Manufacturers of precision farming equipment often point to specific cost-savings farmers can achieve by using their systems. There are any number of different soil conditions and management practices that, when viewed in combination, can make for some pretty unique circumstances. So is it realistic to think adopting any new technology will automatically provide the kind […] Read more
Measure Precision Farming Gains
Narrow Tires Speed Drainage And Between-Field Travel
Drainage can be a real problem for farmers with heavy clay soils. Getting fields to drain quickly in the spring can be difficult, and downpours during the growing season can flood low-lying land, drowning large areas of crop. That leaves growers with little alternative but to turn to ditching equipment to improve water flow. But […] Read more
City Slicker Learns To Combine
JUST FOR FUN Most farm boys can probably remember having a good chuckle at a city cousin’s first attempt to drive a tractor on summer vacation. Now, Discovery Channel’s new show “I Could Do That” has taken that general idea and put in on television. One of the show’s episodes will feature a city slicker […] Read more
Trailer Conveyor Fills Faster
“Instead of taking half an hour, it takes 10 minutes (to fill a seed cart)… We gain 1-1/2 hours a day during seeding.” — Jack Waldner, Brandon, Man. Refilling an airseeder’s commodity tanks during seeding operations can feel like a pit stop in a formula one car race. Unfortunately, no matter how fast you work, […] Read more
Equipment makers are testing integrated electrical generators to power A/C compressors, cooling fans, wheel drives as well as attachments and implements
Prior to the 1950s, mechanical lift mechanisms were the method of choice for controlling farm implements. A tractor driver had to reach back and move a lever that lifted or lowered the trailing implement. Hopefully, he could do it without falling off and being run over. Those old designs would make today’s corporate lawyers break […] Read more
How The Cross Slot Opener Works
Cross Slots require seven to nine hp per opener on level ground, and up to 15 on steep slopes. In comparison, a test of four common Canadian double-shoot openers evaluated by the Alberta Ag Tech Centre required five hp or less. Arguably, the Canadian Prairies are ground zero when it comes to the development of […] Read more
Farmers Comment On Cross Slot
So far, the number of producers in North America regularly using Cross Slot openers makes for a very exclusive club. Joel Eaton, who farms near Meadow Lake, Sask., placed an order with the company late in 2009 for a set. That will make him only the second Canadian to own one of these systems. He […] Read more
Move Snow With Your Pick Up
Initial installation time for the mounting gear is two to two and a half hours for the average person, Leather says. One thing Prairie farmers can be sure of each winter is some serious snow removal. When that day comes, starting a large tractor during cold weather isn’t ideal. In fact, it can lead to […] Read more
Help Engines Breathe Easier
Farm machines are often surrounded by dust when working in a field, and dust is one thing you don’t want to let into an engine. Dietrich Schellenberg, Marty Zuzens, Peter Lung and Dennis White, instructors at Assiniboine College’s School of Trades and Technology, offer these tips to keep an engine’s air intake system functioning properly. […] Read more
These Are Great Days To Buy
Remember the good old days, when machinery prices were low? Back then — meaning the ’60s and ’70s — nearly every family farm could afford to park a new tractor in the yard at least once in a while, right? What if I suggested these are the good old days — and I’m not just […] Read more