To say the weather this season has been extraordinary would be an understatement. The virtually non-stop rain that made spring seeding difficult is now making harvest a challenge. It’s not hard to find lodged crops in fields. Getting them swathed will test the limits of machines. In the last issue of Grainews, Lyndsey Smith had […] Read more
Swathing tips
Make Your Drill ISOBUS Compatible – for Sep. 6, 2010
A couple of decades ago, switching an implement from one tractor to another likely meant having to change the hydraulic quick couplers to match the brand of tractor, because of course each one had their own unique fitting. The ASABE (the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers) eventually settled on a standard coupler design, […] Read more
Case IH Debuts Updated Magnum And Steiger Tractors – for Sep. 6, 2010
Back in February, Case IH and New Holland, sister lines in the CNH family, announced they would both use selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology to meet interim Tier 4 emissions standards for engines above 100 horsepower. So when Case IH invited members of the farm media to its Burr Ridge, Illinois, facility in June for […] Read more
Forage Harvesters: A Head-To-Head Look – for Sep. 6, 2010
Claas claims to be largest supplier of farm machinery in the world, and in North America, the company says its Jaguar line of self-propelled (SP) forage harvesters dominate that market segment. But they have competition in the SP harvester market from main rivals John Deere and New Holland. The German company, Krone, is also selling […] Read more
Tips For Buying A Used Self-Propelled Forage Harvester – for Sep. 6, 2010
Farmers may be used to walking onto a dealer’s lot and checking out a used pickup, tractor or combine on their own. In those cases, checking a few key components and watching it run or taking a test drive provides a pretty good indication of a machine’s general condition, but that approach won’t work for […] Read more
Claas’s New Jaguar Prowling Manitoba Fields – for Sep. 6, 2010
The number of new selfpropelled (SP) forage harvesters sold in Canada and the U. S. each year hovers around the 475 mark, which means only a few farmers and custom operators are in the market for one. The brand now claiming to dominate the SP forage harvester market in North America, Claas, isn’t exactly a […] Read more
Introducing the 700 Series Lexions
If last weeks topic—Gleaner’s new transverse rotaries, in case you didn’t read it—wasn’t enough to satisfy your desire to see new combines. Here are some more for you to look at it. Claas has just unveiled its new, 700 Series Lexions. Claas has five models available for 2011 in its new 700 Series Lexion combine […] Read more
The new Gleaner
Earlier this year, Grainews was the first western Canadian farm publication to break the news AGCO intended to release updated versions of its transverse rotary Gleaner combines. A few weeks ago, on this blog, I promised you a look at it. Now that the media blackout is over, here it is. AGCO has been updating […] Read more
Shut it down
“Roger, go with throttle up” is one of the most memorable statements heard in recent history. Those words were spoken by the space shuttle Challenger’s commander just moments before it exploded. For producers, a variation on that phrase, “Go with throttle down” sums up what engineers have bee encouraging them to do. Run equipment at […] Read more
AGCO shifts gears
Right from its formation in the mid 1980s, AGCO’s strategy to add new products and technology to its line was to purchase additional companies. In the process, it wrote a lot of cheques to get new engineering. Today, however, under a new CEO and with its own R and D team, AGCO has changed gears. […] Read more