Tractors and farm machinery on display at the Czech Republic’s TechAgro show in Brno
British Presence
British manufacturers JCB and McConnel are represented in the Czech Republic by importer Toko.
The company displayed a 3220 Fastrac with long-reach telescopic PA770 hedge-trimmer mounted on the rear load deck.
Big kit for big acreages
More commonly found on the prairies of North America and Australia, equipment like this 12m (36ft) John Deere air-seeder is finding favour on large eastern European units.
Separate seed and fertiliser hoppers boast a combined capacity of 9500 litres.
The drill’s heavy disc coulters are designed to penetrate trash for direct-drilling into stubble.
Gomselmash
Belarus’ largest machinery manufacturer, Gomselmash, had its latest five straw-walker combine harvester on display.
It has an almost full-width cab with two air-seats and full-scale on-board office computer.
The company also builds a reverse-drive tractor which can be fitted with a range of the firm’s own equipment including foragers, beet-harvesters, mowers and a trailed cereal threshing unit with cutterbar and reel mounted on the tractor’s linkage.
Out on a Limb
Slovenian tractor manufacturer Limb has only been building machines since 2004, but already it has two models in its line-up – 60hp and 82hp.
Both use 4.4-litre Perkins four-cyl engines and 24F x 24R Cararro transmissions – three range, four speed units with a mechanical gear-splitter and synchro shuttle.
Price for the 82hp version is between 25,000 and 30,000.
20T Mega trailer
Czech trailer maker ZDT has developed an interchangeable body system which allows just one set of running gear to be used, thus reducing trailer maintenance requirements.
Mega chassis can be fitted with slurry tankers, muck spreaders, push-out silage wagons and standard bulk bodies.
In tandem and tri-axle formats, payloads stretch from 10t to 18t.
Price for a grain trailer version is about 20,000, with a rear-discharge muckspreader body adding about 15,000.
Spearhead buzz
Another UK machinery firm – Spearhead – is capitalising on the boom time in eastern Europe.
Its new telehandler mounted “buzz-saw” was on display alongside the company’s full range of toppers and trimmers.
The four-disc saw can be mounted on a telehandler attachment carriage and requires 50-litres/min oil flow from the machine’s auxiliary hydraulic service.
Its host on this occasion was a Faresin Haulotte 7.42 with 4.2t capacity and 7.8m reach.
Spider mower
The Dvorak Spider is a radio-controller mower designed for work on steep slopes of up to 55.
With four hydrostatically-driven castor-type wheels at each corner it can manoeuvre in any direction.
A Kawasaki petrol engine provides power to the four rotors, which can slash through woody stems of up to 5cm (2in) in diameter.
Price for a 17hp, 1m cut version is a substantial 18,000 and the 23hp, 1.2m cut model tips the scales at a whacking 21,000.
