Torque Talk

What's the best looking tractor on the market?

2010-03-17T14:20:43Z

New Holland has launched two 'special edition' models of its popular T7000 range to celebrate the numerous awards the models have collected over the last year.

Both T7070 Auto Command and T7060 Power Command tractors boast Maserati-blue paintwork and enough silver and chrome to satisfy even the most boy-racer of operators.

Extras include the SideWinder II armrest, intriguingly-named Skyhook active suspension and IntelliView III screen and each is auto guidance ready.

What do you reckon?

It got us in the office thinking of what tractors on the market we think are the best looking. My colleague Nick reckons it's one of these Austrian-made Lindner tractors that takes some beating...

... whereas I am nurturing a new found appreciation for pimped Revolution-specced Valtra tractors (watch a video here):

Before I developed this flirtation, I've been completely faithful to the MF 8690 (below) and still fondle affectionately the model on my desk on a regular basis.

For some, though, the looks of the Fastrac 7000 Series hold appeal...

Of course, some will think I'm mad. But what are your favourites? We want to hear from you. Either post a comment or email: emily.padfield@rbi.co.uk with your thoughts...

Want a bit more horsepower?

2010-02-16T15:29:30Z

My boss, David, took this picture at the Doe Show a couple of weeks ago.

Here's what it would set you back (minus a few discounts etc!)

Quite a saving on the £185,000 list price! And fairly cheap hp at that!

To read our review of the T9030, click here

All Liv Tyler wants is a few chickens and a John Deere tractor

2010-02-02T16:40:14Z

I thought I was a little odd in dreaming of tractors. But, according to an interview in next month's girly Elle magazine, actress Liv Tyler's future vision involves farming, complete with bits of kit.

"Before I die I want to live on a farm with chickens, a vegetable garden and a John Deere tractor," Tyler said in the interview.

It's not unusual for Hollywood stars to fall in love with what they deem as the 'simple life'. Robert Redford and Clint Eastwood are well known ranch owners, too.

It hasn't turned out to be all that simple for all, though. Just last week, hit TV drama 24 star Kiefer Sutherland was reported to have lost nearly $1m after fauling faul of a Mexican cattle fraud (read the full story in the Independent, here) on his ranch in Montana.

I think I will stick to reporting. Far simpler (and I don't have the attributes to become an actress - despite what my Mum might say).

Another faux pas...

2010-01-28T17:49:33Z

I have another apology to make. Or rather, correction. Luckily, I've managed to change it on our online article, but not in the mag, so tomorrow I am expecting a rather deserved lambasting.

I'm not one to make excuses (honest, guv, I'm not) but sometimes when you want to get a story written quickly you make a blunder. This one is a pretty obvious one. I've called John Deere 'German giants' in our latest tractor manufacturers share piece. I know it's American, I have countless mementos from the States of John Deere gadgets and memorabilia (see below my tasteful pink number plate!).

So, there you have it. More haste less speed.

As a punishment, I've been told I need to write out lines: 'I must not say John Deere are German giants' 100 times. And, I've got to outline the key product differences from the two countries:

Germany - Bratwurst

US - Hotdog

German beer:

US beer:

German tractor:

But... hang on - isn't Fendt owned by AGCO?!?

Claas is definitely German (not French, before anyone jumps on that bandwagon!)

US tractor:

So - it's as easy as that. I won't be doing that again in a hurry!

Jimmy's Global Harvest - North America

2010-01-21T17:47:31Z

Last Thursday, I really enjoyed Jimmy's Global Harvest, in which the lovable Suffolk farmer travelled to Australia to investigate how the world is going to feed itself in years to come.

I missed the previous week's episode, which I've just caught up with on BBC's iPlayer. It's got some wicked big kit action coverage in Brazil, some which I have put (albeit lo-res as I have taken them from the film) below.

This week, he's in North America. Watch it at 8pm on BBC2 or catch it on iPlayer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00pspf0/Jimmys_Global_Harvest_Brazil/

Fancy following in the footsteps, or rather tyre prints, of Clarkson?

2010-01-15T17:01:36Z

Now intrepid drivers have the chance to get behind the wheel of a similarly awesome Hilux to the one Top Gear took to the Magnetic South Pole and test their skills across the frozen wastes in a new range of adventure off-roading tours.

Reykjavik-based Arctic Trucks, the specialist company that kitted out the Hilux to cope with the extreme conditions of the challenge, is offering trips of between two and five days and longer expeditions through the wild landscape of Iceland.

Its fleet of vehicles includes two Toyota Hilux Invincible Double Cabs equipped with special features to meet the demands of tackling the country's tundra, glaciers, lava fields and mountains, including a set of giant 38-inch tyres that allow the vehicle to traverse deep snow and thin ice.

Toyota models prepared by the company have supported expeditions to both the North and South poles, outperforming more familiar arctic vehicles such as half-tracks and Snowmobiles.

Interested? Click onto www.arctictrucks-experience.com

Challenger showcases prototype combine and baler combination

2010-01-14T07:54:12Z

Although meant for the growing biomass market, AGCO's combine/baler combination, showcased at the Florida farm machinery show AgConnect, is sure to spark the imagination of many (although it's not an entirely new idea - Aussie company Glenvar had something similar in 2001).

Designers have taken the Challenger 670B and 680B combines and fitted a modified delivery system that feeds material directly into a receiving chamber on the big square LB34B baler towed hydraulically behind.

Corn cobs and MOG (material other than grain) is then baled at high density at about 75% cob:25% MOG - ready for transport to ethanol plants. The material can also be used to feed livestock, apparently.

Anyway, have a watch.

Fordson Snow Machine - not sure about using the horse though...

2010-01-13T12:44:56Z

A fellow twitterer just tweeted a link to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBjlSJf4274

During the 1920s a thing called the Armstead Snow Motor was invented (shown in the great video above). The cunning device was then bolted on to a Fordson tractor to make a screw-propelled vehicle capable of travelling through snow. It became known as (unsurprisingly) the Fordson Snow Devil.

Steering was delivered in a similar way as to a machine on tracks, each cylinder receiving power from a separate clutch which, depending on the position of the steering gear, engages and disengages, giving fairly good maneuverability.

There's a bit more information on using screw-propelled machines here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screw-propelled_vehicle

What happened to the Snow Devil? Why didn't it take off? Any suggestions email them to emily.padfield@rbi.co.uk

NB: There's an awful clip in the film illustrating a horse trying to get through the snow. Animal lovers look away now...

Why babysitting a hydrogen tractor isn't quite so easy

2010-01-13T09:36:23Z

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending a New Holland press event at the UK's Basildon HQ. It was the usual setup, a nice cuppa, too many tasty pastries and some interesting presentations about how NH has done sales-wise and also what new products it plans to present at LAMMA next week.

So, with the presentations over, it was time to trot down to the factory to catch a glimpse of what's bound to be attracting the crowds this time next week - the NH2 hydrogen-powered tractor.

It's been let out of Turin to embark on a bit of a European tour - and the UK have managed to grab it for about a month to give it outings at both LAMMA (20 & 21 Jan at Newark) and the Doe Show (2, 3, 4 Feb at Maldon).

Anyone would think looking after a tractor would be simple. But, when that tractor is one of the first to contain a hydrogen fuel cell and be operational, there's quite a lot to think about. Because there's no engine, there's no anti-freeze, and keeping the hydrogen cell and all the gubbins around it warm in these Baltic conditions is a bit of a worry.

It looked snug enough in the warm factory though - but come LAMMA, expect some hot water bottles and fleece blankets if these temperatures continue.

Snow, snow and more snow....

2010-01-06T13:18:44Z

I'm looking out the window to see more snow falling on the 10 inches already settled. All I can say is that I'm glad I'm in a house with an aga and a woodburner - and we've got several tractors outside.

As most of you will know, most rural villages appoint a snow warden (usually a farmer with a tractor) who, in turn, get a snow plough from the council. The roads are then rife with tractors and snow ploughs, keen to save cars (and usually - but not in my case for obvious reasons - damsels) in distress. Technically, each snow plough-equipped farmer is supposed to do his wardened area - but when people are stuck, that goes out the window.

Farmers and contractors then bill the council for hours spent clearing the snow (about £27 apparently).

(sorry for the fact it's blurry - it was going pretty quickly!)

So - I've left the boys fixing the snow plough and rescuing damsels while I try to obtain communications (it's taken me ages to get any signal with a dongle) and write some features.

Happy playing!

Christmas freebies...

2009-12-24T12:58:35Z

We're very lucky on the Machinery desk to get some pretty cool freebies, although some slightly question whether we completely adhere to our company's 'Code of ethics' (we're not supposed to accept them - but it would be rude to send them back - surely?).

This Christmas, we've had the usual crop of Christmas cards and calendars (I've half-inched the MF one - of course!). But this came in the post this very morning:

How cool is that?!? Unfortunately, there's no hitch to hook it up to a Britains' (or any other model tractor make) tractor - but it's still pretty neat.

Ahead of LAMMA - where Lemken will be showing the latest Sirius model of sprayer - we'll should be able to name every part (and who said we had time to kill over Christmas!).

The only other freebie this year was a lovely suit carrier from Krone. Thanks guys!

And you thought we got the best tests!

2009-12-15T12:51:26Z

As we're battling with getting the tractor test together ahead of our colossal December 18 edition of Farmers Weekly (not only is there a 20page test section, but we've got lots of other pages too!) our colleagues from over the channel are in the process of conducting another group test...

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you - it's a test of remote control tractors and implements for La France Agricole's Christmas issue.

Of course, we'll let you know who's won when testing is complete, but don't be surprised if you see us replicating this in the future, it simply looks too much fun (ahem... I meant too valuable for our readers) a test to miss out on!

Machinery has no place in agricultural development... according to our esteemed development quango

2009-12-07T14:36:45Z

I'm in the process of trying (and it is trying at the moment) to write my thesis for an MSc in rural development. It's on machinery (surprise, surprise!) and the role it plays in rural development policy.

Considering the UK give £5.5bn in aid to developing countries, and a proportion is focused directly on agriculture and rural development, I reckoned it would be a good idea to find an expert who knew what they were on about.

Because agriculture features fairly heavily in development, with a large proportion of countries GDP's coming from the land, I thought that mechanisation should feature in some way or another .

I contacted DFID (Department for International Development) - which doles out most of the UK's aid - to ask if someone could help.

This was the response I got:

'I forwarded your e-mail to my colleagues who deal with farming and research, but they say they wouldn't deal with this sort of thing - we don't have any agriculture machinery specialists in DFID and we don't fund any research on agriculture machinery or on farm mechanisation policy.'

Ok, I thought. Until I got the magazine Developments through the post. I'm a little intrigued as to how they managed to harvest fields without even hand tools (still machinery).

I find it incredulous that machinery doesn't seem to feature in development policy. And no, I'm not talking about big, shiny, red tractors. I'm talking about novel irrigation methods, easy-to-fix second-hand tractors and cultivation kit that works with the environment it's meant to.

It's comforting to learn from a soldier currently on tour, however, that ammonium nitrate is being dolled out pretty freely to farmers in Afghanistan. Great for both the lucrative poppy crop and roadside bombs, too.

Surely a clean workshop is too good to be true?

2009-12-04T17:08:11Z

Now, if your workshop is like any I have wandered into before, it'll be strewn in blue paper, with grease guns lurking exasperatingly where you can't find them with the 13mm spanner nestling mischievously alongside.

They're comfortingly untidy things (like my desk) and if they're too clean, you often tell yourself, it means there's nothing getting done.

But, wait! They don't have to be like this according to our German cousins... just have a look at this:

Why not send in a picture of your workshop to emily.padfield@rbi.co.uk

VW's 'Wolf' out to impress

2009-12-01T17:28:34Z

It seems an age ago that we saw the first glimpses of a VW pick-up - but the launch of the Amarok (Inuit for wolf) is just around the corner, with the first vehicles due on sale in the UK in September 2010.

As the first European manufacture to tackle the pick-up market for a while, first models will be available in 4-door, double-cab form and there'll be a choice of two fuel-sipping 2-litre diesel engines, one putting out 163hp and the other a more sedate 122hp. Given that most pick-ups boast 2.5-litre and more commonly 3-litre engines, it'll be interesting to see how it performs in the field.

With a payload of 1.15t and a towing capacity of 2.8t, the Amarok will adopt Golf styling at the front and there's a choice of rear-wheel, switcheable 4wd or permanent 4Motion 4wd.

The remarkeable claim of the new, South American-built pick-up is the CO2 emissions, which stand at less than 200g/km. And that's not all - the 80-litre tank should, says VW, do more than 600 miles (1000km in new money).

It'll be interesting to see how it copes as the official vehicle for the Dakar Rally next spring. Personally, I think it looks gorgeous. Welcome back to the pick-up market, Volkswagen.