increase font size
Kronos 500 on display at the Fieldays.
After three years evaluating the Moreni brand’s suitability for the New Zealand market, Ag–Attachments launched it at National Fieldays.
Hailing from Brescia in Italy’s northeast – the home of power harrows – Moreni is a fourth-generation company that was founded around 90 years ago. Specialising in soil engaging equipment, they appear to be using steel in all the right places.
The Kronos 500 folding unit on display has a heavy duty headstock which attaches to the front and rear of the transmission trays, and looks capable of taking up to the 350hp limit that might be attached to the front. Drive is split from the central gearbox to lateral units that transmit power down into the beds.
A feature of the harrow is the closer spacing of the rotors: the 5m machine on display was carrying 22 rotors, compared to the more typical 20 items on competitor machines. This results in finer tilth and needs lower horsepower per metre.
The other interesting point is the rotors are timed on their shafts to ensure good overlap, and results in the area where the harrows meet at the centre being worked out fully, rather than the more typical set-up of a ripper tine fitted to scratch out the unworked area.
The shafts through the transmission tray are a one-piece forged unit that supports the bearing assembly on the upper section and the blade holder below. The shaft assembly is easily removed for any bearing replacement, but this is probably a rare occurrence as the units have twin double labyrinth seals to stop soil ingress and keep stones away from the tray.
Ag-Attachments managing director Geoff Shuker commented, “We wanted a power harrow that could last the test, and the Moreni showed us it can.
Having recently taken the Manitou telehandler franchise in Waikato to service their mostly dairy focused customer base, Giltrap Agrizone saw a need for high capacity attachments to exploit the high capacities of these machines.
Grass harrows with seed boxes have been around for some years and have largely been seen as an easy, low cost option for sowing small seeds into cultivated ground.
Fieldays 2025 opens this week with organisers saying the theme, 'Your Place', highlights the impact the event has on agriculture both in the Southern Hemisphere and across the globe.
Sam Carter, assistant manager for T&G's Pakowhai Sector, has been named the Hawke's Bay 2025 Young Grower of the Year.
The CEO of Apples and Pears NZ, Karen Morrish, says the strategic focus of her organisation is to improve grower returns.
A significant breakthrough in understanding facial eczema (FE) in livestock brings New Zealand closer to reducing the disease’s devastating impact on farmers, animals, and rural communities.
Farmer co-operative LIC has closed its satellite-backed pasture measurement platform – Space.
OPINION: The case of four Canterbury high country stations facing costly and complex consent hearing processes highlights the dilemma facing the farming sector as the country transitions into a replacement for the Resource Management Act (RMA).
