been grouped together under a single brand called Sky Agriculture. From now on all equipment will be painted in graphite grey and titanium white. Sky Agriculture’s aim with the single brand strategy is to build on Burel Group record net sales of €85 million (2022-2023 financial year) and offer European farmers a broad range of innovative equipment. The company reckons that the single-brand strategy also enables it to adapt to the changing face of agricultural equipment distribution in Europe in a market that is becoming more concentrated. The creation of Sky Agriculture is also intended to support the Group’s export growth. Although 40% of sales are currently achieved outside France, Sky Agriculture aims to…

Available in two lengths (7.0m and 9.0m), the Python is the latest generation of twin conveyor potato belts from AVR. The first series comprises 12 different models. The large swivel angle allows both conveyors to be positioned at all angles, and independent height adjustment of the intake and discharge outlets and the electronic length adjustment allows the Python to be installed in every position on the line (software available to allow it to communicate with other AVR machines). The raised edge design of the 80cm-wide conveyor belts create a trough to accommodate large volumes (potential output of both up to 340t/hr), while ensuring that potatoes never comes into contact with the metal frame. Operating at speeds from 24-84m/min, the fully adjustable transition between the first and second conveyor belt reduces…

While the RT range meets the needs for 80-90% of the market, it is not as suited to handling short 20-25cm tall silage, This is where the RS comes in, it has a number of design differences including a crop press roller to ensure the forage engages with the tines, this is not on the RT where the roller would damage the likes of Lucerne. The roller is connected to a pair of rams on each section so it moves parallel rather than flexing. The rams also allow the roller to be raised out of work when handling higher volume material such as straw. There six rows of tines instead of the usual five. The belt is an endless design with moulded slats. Every third slat has waves along its…

Previewed as a concept in 2021, the technical side of the Väderstad Proceed, which can be used to establish a wide range of crops, including cereals, OSR, sugar beet, peas and maize, will soon be added to the price lists. Final tweaks to the first production model, the 6.0m V 24, include new electronics (similar to the Tempo) and stronger front packer. There is a new seeding disc for cereal crops, new spiked closing wheels on the final rollers and two toolboxes at the rear. The technical side of the Proceed is finished, but customers have to wait until the end of next year to place an order and production is due to start early 2025.…

AUTONOMOUS COMING SOON Horsch has been trialling a number of autonomous vehicle projects for five or six years now, we even had the European machine, the RO1 on our 5/2022 issue front cover. However, Michael Horsch informed journalists at the recent press conference that this machine will not be going into production as it really only does what a tractor can do with no significant difference in price. However, the firm has also been running a gantry style 24-row planter in Brazil and it is this R024 project which is proving to be successful and will go into production in the next 18 months. Because of the regions double cropping setup, there is a greater and more regular workload. Plus, the construction is a simpler layout says Mr Horsch. But…

Having already unveiled the VN and VL variable track width sprayers, but the narrowest width was 2.25m and depending on the configuration the widest stretched out to 4.0m hence they were not aimed at the western European market. Enter the VT, a 1.8-2.4m telescopic axle self-propelled with tank capacities of 5,000-litres (230hp) and 6,000l (300hp). The VT5230 on show was also wearing the new Claas X11 cab which will also make an appearance on the rest of the Horsch Leeb self-propelled line later next year. As well as positioning the operator in the middle there is a more panoramic view and the armrest has been given a refresh. Along with the A pillar display there are two other screens employed, one for steering, the other an ISObus terminal for looking…

Two years ago, John John Deere announced a significant rejig of its 9000i series selfpropelleds, with the biggest discussion point being the introduction of its own sixcylinder power — a sizeable 18-litre motor. If you want a bit of an engine recap, there was a driving impression in the profi 10/2022 issue. Intrigued, we managed to get our hands on one of the very limited number of pre-series machines for a full 2022 season test. Our model was the baby in the bunch, the 9500i, which we used for chopping both grass and maize. This is what Deere terms as its widebody machine, meaning an 83cm wide intake passing the crop over to an 85cm drum. The narrow-body 8000 series measures 66cm on the intake and 68cm at the drum.…

As recently as a decade ago, combines were still being swapped out by some businesses on what we would now consider to be a short three season cycle, although five seasons was more common. These days, seven- and tenseason cycles are more the norm. The knock on is a growing scarcity of more recent combines on the used market. This can put brand and dealer loyalty under pressure as used buyer’s need to consider a broader range of makes and models when seeking out a newer buy. Which is where the single rotor S600 and S700 series models we consider come in here. John Deere may make more combines than anyone else worldwide, but the company is not the dominant combine supplier in Northern Europe. Although the company’s T series…

Offered as an option on S700 models, Active Yield automatic combine yield calibration operates in conjunction with a combine’s standard mass flow sensor, with three weigh cells inside the grain tank automatically weighing the load as it is filled. By comparing the increase in load to data from the mass flow and moisture sensors, accurate localised yield data can be collected. The aim is to ensure accurate data is collected for more effective precision farming applications. Active Yield data is displayed on the GreenStar 4600 display and can be wirelessly transferred to the Operations Centre in MyJohnDeere.com.…

Dutchman Marcel Alberts founded the start-up company Healix three years ago in Maastricht. Initially, Marcel wanted to recycle so-called "ghost nets" — abandoned fishing nets that were floating in the oceans. However, he was soon contacted by Tama, when the twine and bale net manufacturer was looking for a solution to recycle its products once they had done their job. On top of this, the firm also wanted to use the recyclate for manufacturing new net wrap. Collection services In France, net, twine and film wrap are collected through a service called Adivalor, and it is from here that the first deliveries of twine come to Maastricht where Healix could start its recycling process. Arriving in big bags and bales of twine, they are first broken up. Then, depending on…

Combine buying habits are changing. Around 15 years ago, new machine buyers more often than not changed on a three- to five-year cycle. But today this is more commonly five to seven or eight years. And it also tends to be the bigger models in each range that are being bought by farmers. You can see from the top three list for each maker that it is predominantly rotary and hybrid machines that are taking the number one and number two slots. Of course, there are exceptions … such as Massey Ferguson, which, rather than being a mirror image of Fendt, actually sells more walker combines. This can be pinned down to the dealers and where they are based. The German brand does well with higher horsepower tractors, and these…

The introduction of the Bale Express bale collecting trailer was a welcome piece of engineering, because, up until then, loading small square bales was a largely physical chore. While there were sleighs for randomly grouping bales or bale throwers attached to balers that could chuck the packs into trailers, they still demanded a significant amount of manual labour. At the same time as many UK farmers were running the flat-eight system of sleighs and grabs, German firm Maschinenfabrik Kemper in Stadtlohn presented a different, and some would argue overly complicated solution with its first bale collecting trailer in 1973. This machine was later manufactured by Fella under licence, but Kemper itself built around 4,000 units by 1998. Two sizes Kemper offered two models: the BE75, which later became the BE95,…

Steyr is testing a prototype of a 180hp 6175 Impuls CVT platform, which uses an electrically-powered front axle to boost the maximum power to 260hp. The diesel-electric technique combines a traditional hydro-mechanical CVT for the rear axle and a hybrid module on the front axle (electricity supplied from a generator mounted to the diesel block). The technology provides numerous possibilities including the E-CVT mode, where the tractor is powered electrically up to 75kW and 1100rpm. Enhancing comfort with nonconstant PTO loads such as big square balers, ground speed is maintained via electric drive, with no mechanical connection with the engine. E-Shuttling results in 41% faster manoeuvring at low engine speeds and a 15% reduction in fuel use, and E-Steering accelerates the front axle during headland turns, to reduce the turning…

NEW BOSS AT MERLO Paolo Merlo is the new president and CEO of the Merlo Group. His appointment follows the passing of company founder and president Amilcare Merlo late last year. The new company top man confirms that the goal for the next three years is to produce 10,000 telehandlers a year, plus, around 25,000 attachments. To achieve this, significant investments are planned for new production lines at the 330,000m² Italian site. The company also plans to strengthen its position in Italy and existing markets. “We also intend to expand into markets that are relatively new to us, where there is still plenty of room for growth,” said Mr Merlo. “In the USA we have just established our new subsidiary Merlo America and are strengthening our presence in Asia.” 24%…

Combining high levels of power and traction with compact dimensions, the 530-60 Agri Super give JCB another handler in the popular 6.0m lift height sector with a machine that lifts 3.0t. It is pitched at livestock farms who need a nimble machine for daily tasks in and around buildings, narrow aisles and passages - overall height and width on the 20in tyre option is 2.0m. When working outdoors on muddy and uneven surfaces then the 24in tyre option provides increased ground clearance and traction. Maximum power of the 4.8l Stage V DieselMAX block is 130hp, and the combination of this and the new two-speed hydrostatic transmission delivers a 25% increase in dynamic tractive effort over its predecessor (527-58 Agri Plus). VariSpeed control provides separate engine revs and ground speed adjustment…

Last year, Kverneland previewed its Padama fertiliser placement system on the Optima SX precision planter. Looking at maize for example, the research shows the roots of the young plant only spread out 10cm as they go down 5cm, so rather than placing a strip of fertiliser along the row the idea is to bunch the fertiliser directly under each seed, creating a sort of plant pot. One benefit of the design is that you can reduce the amount of starter fertiliser needed by 25%. This can actually increase even more when on a 50cm row as there is a greater distance between the seeds in the row.…

Väderstad has wasted no time in adding inter-row cultivators to the product portfolio following the acquisition of the full product range from Danish company Thyregod. Still made by Thyregod, the two initial models, the trailed Extract L 16-48 and mounted Extract V 8-36, are basically the result of a change of colour of the TRV (3.0m to 9.0m) and TRV Swingking (12m and 18m). We are told to expect more innovation in the future. Described as a perfect match for the Tempo and Proceed, depending on model, both Extract L and Extract V will be available with row spacing of 22.5, 25, 45, 50 and 75cm. Main features include the high frame clearance of 85cm. Options include camera steering and section control. “It is a new product segment for us…

To utilise the Partner FT front hopper the design team has come up with two 6.0m rear toolbar options for direct seeding; the Sprinter SL, a three bar, tine coulter and the Avatar SL that has the Horsch direct drilling disc coulter. The Sprinter SL uses a parallel linkage mounted opener with a choice of 12mm or 21mm narrow points, or a 240mm band sowing boot which places the seed in a 70mm row. There are two press wheel options, a round profile or one with a central ridge. A special tool is fitted to individually change the sowing depth. Options include half width or alternating row shut off. This is determined by which distributor the coulter is plumbed into. The second row configuration is suited to companion cropping. The…

The Cruiser 9 XL is a new version of the firm’s ultra shallow cultivator, a six-row tine machine designed to work down to 10-15cm. It has a new FlexGrip tine with a 180kg trip force on a slightly wider spacing of 17cm. Horsch is adding a 24cm wide point to the range at Agritechnica which will ensure all of the soil is moved across the working width. Roller choice includes interlocking channel rings or press style rings and for lighter land there is a new Optiroll which is 640mm in diameter with 16cm high rubber rings. On one of the two tandem roller setups, you can use the hydraulics to raise the rear row for a more open finish or applying pressure for greater ground contact. There will initially be…

The 100-130hp Vestrum range is now available with the ActiveDrive 8 (eightstep/three-range) powershift as an alternative to CVXDrive (CVT). Range one of the new box, which comes from the 115-150hp Maxxum tractors, offers a 0-10.7km/hr speed band to suit heavy draft work, while range two (4.3-18.1km/hr) meets most needs. For road travel, the transmission can start in range three, with a 0-40km/hr speed range, a skip-shift function allowing quick powershift step progression. A creep option allows speeds as slow as 190m/hr. ActiveDrive 8 tractors come in two specification packages: Selection and Advanced. Selection models are equipped with mechanical remote valves, 80 or 110l/min hydraulic pump, three-speed PTO and front linkage options. Additional equipment included with the Advanced specification includes front linkage with hitch management, electrohydraulic remotes, plus optional features…

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Charles Palmer Vineyards at Winchelsea, East Sussex, is a family business which is making the most of innovation to take advantage of the fast-developing English wine sector. Charles and his son Robert have been able to combine their farming experience with the latest techniques in grape production, and firmly believe that mechanisation is the way forward. The UK grape harvest is currently carried out almost exclusively by hand, but change is on the horizon, suggests Charles. “We’ve always used labour from (vineyard management services provider) Vineworks, with a requirement for 35-40 people for a week, but it was hard to predict exactly how many we needed and when, and easy to end up with too many or too few,” he explains. “Then the Covid pandemic came along and labour was…

Last year our German colleagues put on a special forager event to look at just how much New Holland foragers have evolved. From the early 1895, which was produced in 1968, to a fresh out of the box FR780, the five machines set to work clearing a field of maize, with a complete team of equally vintage tractors and trailers also getting in on the action. With this level of hardware available, we took the opportunity to compare three key models: a 1905 model from 1987, the FX375 from 1997 and the most recent FR780 Forage Cruiser, which is the second largest model in the New Holland range. Row (in)dependent Let’s start at the beginning, the header. When the New Holland 1905 model was launched, it operated with the Kemper…

Three years ago, our colleagues at the Dutch machinery magazine Trekker reported on contractors Ben and Geurt de Vries, who had partnered a big square baler with a wrapper to make a combi. With plenty of infield experience the brothers now want to take the Baliwrap to the market, so we thought it was worth a more in-depth look. Small fields are typical of the area around Breda in the Hardinxveld in the south of the country. Square baling is the only job carried out by the de Vries, who both have full-time jobs. The contracting is a sideline so it needs to be efficient, both in time and in labour. This is why they took the plunge to develop their own square bale wrapper combination. Used baler on a…

The potential for robotics to help address issues with labour in horticulture has been recognised with government funding to carry out research into automation and digitalisation of harvesting, with a R&D partnership project gaining more than £3.8m to accelerate the delivery of robotic crop harvesting systems. Launched this spring, the Agri-OpenCore project aims to tackle the lack of seasonal labour in the UK horticulture industry and is looking to accelerate the delivery of robotic crop systems for horticulture. Many crops have gone unpicked in recent seasons, leading to large amounts of unnecessary waste. President of the National Farmers Union (NFU) Minette Batters has said that the waste in the food sector is an ‘absolute crisis’. The Lincoln Institute of Agri-Food Technology (LIAT) at the University of Lincoln, UK, is partner…

How clever do you consider yourself? Perhaps not the easiest question to answer as there are varied measures of intelligence, including IQ tests to plain old common sense. Then there is the thorny issue of giving an honest self-assessment — holding a mirror up to yourself and not sugar coating what you see. But who better to ask than you? You know yourself better than anyone and have been in countless situations where your intelligence has been tested. All said, your honest self-assessment should be pretty reliable then? Well, not according to the Dunning–Kruger effect. Back in 1999, Messrs Dunning and Kruger published a paper proposing a tendency for the less intelligent to overestimate their abilities, and the more intelligent to underestimate theirs. Quite simply, you are not aware of…

Out OCTOBER 20th REPORT The Bavarian State Research Centre for Agriculture has been investigating the effects of different methods of slurry application on grass quality. Check out the results. USED MACHINERY Househam AirRide sprayer Househam offers a broad range of used sprayers, with the factory refurbishing and updating models that the firm has built going back over 20 years. Knowing what can and can't be 'modernised' is key to securing the best used Househam buy. TEST LaForge DynaTrac LaForge has developed a highly precise side-shifting headstock to help keep tools on the right path across the field. TEST Steyr 6145 Profi You will know this Steyr model better as the Case IH Maxxum 150 Multicontroller Active 8. We find out how one particular example has performed over 1,700 hours of…

Staying within the tractor axle load requirements has prompted many manufacturers to rejig their power harrow drill offering. Kverneland can now be added to that list with the Rotago 4000 which can be partnered with an equally new rear coulter tool bar. The range comprises 4.0, 4.5, 5.0 and 6.0m models with a big focus on making adjustments from the cab with both the working depth of the tines and the position of the clod bar set hydraulically. When used solo this can be altered using double-acting spools, but add a drill and it becomes an ISObus controlled machine. But one of the more striking changes is the headstock which is no longer directly attached to the power harrow bed, instead it couples to the packer roller and a parallel…

Earlier this year, Kverneland purchased French weeding specialist BC Technologies. The range of mechanical weeding tools have now taken on Kverneland livery and naming. There is the usual range of row-crop and root crop setups but of the four machines on show, it was the Onyx 2000 set to weed cereal crops on a 12.5cm row spacing that caught our attention. As with any weeder, its working width has to match that of the drill to prevent crop damage with slight variations on bout runs, regardless of the crop being grown with the likes of RTK. Cameras keep the tines working between the rows and mechanical springs are used to set the pressure.…

Two years ago, Horsch Leeb announced it was going to build a precision fertiliser spreader, and it has done just that. Test machines have been in the field this season and will be joined by a number of pre-series units for next season before gearing up to full production in 2025. The A uses the chassis from the 12,000l trailed 12TD sprayer. On top is a 14m3 bin with augers directing the fertiliser to a sorting box on the top of the parallelogram linkage used to carry the 36m or 48m boom. Both have 12 sections each fed by swappable stainless steel augers that can be swapped to handle the type and rate of product. Outlet spacings are 1.5m and 2.0m respectively. We will take a more detailed look at…

QUADTRAC XXL Peaking at an whopping 778hp, the Quadtrac 715 is the most powerful production tractor ever from Case IH and the first with the new 16-litre FPT Cursor engine. Sitting above the Quadtrac 645 (max. 699hp), the 715, which is only available in tracked format, looks much bigger than the 645, but is in fact only 10cm longer and the rest of the physical dimensions are similar. It is the massive engine hood that makes the new Quadtrac flagship appear much larger. When opened, the front is so far from the ground that it is impossible to reach up to close it. Instead, it is opened and closed electrically via a switch in a lockable box near the cab steps. The displacement of the 16-litre twin-stage intercooled turbocharger engine…

The request by some big farms to automate operations due to the difficulty in finding operators is one of the drivers for Case IH to develop an autonomous version of its Magnum 340 CVX. Seen for the first time at last year’s SIMA, the autonomous kit comes from CNHi subsidiary Raven Industries. The cameras and sensors are able to detect obstacles at 50m. A message is sent to the operator when it stops. Using live feed camera images, the operator decides if it is safe to allow the tractor to resume. Described as a major milestone for the brand, and one that offers lots of possibilities for the future, even on smaller machines, do not expect to be able to buy a self driving Magnum anytimesoon. Thisallhingesonthe big issue of…

In 2019, Claas began to rearrange its full combine line-up by launching the new Lexion (profi Harvest Special 2019) and two years later by introducing the Trion (profi Harvest Special 2021). The Evion 410 and 430 are the final part of the re-jig and become the new starting point for the Claas harvester range in Europe. You may stumble across an Evion 450, but this is not being shipped to the UK or Ireland. We already knew that the smaller Tucano models had been axed, but now so too has the Avero. To fill the void, this is where the Evion comes in — a combine range sprinkled with some of the technology from the Lexion and Trion in order to attract the small- and medium-sized farms to stick with…

We operate a 56m3 Krone ZX560 forage wagon behind a Fendt 828. But despite it being full spec, there was no camera in the trailer. Together with my friend Sebastian Gassner, I installed two inexpensive, wired cameras on the back door. The first is a rear-facing reversing camera. We mounted the second with a protective housing on top of the door, so it can look into the trailer. When we open the tailgate for emptying, the camera pans along and shows the rear part of the moving floor so we can see when the last bit of grass has fallen out. To avoid a second screen, we bought two cable adapters so the standard four-pin can fit the Fendt five-pin socket. With the reverse function on the Fendt terminal, we…

When launched in 2012, the S600 series brought more to the party for those used to John Deere combines than ‘just’ a new single rotor. The cab offered better visibility, the GreenStar display had touchscreen control, a large fridge came as standard and a new CANbus wiring system made it easier to hook up cameras. These and a host of other refinements have ensured that over a decade on an S600 combine will still feel ‘up to date’. • In the UK, the model offering was just three main models, the S670, S680 and S690; in the US there was a ‘smaller’ S550 model that was replaced in 2014 by the S650, the latter not making it to the UK either. The same year, the power units changed to needing…

When East Anglian farming business David Black & Son took delivery of a new Axial-Flow 9250 for the 2023 harvest it became the fourth in a succession of flagship Case IH rotary combines to be operated by the farm over the past 15 years. The farm looks after 1,375ha (3,400 acres) of generally heavy clay soils, and the combine is relied upon to clear a substantial area of winter wheat, winter and spring barley, and oilseed rape, with 325ha (800 acres) of sugar beet making up the balance. Although Case IH has been the tractor brand of choice since the late 1990s, when red ousted Ford and New Holland blue, until 15 years ago combines were exclusively Claas and had been since the mid-1960s. In 1985 four Dominator 80/85s were…

This story began in 2019 when Willem Hack from Dutch contractor Hack Harvest invited me to join him for a few days to witness first-hand part of the harvest of around 6,000ha of peas and another 1,400ha of broad beans (see profi Harvest Special 2019). I did not know it then, but I would return to Spain the following year, not as a reporter, but for a seven-week stint as an operator on one of Hack’s Ploeger EPD 530s. Following a two-year gap, a good friend agreed to look after news on the profi website so I could join the Spanish harvest for a second stint this season, and my editor suggested that my experiences might make for an interesting story. The 50 days were equally split between three weeks…

Last season, 22-yr-old David Siebenlist, a placement student at John Deere Zweibrücken, was given a mega task: he was put in charge of a demo tour with a John Deere 8500i forage harvester across Europe. Having worked for a local contractor, he already had several years’ experience with foragers. After some intensive training, he headed off on a demo that started in April and wrapped up in October. He was escorting Katie, his curiously named 8500i forager, ensuring that she was in tip-top condition and capable of showing customers her full potential. There were lots of challenges along the way — language barriers, weather vagaries and different crops in the various countries, from sticky alfalfa peppered with stones in France to the huge rows of grass in Ireland to very…