A lot of middle-aged farmers across the Prairies can remember being sent out into the field with a “stone boat,” a tractor and pair of gloves with instructions to pick all the rocks. Today even those small- to medium-size rocks can be picked efficiently and quickly without wearing out a pair of gloves. The Elho […] Read more
Rock picker-rake combo rolls out of Finland
Elho Scorpion 550 is designed to maximize rock picking
Grainews takes to the field in Kubota’s M8 tractor
Kubota joins the mid-horsepower club. We test the new line
Back in March when Versatile announced the introduction of its Nemesis line of tractors, Kubota simultaneously announced it entered into an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) agreement with Versatile to build a larger tractor series for it, too. But Kubota declined to provide any specifics on its tractors, although the inescapable conclusion was it would be […] Read more
Getting more than you paid for
Earlier in the week I was chatting with a career truck driver. We were discussing how the trucking industry has changed. And we got onto the topic of how technology in the trucks now was so far advanced compared to what was in the rigs we both drove when we were younger. Autoshift transmissions and […] Read more
Seed Hawk blends technologies into new planting unit
The brand is developing a one-pass canola-planting rig
At the Ag in Motion farm show near Langham, Saskatchewan, Seed Hawk had a concept canola planter unit on display. And this one is a little different than most of the other planters on the market. It blends the big fertilizer capacity of an air cart with the precision seed placement offered by a planter […] Read more
JCB sets tractor speed record
A modified Fastrac recorded a speed of 103.6 m.p.h. (166.7 km/h)
In late June JCB grabbed the world record in Britain for the fastest land speed ever achieved in a farm tractor: 103.6 m.p.h. (166.7 km/h). BBC TV and racing personality Guy Martin (seen here) drove the tractor during the record setting attempt. A modified 7.2-litre, six-cylinder JCB DieselMax engine uprated to 1,000 horsepower moved the […] Read more
Get in and hang on
My morning routine usually involves first sitting down in my office with a coffee and scanning through emails, and then checking Twitter to see what, if any, interesting news is being talked about. Today I noticed two very interesting tweets almost one after the other. The contradiction between them was a bit jarring. The first […] Read more
Evaluating ASV skid steers and CTL loaders
Grainews reviews features and performance in tough conditions
When ASV launched its newest compact track loader, the VT-70 High Output, it invited Grainews to its manufacturing plant and proving grounds for a look around. The company also offered us a chance to see for ourselves what we thought of the full product line and let us compare their machines to competing models. Naturally, we took them up […] Read more
Major machinery brands win engineer awards at Agritechnica
Deere, AGCO, CNH take home technology accolades
Agritechnica, the world’s largest farm machinery show, is held every two years in Hannover, Germany, and part of the event includes a competition that allows manufacturers to vie for some prestigious engineering awards. Gold and silver medals are awarded for new advancements in equipment design that are truly significant. How significant is what determines whether […] Read more
PHOTOS: Tractor Trek 2019
Vintage machines boldly go into the Manitoba countryside
This past June marked the 10th annual Tractor Trek event in southeast Manitoba. Organized by the Mennonite Heritage Village Museum in Steinbach and the Eden Foundation, a non-profit health care group, the Trek’s purpose is partly to raise funds for charity. But vintage runs like this are also about having fun and showing off an […] Read more
Keeping up with the times
This week a news release on a survey about the general public’s attitude toward education arrived in my digital inbox. I’m not sure how I ended up on the mailing list for it. Getting inundated by “news” releases from marketing staff of all stripes, whether or not it has anything to with what we write […] Read more