The Royal Smithfield Christmas Fair, held at the Bath and West showground, was buzzing with punters. Nick Fone rounds up the machinery highlights.

Freelander 2 – all new from the ground up

The new Freelander made its debut appearance at the show. Apparently completely redesigned from the ground up, this version uses a 158bhp 2.2-litre diesel engine – produced in conjunction with PSA Peugeot-Citroen.

Fitted with a new six-speed manual gearbox, the Freelander is built on a version of Ford’s Focus platform, which also underpins the Focus and Volvo S40.

Prices start from £20,935 for a five-door Freelander TD4.

Incinerators becoming increasingly popular

With the complications surrounding the National Fallen Stock Scheme, more farmers are looking at installing their own incinerators to dispose of dead animals, reports Worcestershire-based Waste Spectrum.

The firm’s smallest oil- or gas-fired unit is designed for free-range egg producers and costs about £3000. With a price tag well in excess of £25,000, the largest will handle two fully grown cattle.

EcoRider with improved suspension

The unusual EcoRider off-road two-wheeler has undergone a revamp and now boasts a number of upgrades.

Most importantly, where a rigid front fork was previously used, the front wheel is now equipped with twin coil-and-damper suspension.

To further improve ride and off-road/on-road handling the single rear shock-absorber can now be adjusted to suit the load being carried.

The EcoRider can tow a trailer of up to 250kg and has a total rider and cargo carrying capacity of a further 250kg.

Power for its automatic gearbox is provided by either a 175cc Kohler petrol engine or a 230cc Hatz diesel, which, with a few modifications, can be run on biodiesel.

Fuel consumption is claimed to be about 120mpg and price for a diesel EcoRider is £2750. Look out for our test drive soon.

Rolland launches Turbo Classic range

French trailer and spreader manufacturer Rolland launched its 10t-24t grain, root and silage Turbo Classic range at the event.

Bodies are now 100mm (4in) wider, which allows for greater carrying capacity. A single tip ram is employed and Rolland retains its unique “flip-up” tailgate design.

Price for a standard 10t model is £9600. A 16t high-speed version fitted with floatation tyres costs nearly £18,000.

Protech unveils its tri-blade buzz-saw

A tri-blade buzz-saw is now available from Protech. Built at the post-knocker specialist’s Gloucestershire base, the unit can be fitted to most makes and models of telehandlers, excavators and hedge-trimmers.

The saw can be used to cut through branches up to 300mm (12in) in diameter. The tri-blade unit costs £4250, while a smaller twin-blade version can be bought for about £3000.