With spring on the horizon, Country Guide is providing a quick update on new equipment that doesn’t plant or harvest, or haul or spray. Even so, these are innovative designs that can prove just as valuable in the broader scope of all that’s happening on the farm these days. So have a look, and if you’re interested in learning more, check each manufacturer’s website included at the end of each entry and, as always, be ready to do your homework. It will pay.
Bobcat S450 Skid-Steer Loader
Billed by the company as “one tough animal,” the new Bobcat S450 skid-steer loader pledges to improve performance with a non-diesel particulate filter (DPF) engine that nicely complements a narrower width (under five feet) and a 20 per cent boost in auxiliary hydraulic pressures. With its 49-horsepower engine and enhanced capabilities, it’s easy to see why the S450 is replacing the K-Series S130: there’s just more the S450 can do on the farm. Not only that, but operators won’t need to spend that time cleaning or replacing the filter or engaging in the regeneration process — and the engine still conforms to the Tier 4 emissions standards. Among its other attributes, the S450 comes with a low operating weight and a better reach, whether you need to load and unload items or materials, or move that soil back in against a foundation. There’s even an optional two-speed drive, capable of 10.4 kph (6.5 m.p.h.) in the low range and nearly 15 kph (9.2 m.p.h.) on high.
Sunflower (AGCO) 6631 Series Vertical Tillage System
With corn yields now well above 200 bu./ac. in many parts of Canada, there’s growing concern about the amount of residue left on fields by that high-density, high-intensity management. Sunflower Manufacturing, part of AGCO, offers up a durable vertical tillage unit capable of managing heavy residues. The 6631 series boasts seven new models, in widths from 20 feet, five inches to 34 feet, nine inches. Featured at the 2014 Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show, the 6631 series combines its exclusive Saber Blade disc blades with a staggered offset disc configuration which enables the unit to easily slice through heavy corn residues, cutting them down to size and knifing them into the soil. For farmers with uneven fields, the 6631 series maintains Sunflower’s unique design, with 22 degrees of wing flex (10 up and 12 down) meaning better, more uniform coverage. The frame is also longer, enhancing the system’s ability to do everything it’s supposed to — without clogging.
Yetter 5000 Stalk Devastator
It’s one thing to have an aggressive implement that can knock down those corn stalks, but it means even more when it’s adaptable to as many as 10 different combines. That’s the advantage that Yetter brings to the field with its 5000 Stalk Devastator, originally launched in 2012, but now capable of fitting more corn heads. The corn stalks on today’s hybrids are more durable than ever, and can be a real threat to tire life. But the Yetter 5000 Stalk Devastator bends, pushes and breaks the stalks, allowing tires and tracks to roll over them with less damage. Quick and easy to install, the Devastator can work on Case IH eight-row combines, John Deere 16-row corn heads, Gleaner and Gleaner Hugger, Massey-Ferguson and Challenger six- and eight-row heads and Claas/Lexion eight- and 12-row corn heads. It also fits on Drago and Geringhoff folding corn heads.
Brandt 16HP Swing Away Auger
Brandt’s new 16HP Swing Away auger will be available for the 2015 growing season. With lengths of 85, 105 and 125 feet, this new model can handle up to 23,000 bushels per hour, the company says. At 16 inches in diameter, this auger has the power and capacity to empty a Super-B trailer in just minutes. That means the trucks can spend more time doing what they should be doing — moving grain, not waiting to unload. The 16-horsepower auger comes with a reversible 1,000-rpm gearbox and a constant velocity PTO, so it can handle the pressure of a busy harvest and large volumes of grain — and do it fast. With its square connections, a four-inch core and a chain coupler, there’s also less stress on the components, meaning longer, smoother and more durable performance.
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