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.
Specialised root crop harvester manufacturer Grimme has announced updates to the third generation of its Varitron 470 self-propelled harvester.
These include a more modern design, a new suspension system to simplify attachment and removal of the haulm topper, and more input power for the haulm topper.
Further new features include the Speedtronic-web system. This provides automatic speed adjustment, allowing the main webs to be controlled according to forward speed and crop load.
Additionally, the rotational direction of the extraction unit can now be reversed, allowing the rollers to operate in an extraction or transfer mode. For the upcoming season, the Varitron 470 is also supplied standard with the CCI 1200 operator terminal.
The updates, included on wheeled and Terra Trac versions of the 470 also include a 460hp Stage 5 engine, brighter LED work lights.
There are also a range of intake configurations for harvesting potatoes, onions and carrots.
Meanwhile, Grimme’s two-row Evo 280 self-propelled machine can now be optioned with a 6.0 tonne, NonstopBunker, or a larger 7.5t capacity version, which despite its larger dimensions, still sees the harvester’s overall width remaining below three metres for road transport.
The German company has also introduced a new, two-row trailed elevator harvester for the 2023 season, called Select 200.
The ISOBUS-operated machine, available with a wide range of different separators, is equipped with automatic steering and telescoping axle that also keeps the road width below three metres.
In Dacre, near Invercargill in New Zealand’s South Island, Bruce Dinnington is running a dairy operation unlike any other.
A free online platform aggregating governance vacancies across rural and regional New Zealand has been launched.
Environment Minister Nicola Grigg has announced details of a new rural plastics recycling scheme.
Agricultural drone operators say that a government decision to allow lower-risk drone work without certification won’t lower standards but drive innovation and efficiency.
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