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WHATS IN YOUR SHED

What's in Your Shed? visits a mixed-fleet Gretna contractor

The diverse range of machinery littering the yard of Dumfriesshire outfit G Rae Contracting includes five of the UK’s top 10 tractors brands. Farmers Weekly puts the questions to frontman…

GRASSLAND AND MAIZE EQUIPMENT

Two-in-one Visqueen silage cover speeds up clamp sheeting

Visqueen has developed a twin-layer sheet that halves the time it takes to properly seal a silage pit. The first part of the Synergy combination is the firm’s Clingseal vacuum…

ATVS AND UTVS

Heated grips and thumb warmers for Yamaha Kodiak Kiwami ATVs

Yamaha has added a smattering of extra features to its 450 and 700 Kodiak ATVs to form two top-spec Kiwami variants. As standard, these models come with heated grips and…

CONTRACTOR COMMENT

Contractor Comment: Diversification key for DRA Fabb

First in the hotseat for this new series of Contractor Comment is Dan Fabb, proprietor of eponymous Cambridgeshire outfit DRA Fabb. Q: How did you get into contracting? I worked…

401+HP

Goodyear's monster 1.4m-wide farm tyre to go on sale in UK

Goodyear has gained European accreditation for its widest-ever agricultural tyre. The monster LSW 1400/30 R46 is designed for suitably sized combines and articulated prairie prowlers such as Case IH’s Steiger…

LOADING SHOVELS

Driver’s view: The good and bad of JCB’s 435S loading shovel

JCB’s self-proclaimed “king of the clamp” underwent some subtle surgery last winter, giving it more power, more torque and a nifty new lever-steer system. An early example of this latest…

MOWERS

RT Sales’ stabilising frame reduces mower strain on tractors

Mowing tractors could be in for an easier life, thanks to a nifty stabilising frame developed by RT Sales that promises to reduce the strain on cross-shafts and linkages. The…

DIET FEEDERS

Dutch contractor establishes self-propelled mixer operation

It’s rare to find a contracting operation in the UK devoted exclusively to one line of work. A spread of jobs generally helps ensure year-round cashflow, employment for staff, and…

TOOLS

Ledlenser launches dual-lens Tactical torch with a 370m beam

Farmers willing to loosen their purse strings in the name of night vision might like the look of Ledlenser’s latest range of torches. The firm reckons its trio of rechargeable…

TOOLS

More torque for lightweight Stihl MSA 220.1 T top-handle saw

Stihl has put its latest battery-powered top-handle chainsaw on a weight loss and output boosting regime. The result is that the MSA 220.1 T is both easier to operate and…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Inventions Comp 2026: Creations to ease livestock handling

This year’s Farmers Weekly Inventions Competition included more than a dozen entries designed to make life easier for herdspeople.  We look at some of the best ideas. See also: Novel home-made…

TRACTORS

Punchy new John Deere 8RX 540 maxes out at 634hp

John Deere reckons it has produced the world’s most powerful rigid-frame tractor. The wheeled 8R 540 and four-track 8RX equivalent are rated to a maximum output of 594hp, rising to…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Inventions Comp 2026: Low-cost tools and attachments

Farmers have been busy in their workshops getting creative with clever tools and attachments to make life easier and save cash. We round up some of the best of these…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Inventions Comp 2026: Seed bag lifter speeds drill filling

Hamish Watson has been highly commended. There’s no need to tie up a telehandler during drilling season at Hamish Watson’s farm in Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire, as his tractor has all it…

ATVS AND UTVS

ATV-towed mini forwarder accesses awkward woodland

Freshly retired from five decades designing and building Bryce Suma post knockers, fencing aficionado Jock Bryce has turned his attention to timber harvesting. This includes securing the UK sales rights…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Inventions Comp 2026: Contractor builds tine toolbar drill

Trivett and Sons’ tine toolbar drill has been highly commended. After battling several challenging autumn campaigns, Lawrence Trivett, brother Alistair and dad Andrew decided to rethink their drilling fleet. That…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Inventions Comp 2026: Planter cover keeps seed spuds dry

Charlie Beattie has won third place in our simple category. One of the many challenges facing Charlie Beattie when planting 250ha of potatoes in Perthshire’s unpredictable weather is keeping seed…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Inventions Comp 2026: Tramline sprayer kills green wheelings

Andrew Myatt is winner of our simple category. Like many growers, Andrew Myatt has stopped putting in conventional tramlines with the drill, instead using his sprayer’s RTK guidance to follow…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Inventions Comp 2026: Tramline sprayer kills green wheelings

Andrew Myatt is winner of our simple category. Like many growers, Andrew Myatt has stopped putting in conventional tramlines with the drill, instead using his sprayer’s RTK guidance to follow…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Inventions Comp 2026: ATV-towed calf catcher improves safety

Aaron Scott has won second place in our simple category. Tagging newborn calves in the company of cranky mothers is now a safer affair at Lilburn Estate in Wooler, Northumberland,…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Inventions Comp 2026: Mobile race built on a modest budget

Alastair Hall’s mobile race has won third place in the intermediate category. Armed with an old Ifor Williams stock trailer purchased for £700 on eBay and a healthy dose of…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Inventions Comp 2026: Time-saving all-in-one chipper trailer

Mike Shrimpton has won our intermediate category. Fed up with hand-loading timber into a biomass chipper, Dorset farmer Mike Shrimpton sought some mechanical assistance. First on his shopping list was a…

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What's in Your Shed?

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WHATS IN YOUR SHED

What's in Your Shed? visits a mixed-fleet Gretna contractor

The diverse range of machinery littering the yard of Dumfriesshire outfit G Rae Contracting includes five of the UK’s top 10 tractors brands. Farmers Weekly puts the questions to frontman…

WHATS IN YOUR SHED

What's in Your Shed? visits a Surrey straw contractor

Straw and forage contractor Church Farm Services operates both within and beyond the M25 ring. Farmers Weekly ambles around the Surrey-based firm’s machinery sheds, guided by proprietor Nick Fuller, son…

WHATS IN YOUR SHED

What's in Your Shed? visits a Cornish family farm

Five generations of the Keat family have worked the land at Tremayle Farm near Bodmin, Cornwall and three are still actively involved. Alan Keat gives Farmers Weekly the fleet lowdown.…

WHATS IN YOUR SHED

What's in Your Shed? visits a Cornish dairy farm

A hoard of ingenious home-made kit and a clutch of noughties Massey Fergusons are just some of the treasures hiding in the sheds of Cornish dairy farmer Andrew Carbis. It's…

WHATS IN YOUR SHED

What's in Your Shed? visits a Staffordshire contractor

Staffordshire farmer/contractor Matt Brewster was just 21 when he took over the home farm tenancy. Seventeen years on, he walks Andrew Faulkner around the machinery sheds at Brewster Farms. See also: First…

WHATS IN YOUR SHED

What's in Your Shed? visits a Whitby dairy farm

New Hollands are gradually superseding Zetors at Jonathan Hutchinson’s growing Yorkshire dairy business. Farmers Weekly's machinery editor, Oliver Mark, heads over to Whitby to check out what farm kit is…

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LOADING SHOVELS

Driver’s view: The good and bad of JCB’s 435S loading shovel

JCB’s self-proclaimed “king of the clamp” underwent some subtle surgery last winter, giving it more power, more torque and a nifty new lever-steer system. An early example of this latest…

TOOLS

On test: Battery powered pruning saws - which is best?

A relatively new breed of compact, battery powered chainsaws promises to make light work of pesky branches that clatter combine cabs, whack wing mirrors and unseat sprayer nozzles. Avoiding the…

401+HP

First impressions: New cab major progress for Claas Axion 9

Claas can rightly revel in its top-dog status when it comes to combine harvesters and foragers. But 22 years after swallowing Renault Agriculture, its tractor division continues to lag behind.…

TRACTORS

Driver's view: Lee Henzell's Fendt 728 Vario

Fendt’s 700-series overhaul was big news in the summer of 2022, with the ever-popular 724 downgraded to mid-range status and a new 728 thrust to the apex. It strayed well…

Driver's view

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LOADING SHOVELS

Driver’s view: The good and bad of JCB’s 435S loading shovel

JCB’s self-proclaimed “king of the clamp” underwent some subtle surgery last winter, giving it more power, more torque and a nifty new lever-steer system. An early example of this latest…

TRACTORS

Driver's view: Lee Henzell's Fendt 728 Vario

Fendt’s 700-series overhaul was big news in the summer of 2022, with the ever-popular 724 downgraded to mid-range status and a new 728 thrust to the apex. It strayed well…

TRACTORS

Driver's view: William Heslip's New Holland T7.300

A new cab was the stand-out improvement on New Holland’s “long-wheelbase” T7s when they were introduced at the Sima show in Paris three years ago. There are five Auto Command…

TRACTORS

Driver's view: Tom Dirom's Valtra Q285

Valtra’s long-awaited Q-series finally broke cover in 2022, filling a void between its existing T and S ranges. Second biggest in the five-strong line-up is the Q285, which matches the…

Contractor Comment

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CONTRACTOR COMMENT

Contractor Comment: Diversification key for DRA Fabb

First in the hotseat for this new series of Contractor Comment is Dan Fabb, proprietor of eponymous Cambridgeshire outfit DRA Fabb. Q: How did you get into contracting? I worked…

CONTRACTOR COMMENT

Contractor Comment: New ploughs arrive, Lexion next

A new Lexion combine had been top of Stuart Wilson’s shopping list this winter, but it’s sky-blue implements rather than a green-and-white leviathan currently taking pride of place in his…

CONTRACTOR COMMENT

Contractor Comment: Second Jaguar mops up late-season grass

The arrival of a second Claas Jaguar 950 forager couldn’t have come at a better time for Josh and Helen Collins, who found themselves facing a formidable autumn workload. Just…

CONTRACTOR COMMENT

Contractor Comment: Horsch Pronto tests 724 to the max

Who’da thought it? Some of the hardest hours at JO Straughan this year have come not on the combine or forager, nor in tractors racing to get ground tilled and…

Video

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HARVEST

Video: Classic machinery brings in the spring barley harvest

A fleet of British-built classic machinery dating back to the early 1970s was bringing in the spring barley harvest at a farm on the Hampshire/Wiltshire border this week. Two Ransome…

WEED MANAGEMENT

Video: Leicester farm trials weed seed unit on Fendt combine

Europe’s first Redekop seed control unit (SCU) fitted to a Fendt Ideal 10T combine, aimed at controlling weed seeds, is being put to the test this harvest in Leicestershire at…

FORAGE WAGONS

Video: Lely revolutionises zero grazing with autonomous Exos

Dutch firm Lely has put the finishing touches to its self-propelled grass harvester and feeder, which is set to go on sale in the Netherlands next year. The battery powered…

WHATS IN YOUR SHED

WIYS: Contractor ditches new kit for retro fleet

Mark Bowran, 2003 winner of Farmers Weekly’s Tractor Driver of the Year competition, opens the doors of his MBC Services contracting business. Machinery editor, Oliver Mark asks the questions and…

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