Stihl Launches BT140, Its First Battery-Powered Auger
With battery tools becoming more widespread and more importantly, productive and reliable, it was only time before we saw augers or post-hole borers.
The new XDisc 710, with a cutting width of 7.1 metres, has been developed to utilise the full potential of a powerful forager more efficiently.
Adding to its extensive range of harvesting attachments for its Big X self-propelled harvesters, Krone has introduced a new whole-crop header, said to offer outputs of around 20% more than the existing XDisc 620 unit.
The new XDisc 710, with a cutting width of 7.1 metres, has been developed to utilise the full potential of a powerful forager more efficiently, using cutter-bar technology based on the EasyCut mower technology already employed in the XDisc 620.
In operation, the speed of the 900mm diameter integral feed auger can be optimally adjusted to the intake speed of the forage harvester in three stages, depending on the required cutting length of the crop.
A clever option, available solely for the Big X Series, is the integrated header transport chassis that eliminates the need for a separate transport trailer, so significantly reducing changeover times between paddock or site moves.
The transport chassis is equipped with a single axle on the right-hand side of the header, with the drawbar, with its folding support jack located on the opposite side. In operation, when the hydraulic system has been coupled and the header raised, the driver swivels the drawbar and the axle of the running gear directly from the cab.
In the paddock, both transport kit components hydraulically swivel behind the header, with the process is reversed for transport, before the header trailer is attached to the forage harvester’s tow coupling.
Other XDisc 710 options include vertical side knives, which are also offered on the XDisc 620, raised and lowered individually from the cab, to provide blockage-free cutting when working in tangled or heavily lodged crops.
Farmgate lamb prices are down by 8%, beef cattle by 4.5% and farm expenditure up by 4.2%.
Kiwifruit growers are watchful but remain optimistic as concerns around the potential effects of the El Niño weather pattern this season.
Almond hulls sourced from Australian orchards may have the potential to help New Zealand cows reduce emissions, boost milk yield and lower input costs.
Striking a balance between meeting the needs of industry to speed up approval time for products but on the other hand ensuring that risks are properly assessed.
Surprised, humbled and quite thrilled. That’s the reaction of James Allen, one of the founding partners and now chief executive of AgFirst, on being made a life member of the Institute of Rural Professionals.