November 2009 Archives

Firstly, apologies for not blogging over the last couple of weeks - I'm on holiday ("what," you say, "Holiday?" Yes I know my life is one big holiday traveling around the place looking at kit - but I think my boss might have had enough of me so packed me off for a bit (something to do with working time directive or something!).

You may have noticed in this week's issue our farm buggy test (and the awful pictures of me and a few colleagues - i.e. Nick Fone!). A wee while ago I posted an entry with a few outtake style pictures - and thought I would post this, slightly nicer one here.

It's of our group line up - where we show all the vehicles. As we were a man down, we needed someone in the driving seat of the Mule.

We were lucky enough to be carrying out the test at Peter Francis Coni's farm near Ittinge, Kent on a piece of land owned by a lovely gentleman called Norman Wood.

Mr Wood has been buying the Farmers Weekly since the very first edition (at the princely sum of two old pennies) and the field we were testing the buggies on he used to plough with a team of two horses. How things have changed! It only seemed natural to ask him to have a go and see what he reckoned.

Thank you to Mr Wood, and Mr Francis Coni, as without accommodating farmers like you we wouldn't be able to carry out our tests.

Anyway - I'm off to Wales today to appreciate the mountains and the rain. So wish me luck.

For those attending Agritechnica, one of the highlights was the massive 320hp Belarus tractor, which also generates a wacking amount of electrical current.

Now, I knew Belarus is, of course, a country - but don't know what quite possessed me to say 'the only Russian tractor manufacturer' in Video 2 of our Agritechnica videos (which you can find here) when clearly Belarus aren't Russian made at all!

Here's a map of both:

I'm really sorry for the insult...

On a lighter note - here's a picture of our working lunch:

Any caption suggestions will be welcome.... (not rude ones though!)

There's a lot of controversy at machinery shows. And, to be honest, sometimes you don't know what to believe. Take Belarus, for example. There's a rumour that a German farmer patented (quite some time ago at that) a similarly clever system to one of the most popular exhibits on show in Hanover, the 320hp 3023 tractor which produces a whopping 172kW of electrical power.

Now, either there's a clever bespectacled gentleman powering a small hamlet in Bavaria with a similar machine, or someone's got their wires crossed....

So, we're finally there. Or here, rather. And believe me - it's awesome! But - 27 halls and over 2000 exhibitors does take a while to get round.

(ready...)

We got here late yesterday afternoon - just in time to see a brief glimpse of Deutz's prototype 8-wheeled articulated Agro XXL 1630 - with a staggering 600hp weight 19.5t can put 12.5tonne on the back. Basically, it's two whopping great four-wheeled units bolted together with a wacking great engine.

(Steady....)

It's aimed and built for the eastern bloc countries primarily. The big bonus, says Deutz, is that it's got plenty of traction. In fact, the company says it's got as much, if not more rubber on the ground than a tracked tractor, only it's 2.85m wide.

(Not quite - but the full story and bit of video will be on in a bit... when we've found our photographer again!) 

It's fitted with 40kph full powershift, 18 speed transmission is currently on test on the plains of the east,..

More in a bit. I'm off to a JCB launch now in Hall 9. That's approximately 15mins walk I hope!