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Previous Issues:-
June 2001
December 2001
June 2006
September 2006
Editorial
Boost for Tractor Sales
Classic Farm Machinery
Latest Combine Specs
Someone's Watching You!
Highbrid Balers
Car Trailers and the Law
A More Efficient Grain Drier
Birth-Place Of A Tractor
Confessions of a Combine Driver!
"What a Weekend ..."
Wymondham Centre
Volume 61 No3 September 2007
Editor: Chris Thomas
County Organisers Office
NORMAC
Tunbeck Farm
Wortwell
Harleston, IP20 0HP
Telephone/Fax 01986 788209
Email: tunbeckfarm@yahoo.co.uk
Advertising rates
Full page 186mm x 127mm, per issue £50.00
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Copy for all articles, diary dates and advertising for the December issue by the end of the first week of November please.
Is it just me getting older or has this been more of a trying year than usual? After last years tropical heat and sunshine, this year has been an absolute misery. I suppose we should be thankful we didn’t get the downpours they had elsewhere in the country, but it certainly has been difficult to take a crop of hay or to finish harvest. I have been helping out on a 6000 acre farm in Suffolk this harvest, and at the time of writing this it is murky, gloomy, with various levels of constant rain from a heavy drizzle to heavy cloudbursts and we still have nearly 1000 acres to get in. Having said that, although the grain has been fit for a while, it is only recently that the straw has been dry. Mostly it has been coming out of the combine in a wet and soggy state which I would imagine will turn to cardboard once it is baled up.
Summer time is usually a quiet season for NORMAC. Again we enjoyed two lovely days at the Norfolk Show, which apart from a downpour towards the end of Wednesday, we got off lightly having endured a lot of rain during the build up and again after the show was over.
My grateful thanks to everyone who helped out both before and during the event. We had some super handling competitions this year which all went very well and I must thank Malcolm Skinner and Roger and David Eyles for building them for us. The display boards from the centres were again a great success with several new members gained for the club, and the exhibition of machinery built at the time of our founding has showed how far we have come in farm machinery technology since 1947! A big thank-you to Manns, Thurlow-Nunn, Ben Burgess and Randell NFM for providing us with modern machinery to put alongside. The Ideas competitions came up as usual with some interesting inventions from the farm workshop. Fred Milk worked tirelessly to find these, and I know he is already on the case for more next year. Congratulations to Reggie Buck and Paul Spinks for winning their trophies.
Our year really kicks off in September when Fakenham Centre hold their Ploughing Match. This year it will be held on Sunday 16 th of September. Please note that the venue previously advertised has now been changed. It will now be held at Holkham Park, Holkham near Wells. If you need more information, call Trevor Curl on 01328 823405 or Philip Lambert on 01328 863346.
The same weekend also sees the Ploughing Marathon staged by Holt Centre at Church Farm Hindringham. A target of £8000 is hopefully being reached to aid local cancer charities. A Hog Roast and Vintage Tractor Road Run will also take place on the Saturday (15 th) to make this a special event. Do come along to both of these events if you can. Please see the ads for these events for more details.
New Venue. Downham Market Centre have decided to change the venue for their club nights. To avoid clashing with the local Young Farmers, they now meet at The Angel in Watlington, Kings Lynn. Along with some of the other Centres, they have decided to start their programme of winter speakers a little later than usual as many of their members find it difficult to attend September meetings due to work commitments.
You will see from the Club Diary page in the middle of this issue that you have a really good selection of speakers and visits to go to this year. Don’t miss out of them. As a NORMAC member, you can go to any other centre meeting where there is a subject of interest to you, and I know you will be made most welcome . Your secretaries have been working really hard just lately to bring you speakers on subjects you want to hear about. Don’t fail them by not turning up. Nothing is more embarrassing than a speaker driving several miles to talk at a Centre only to find half a dozen people bothering to turn up. It has happened! Don’t let it happen at your Centre.
Apologies. The Editor apologises for the serious delay in getting this issue published. A combination of delayed harvest and hay-making weather and a lack of other articles sent in from the membership and centres have all caused a serious backlog, and I am sorry you have not got your copy sooner.
Strong cereal prices and more buoyant prospects for agriculture in the Eastern counties have provided a much needed lift to tractor sales. In fact, according to the AEA, figures in the first half of 2007 were up 28.5% with Yorkshire and Lancashire not far behind at 24.4%. Most new tractors were in the 160 to 200hp bracket. Dealers in Wales are still having problems with sales actually declining by 12.6%. Overall, 9858 units were sold in the period, which is a considerable improvement on previous years.
PANORAMIC CABS
Massey Ferguson 6400 and 7400 series tractors will have the possibility of a one piece panoramic cab side window incorporating a wiper and sun blind if tests here and on the continent go to plan. These will be of use to those who use side mounted equipment like hedge and verge cutters a lot. However the company have not said how they intend guarding these new windows, and what the replacement costs will be should a stone fly out and shatter one!
RED and GOLD CASES
“Signature” editions of the Magnum and Steiger ranges of Case IH will soon become available to celebrate two significant milestones in the history of these two products. The Steiger Company was foundered 50 years ago and it is now 20 years since the first Magnum tractor was first launched in the USA. Both ranges will have a distinctive red and gold livery and somewhere will be the signature of Randy Baker, President of Case IH. The new Magnum will have Case IH’s own 335hp, 9.0litre engine and can run on B20 biodiesel. A 50kph transmission is available as part of a haulage package which also includes a suspended front axle, trailer brakes, a heavy duty drawbar and wider mud guards.
Five new models form the Steiger range in wheeled or tracked (Quadtrac) configurations.
The range starts at 335hp and leaps through 385hp, 435hp, 485hp to 535hp. This engine will actually peak at 589hp maximum boost. Again B20 biodiesel can be used. AFS AccuGuide guidance system can be factory installed as can Accusteer. The Red and Gold editions are limited to 100 Magnum and 50 Steiger tractors, so get your order in quick if you want one!
The New Generation
During the early 1950’s International Harvester couldn’t go wrong. They had developed the successful Farmall range as well as the W range of standard wheeled tractors which were being exported all over the world. Their range of crawlers were doing well too, and a whole range of farm machinery and implements were being manufactured in plants all over the world. Perhaps they were too complacent. Two successive company presidents were highly ambitious but sales based men and engineering research too a back seat to marketing old products under new tin-work. Two products showed this up, both with disastrous results. IH wanted to produce the largest crawler tractor in the world to compete head on with Caterpillar, and at 138 drawbar horsepower it was 10% more powerful than the D8, but the synchromesh transmission couldn’t take the demands placed on it, and the TD24 became a white elephant almost as soon as it was launched, and very few survive today. The other debacle was the Farmall 560, introduced in the States in 1958. Under smart new red and white tin-work was a six cylinder diesel engine matched up to a Farmall M transmission. The engine was exceptional, but the old transmission couldn’t take the extra power, and final drives failed in their thousands. There were so many failed tractors out in the field that the IH dealers couldn’t cope, and IH themselves had to set up regional service centres to cater for them, all at enormous cost to the company. It couldn’t have happened at a worse time. Since 1926, IH were the worlds No1 farm machinery maker, and by a wide margin, but that was about to change.
Meanwhile John Deere had been progressing with their two cylindered tractors since the model D way back in the 1920’s. Over the years the tractors had been styled, and diesel variants had been brought successfully on line. A small research team had been busy however, away from the main company, and by the late 50’s had more conventional tractors on test. In 1956 they took over the old Lanz factory in Mannheim, Germany to start a very successful European manufacturing operation and soon launched their “300 series” tractors to the European market. Just as IH were experiencing their difficulties, John Deere took the top spot as the worlds No1 tractor maker, a position they have kept ever since. To rub it in for IH even more, the fruit of all this research was unveiled to the world as the “New Generation” at a huge product launch at Dallas in Texas in 1961. In one launch, out went all the two cylindered popping jonnies, and in came the six models of the “10” series tractors from 36 to 215 hp. Everything except the green and yellow paint was new. All the new models were fairly conventional, but the 3010 and 4010 were to have features that are instantly recognisable to John Deere users up to the present time, namely lower link sensing and closed centre hydraulics. Other firsts included 540 or 1000 rpm PTO’s, power brakes and synchromesh transmissions. The first two wheeled tractor over 100 hp was also offered in this line-up, the 5010 at 120hp and category 3 hitches.
Within two years, the 10 series were being phased out and the 20 series appeared, with the 4020 becoming a real classic. This was the first tractor with a powershift transmission. Using a single dash mounted lever, 8 forward speeds or 4 reverse gears could be selected under power, on the move and without using the clutch. Common practice now, but unheard of back in 1963. Much greater attention was paid to operator comfort with all the controls dash mounted and a full set of instrumentation. The new “Posture Seat” was the result of much research in conjunction with a back specialist and was the first fully upholstered driver’s seat. John Deere also developed the first roll over protection structure and was called Roll-Gard.
Originally rated at 91hp, the smooth 6 cylinder engine was uprated to 99hp by the time the model was phased out in 1972. Much was made in promoting the “New Generation” of the high power to weight ratio of this new line of tractors, the 4020 only weighing just over 3 ½ tons. This aspect took some selling with many customers complaining of them not “pulling” very well. With properly matched implements however, they were as good as anything on the market at that time, and the other features and specifications quickly made them best sellers. It was originally available in two forms. Rowcrop (Tricycle) or standard four wheels. The tricycle option was soon dropped, as was petrol or L.P. gas engines in favour of diesel.
IH were still an important tractor manufacturer. Its British organisation being very successful having two plants. One at Wheatley Hall Road in Doncaster, and the other, making the smaller range of tractors in Bradford, West Yorkshire. However, back in the States, all was not well with poor management, poor industrial relations and a shrinking market the long downhill slide continued until November 26 th 1984, when the agricultural division of International Harvester was sold to the Tennaco Organisation, and merged with Case.
I suppose it is not surprising that as soon as corn prices start rising there is a rush on new combines for the following year, and this season is no exception, only this year many smaller farmers are dipping their toe into the combine market. According to the AEA, approximately 720 machines would have been sold by the end of August, and many dealers’ sails staff are flat out with inquiries for next years models. The last time we had sales figures going into the 700 mark was in 2003/4 when 760 machines were sold. I am sure this figure will be well exceeded by the end of August 2007. So what have the combine manufacturers got to tempt a punter with his new found wealth!
Top of the tree must be the Claas Lexion 600, now available with a 10.5m (35ft) header. This header which has been evaluated on the continent now for a couple of seasons is designed to allow for the full capacity of the Lexion 600 to be attained, but without excessive forward speeds. To keep the component weight and physical size down to acceptable limits, both the reel and auger are split in the middle and are supported by a central bearing. Telescopic Laser Pilot can be fitted to the whole range now and in the cab the Cebis monitor has been updated to include a colour screen on the larger models. The engine on the 570+ has been tweaked to provide maximum 455hp at only 1800RPM, which must show a considerable cost saving in terms of fuel consumption. At the lower end of the range, both the Medion and Mega ranges have been replaced by the four model Tucano family. The Tucano 320 has a 204hp engine, a single drum and five straw walkers, the 430 has 258hp, APS and also five walkers, the 440 and 450 both have six walkers and 279hp and 299hp engines respectively.
Meanwhile Massey Ferguson previewed their new MF9895 rotary combine at Sima this year. A number of them have been evaluated in Australia this year as well as in the European harvest. The vital statistics are quite impressive. The rotor is 0.8m in diameter x 3.55m long. This is joined by a full width 1.4m helically vaned beater. The grain tank holds 12300 litres and the discharge auger can unload at a rate of 158 litres a second. In other words, the tank can be unloaded in 1.3 minutes. The 12.5 litre Caterpillar engine develops 459hp with a power boost. This new model joins the existing line up of 9690 and 9790 rotary combines, all with 7.7m to 9.0m cutting widths. Smaller combines in the range include the 8 walker 7274 and 7278 Cerea models, the 6 walker 7270 and 5 walker 7260 Beta machines. The Activa range are at the bottom of the line up with 225hp and 245hp engines. The range may well change again soon because AGCO are in the process of buying 50% of Laverda, the Italian combine makers now owned by ARGO. The new deal also includes the German firm of Fella and the baler manufacturers Gallignani. Laverda make the smaller MF combines now, but with AGCO,s development influences, changes are bound to happen.
John Deere is the most complicated family of machines to describe because all the ranges have been re-named. Out go the WTS (now just W), CTS (now just C) and STS (now just S). To complicate things further, a new range called the “T” has been introduced. The T series are a walker based series of combines but with the addition of an overshot beater as well as a tined beater/concave, all behind the main threshing cylinder. With 3.36 sq.m, JD says that they have the highest capacity of walker type machines available. The “C” and “W” ranges have had superficial changes made for this season, whilst the S690, the flagship rotary job now has its power boosted up to 539hp and a header width of 9.1m. All models except the smaller W540 can have the “i” option added. This means that they will have Auto Trac automatic steering, HarvestSmart auto federate control and HarvestDoc datalogging and mapping software fitted, although this does add £15.000 to the price.
Lewis Hamilton will know about Telematics. The system has been used by F1 teams for years, but now telemetry wireless technology has come to the farm. All Claas Lexion combines built after 2005 are able to have a telemetry system fitted.
All the information contained on the combines CAN-Bus can be monitored and recorded by Telematics, -around 40 different items. This information is picked up by the PCMCIA card slot in the CEBIS monitor. Extra equipment required includes a special telephone modem with a SIM card and a flat antenna. With GPS, the current combine monitoring systems can store enough data to create yield maps. If you add the modem, then other people can look in and see that data, and just what is happening and where on the field the machine actually is. Not only that, but adjustments can be done to that combine to improve performance remotely, provided there are relevant access codes to prevent unauthorised access.
13 Claas combines were fitted with the system last year and the initial idea was to allow owners and Claas service staff to check performance and to identify and diagnose faults.
Dealers are able to view all the combines on their patch on a screen and any problem from just wanting a service to specific error codes can be flagged up as it happens. He can then contact the owner/driver or visit the machine armed with all the parts he knows he will need from that specific error code. The information is internet based, so anyone with the necessary access code can monitor the combine’s performance. The owner for instance can only see his own machine.
On the combine, all the operating and yield information is recorded every 5 seconds. This is transferred to the PCMCIA card every 15 minutes when the modem “phones home” to Claas headquarters who then sorts it out and sends the data to the relevant parties.
Having got the relevant page on the internet, the authorised person can view a number of things about his combine. One page will show him his combine settings, and how they compare to higher output units. Another page will show “work-hour analysis” which tells him graphically how much time is taken turning, travelling and actually harvesting. A field map shows up graphically the combine tracks and where the combine stopped for one reason or another as well as where and when the combine has a full tank. If the graphics show a full tank and the machine is not moving, then there may be a case for adding another grain trailer to keep things moving.
It is also possible to compare your own machine with other anonymous users to see if you are getting the best performance from both the machine and the driver. Some operators will only work their machines to maybe 60% capacity whereas others will average 80%, and this will show up and changes to work practices can be made. Last year, the most efficient combine spent 80% of its time harvesting and 6% turning on the headlands, whilst the worst only did 54% harvesting and 18% of its time turning. The remaining time was spent moving between fields. Another advantage is when the owner will monitor progress and can arrange the next field move, header trolleys, fuel bowser etc. without having to constantly ring the operator for updated information. The Telematic kit will cost around £4,400, and includes the first year’s £850 annual support fee. That sounds expensive, but if it means that you are working the machine to maximum capacity all the time, then it can pay for itself before the end of its first year’s harvest. Claas are not the only people to offer this service. I understand John Deere have had a similar arrangement for their range of machinery for a few years now.
Bernard Krone are usually well up front in the forage development stakes, having produced the worlds largest self propelled mower, big forage harvesters and the Six-Pack baler, which will make either six conventional bales or one large one-all from one machine.
They have done it again, and you can see their results at the Agritechnica show in Hanover (13-17 November) when they launch the Comprima range of round balers.
These new models combine the features of fixed and variable chamber systems for the first time in one machine.
Chain and slats have been replaced with a new belting called “Novagrip”, a strong webbing based belt, together with horizontal bars. This new system is claimed to produce 20% denser bales, and the bars go a long way to pack a tight core to the bale. The clever bit comes when the bale has reached 1.25m in diameter, when the belts and slats run on fixed guide wheels allowing high compression of the material and a denser bale. It can be ejected at this point, or if a greater diameter is required, then the slats are forced off their guide wheels and the bale can be made up to 1.5m in diameter, or to any measurement in between-in 50mm increments. The machine can be made available with an integral wrapping system, an 8ft camless pick-up and a 17 or 26-knife chopping system giving chop lengths of 42 to 64 mm. Four more fixed and variable chamber models complete the range.
With the ploughing match season now just round the corner, and VOSA inspection people now a common sight on our roads, I thought I should research the law regarding light trailers in the light of an ever changing level of legislation.
Light trailers are basically car trailers which do not exceed a maximum authorised mass (MAM) or gross weight of 3500Kg. The term Gross Vehicle Weight is different. This is the total weight of the trailer, its load and the towing vehicle. The maximum gross weight is the one usually quoted by the manufacturer of the trailer and is the theoretical maximum figure based on tyre specification, axle, suspension, couplings etc.
The Gross Train Weight is the maximum combined weight of the towing vehicle and the trailer + load and is set by the towing vehicle manufacturer, and is what you usually see in the instruction book. Kerb Weight is the weight of the towing vehicle including everything required for its operation, fuel, etc. Payload is of course the difference between the gross weight of the trailer and its unladen weight: ie, its load carrying capacity. The Vertical Static Load is the weight imposed on the towball and is sometimes known as nose load.
Having got all that out of the way, lets look at towbars. Towbars fitted to light passenger vehicles (8 seats + the driver) first registered on of after 1 st August1998 must be approved under EC Directive 94/20/EC. Failure to do so will contravene the Road Traffic Act of 1998. You can’t make your own any more. However, if you run a commercial vehicle, pick up or van, you can! Any part of the towbar assembly must not obscure the vehicle registration plate. If it does, the offending part must be able to be removed without the use of special tools. The Directive also requires that any new towbars should display the “S” value, maximum nose weight, and the “D” value, which is the maximum you can tow with that range of vehicles. Because the same towbar is often fitted to a number of different vehicles in a range, this figure does not necessarily mean that you can tow that weight. Check your individual vehicle hand book first. There must be provision for the attachment of a breakaway cable to the towbar. This cable should be able to be pulled tight in the event of the main coupling becoming detached, and to be able to apply the trailer brakes.
The current MOT test for cars do not cover towbars or their mounting points, but if they are in a poor condition, you can still be prosecuted for driving an unroadworthy vehicle.
All coupling balls are now 50mm in diameter. Most trailer couplings now have provision for wear adjustment or a wear indicator. They are designed to allow for up to 1mm of wear on the ball before they become in danger of becoming detached. Check for any looseness or rattles before use. More than 1mm is dangerous.
Pin/hook and eye couplings are sometimes fitted. There are two categories of those, The UK or NATO styles are compatible with each other, but not compatible with the DIN style of eye that has a bulbous section of the bore and a hardened steel bushing. These will wear through the UK or NATO pins quite quickly with disastrous results. All pin/eye set-ups should have a maximum clearance of 3mm.
Electrical plugs/sockets.
A 7 pin (12N) plug and socket is normally used for the trailer lighting system. If any additional supply is required, a supplementary 12S plug and socket has to be used this is usually identified by having a white cap fitted.
A 12N system is wired as follows:-
LH indicator lamp Terminal 1 Colour Yellow
Rear Fog Lamp 2 Blue
Return (Earth) 3 White
RH indicator lamp 4 Green
RH front & rear lights + No plate 5 Brown
Stop Lights 6 Red
LH front & rear lights + No plate 7 Black
Driving Licences
Only drivers with full driving licences are allowed to tow trailers. Provisional holders are not allowed.
If you passed your test before 1 st January 1997, you will have passed categories B+E and C1+E. This allows you to drive a vehicle having a MAM of up to 7500Kg and to tow a trailer providing the combined MAM does not exceed 8250Kg and the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the towing vehicle. If you are a bit younger and didn’t pass your test until after that date, then you will have a category B only. This restricts you to a total MAM of 3500Kg but the trailer of only 750Kg. You can still tow a larger trailer, but only if the MAM of the towing vehicle is greater than the total weight of the trailer, and the combined MAM does not exceed 3500Kg. So you are somewhat restricted. To be able to tow more you will have to pass a B+E test or even the C1+E test to be able to tow as much as your older brethren.
Braked or unbraked trailers.
Unless a vehicle manufacturer specifies restrictions for unbraked trailers, unbraked trailers may only be towed with vehicles having a kerb weight of at least twice the gross weight of the trailer in use at the time. For example, a vehicle with a kerb weight of 1000Kg is restricted to towing an unbraked trailer of 500Kg gross, even if the trailer is capable of a MAM of 750Kg. However if the vehicle manufacturer recommends a lower weight, then this should not be exceeded. If the MAM of the trailer exceeds these figures, then over-run brakes are required to be fitted and kept in full mechanical condition and adjustment. Trailers built after 1st January 1997 must have a secondary chain/cable between the trailer and vehicle to maintain attachment in the event of a coupling failure.
Unbraked trailers also must have the unladen weight, maximum gross weight and year of manufacture clearly marked.
All trailers must have the same number plate as the towing vehicle and it must be lit at night. It is not the same law that allows farm trailers to display any number plate the same as one of the vehicles on the farm.
Other regulations
Speed Limits: - Your vehicle is restricted to 60mph on motorways and dual carriageways and 50 mph on other roads where there is no other speed restriction. Vehicle/trailer combinations over 7500Kg MAM are further restricted to 50 mph and 40 mph. Trailers are now allowed on the outer lane of a three lane motorway or dual carriageway, and passengers are defiantly not allowed on the trailer on the road.
Tachographs
This is a wasp’s nest of complications, and further advice should be sought from the authorities if you are not sure, but in essence, if you are using the trailer for hire or reward and the maximum gross weight of the combination is over 3500Kg, you will probably need a tacho. The whole thing is a minefield. For example you are exempted if: - Your maximum speed does not exceed 30KPH
The trailer is used for the carriage of farm goods for a maximum radius of 50 kilometres.
The trailer is used for milk collection from or to farm
The trailer is used for livestock from or to farm from local markets or slaughter houses.
Etc, etc, etc.
Trailer Dimensions
For a two wheeled trailer, the max length must be within 7 metres. This goes up to 12 metres for a four wheeled trailer if the towing vehicle is over 3500Kg. However, the total length of the combination should not exceed 18 metres. The maximum overhang from the rear of a trailer must not exceed 3.05m. As for width, a trailer towed by a vehicle up to 3500Kg can be up to 2.3m wide. This goes up to 2.55m with larger towing vehicles. Side projection must not exceed 305mm each side. Loads over 2.9m are classed as abnormal, and the police must be notified before making the journey. There is no restriction on the height, but it is recommended that a figure of 1.7 times the wheel track is not exceeded.
On the subject of load overhang, if a load overhangs by between 1 and 2 metres, then a piece of cloth as a marker is legal. Between 2 and 3.05m, then you will need proper marker boards. Over 3.05m and police permission is required. “Long Vehicle” marker plates are not obligatory unless the towing vehicle is over 7500Kg.
I am sorry if this reads a bit dry. I have tried to cover as much of the relevant points as simply as I can, but there are so many variations which make it difficult to put down simply. Make sure the basics like brakes and lights work, and you will be most unlucky if you get stopped.
Energy prices are never likely to come down. As I write this, the oil market is at an all time high and I expect that in a week or two we shall see the difference at the pumps or next time we order the tractor diesel. One piece of kit we don’t think about much is the grain drier. It sits there quietly all year until harvest, when if it is lucky it will get a quick filter change and a quick run up to see that all is well before the harvest rush. A lot of grain driers were installed in the 1960’s and ‘70’s when fuel was cheap and most of them use twice as much as the equivalent machines do today. The electric motors driving the fans were much heavier and tend to take more power to start and run. Traditionally all the fans run at full speed from the moment they are switched on, and an air bleed system was used to lower the air pressure if required. Now the Yorkshire firm of Allmet has come up with an electronic controller that allows fan speed to be varied according to the task in hand, thereby drastically reducing running costs. If, for instance you are only wanting to reduce the moisture by one or two %, a much lower fan speed is required, with greater fuel savings. The company gives an example of someone with a 20t/hr machine with a 15kw fan drying barley down from 20% to about 15% would save £550 a year if he had the machine running at that rate for 12 hours a day for 8 weeks. Also being able to alter fan speeds should allow the heating to cooling ratio to be kept constant and this would stop the crop being unnecessarily pulled through the drier because of excessive pressure.
Prices of the Allmet range are approximately £23500 for an 8.5t/hr plant to £41000 for a 30t/hr machine.
A new one day grain handling event is taking place on the 7 th November on the Newark Showground. All aspects of grain drying, storage and handling will be covered as well as in store monitoring and pest control.
Many NORMAC members have been across the water to see the Massey Ferguson plant at Beauvais in Picardy, France, and since the sad demise of their factory in England, they have invested heavily in the site to virtually double production in recent years.
Occupying a 26ha site, the factory produces some 17,500 tractors a year, and is the largest farm machinery production site in France. Over $90m have been invested in research and development at that site alone and 320 engineers are based there developing new products. Factory developments include a test cold room where machines can be tested at temperatures down to -25 degrees, and an acoustic room where engineers can analyse noise levels and develop new ways to combat its worst effects. Should members want to go again there is now a new visitor centre and a new visitor’s tour of the factory floor. A new Massey Ferguson Technology Centre will be opened sometime this year costing over $1m. The new training school there now has 8 practical workshops and lecture rooms to cater for the French domestic market, whilst at Stoneleigh, the new European Operations Centre for AGCO has a training facility that runs more than 100 courses a year for over 1000 UK and international dealer staff.
Whilst discussing MF tractors, they were awarded a highly commended citation at the SIMA show for their SD (Secure Digital) memory card now used on MF 6400 to 8400 tractors equipped with Datatronic 3 electronics. Their new Headland Management System (HMS) can now handle up to 35 different functions on the move whilst turning on the headland and can increase productivity by up to 15%. Trials set up by the company in Germany show that the average tractor driver can reduce time spent at the headland by as much as 60% with this new system.
CONFESSIONS OF A COMBINE DRIVER!
Back in the summer I was asked through the Norfolk & Waveney Machinery Ring if I would like a harvest job driving a combine. No problem I thought. I have driven various old crocks for years on and off, so imagine my delight when I was told it would be a nearly new top of the range New Holland CR980 rotary combine with a 8.5m Biso header.
The farm near Framlingham in Suffolk extends to 6000 acres, growing winter wheat, winter barley, oil seed rape, sugar beet and beans. They have two New Holland combines, the 980 and a brand new 9080, which is basically the same with a few minor modifications, a tier3 engine and the updated “Infoview” monitor. It has also got the later 9m New Holland header.
I was very pleased to be asked if I would like to attend a one day driver’s course at Basildon which I found most interesting. Not only from what the instructor said, but by listening to other operators who have used one before. Having said that the instruction was very good and it gave me a good grounding into the settings and operation of a rotary combine. At the earliest opportunity I borrowed the driver’s manual for the combine, and Malcolm Greves kindly gave me a copy of a Biso book to read. None of these were hardly bed time reading, the combine book was well over an inch thick and the English translation in the Biso book was interesting and sometimes laughable. Malcolm- you will have to brush up on your German/English translation. Apart from the basic operation of the switches and controls in the cab it was really impossible to memorise much more from the book. It was far better to dip in as and when a problem turned up, then it was excellent with a good index and plenty of clear illustrations.
I had a day getting the 980 ready for harvest, putting all the covers back on and running her up. I was quite surprised how much sticky tape I had to use to seal all the joints and covers to stop the rape seed from running out. They tell me that the newer ones are now being built in Belgium and are much more rape seed tight!
My colleague did all the winter barley with the 9080, so for me it was straight into the Rape. An interesting experience with an 8.5m header and with the biggest I have used up to now having been 14ft, I promptly blocked it up, twice! After that I soon got the hang of things, began to relax a bit and never blocked it again. I found the Biso header basically good to use. Being able to extend or retract the knife distance to the auger is more than handy, especially in rape and tangled crops. It is however quite heavy and tends to droop down each side. There is adjustment for the auger height off the table floor, but this is difficult to achieve properly when the measurement is different in the middle to the two ends. Malcolm has since told me that the droop can be adjusted out, but I have yet to find out how.
Once the stubble height is set, the automatic header control can be programmed in. There are three switch positions, two different stubble heights and a controlled pressure feature which actually senses the pressure in the table rams to keep the table right on the floor for picking up laid and low growing crops like peas.
Quite a lot of time was initially taken checking losses both from inside and outside the combine. Through the Infoview we are able to do a controlled “kill-stall” which basically stalls the engine instantly in the middle of the field. Once stopped, the driver is able to look inside the combine to determine how well the rotors, concaves, pre sieve, top and bottom sieves and fan are functioning in relation to the crop passing through, depth and contents of the bed of chaff going over the top sieve and the quality of the returns. It also gave us a chance to spot any more leaks under the machine and more tape was applied to the stone trap to stop a problem. Having satisfied ourselves that all was in order the grain loss monitors were set and we progressed through harvest at an impressive rate.
For those who don’t get a chance to sit in one a combine has a great vantage point to observe nature as it leaves the cover of a standing crop and dashes to safety. The rape tends to harbour foxes in quite large numbers as well as deer of various breeds and sizes. Even in August the antlers on some of the stags are quite impressive.
Oil seed rape is not a nice crop to combine. Early on the crop was hardly fit and the going was slow, trying to keep an even feed going through the machine. Sometimes I could sense my toes curling up as I waited for the next lump to go in with a throb. Later as the crop matured, it was a constant compromise, trying to keep the reel out as much as I could, reducing shatter, but at the same time keeping that even feed going. None the less we cleared up nearly 1000 acres of rape by the 23 rd of July.
We were stopped for a few days waiting for the wheat to ripen, but like a lot of farmers, couldn’t wait any longer and started before we really should have. The whole farm is yield mapped from the combine, so before each field is started the data from the previous field is transferred to a data card and the new field ID is entered. Part of the process of entering the data is to tell the combine what crop it is actually going to do. With that done the combine automatically sets itself up for the crop in question. So if the last crop was rape and I am going into a field of wheat, the combine will set all its rota speed, concave clearance, top and bottom sieves and fan speeds for the new crop as soon as I enter “wheat”.
What a difficult season this has been. The grain was coming in at around 15.5 – 16 %, but the straw was still very wet. After it had been through the rotas and then the straw chopper, it was coming out wringing with water. Again this kept the speed down as the machine struggled with the wet conditions. Ground conditions were bad too, and several times the header came up towards me as the wheels sank into the mud. I was able to back out of several holes in time but my colleague went down to his axles and created two mini duck ponds in seconds! Most of the straw was chopped, but several acres were swathed for baling. However, the baler could not be used for about three weeks due to the dampness and then just simply rain, so by the time he did come there wasn’t much to bale and the bales were not very nice!
Apart from a “quick go” at a NORMAC demonstration, I have never used automatic steering before, and it took quite a bit of getting used to. The system on my machine was the Trimble Auto-pilot, which is a year or two old by now. It will only work in straight lines, so if the first A to B base line is not perfectly straight, then you are liable to miss a few stalks on the next bout. Initially the Auto-pilot would wander a bit and we had to have it re-adjusted by the dealer. 99% of the time the signal was good, and I found that if I set up a short A-B line in the crop, perhaps following a tramline, and then went straight into auto to continue to the other end of the field, it would set its own straight course and subsequent bouts would cut a full width but without leaving any stray stalks. I have to say that I could never steer as straight as it could, and as we worked across the field in lands, the header would always be full, even down to the last bout. I was impressed.
As the days wore on, the crop matured and we were able to march on a bit. I mentioned a “kill stall” before. Having done that and satisfied myself that the losses were as good as I could get, it is time to set the loss monitors on the Info-view. There are three displays to check. Rota loss, Sieve loss and the Returns. Having done that we can really start to drive the machine to its limit. There is however another means of assessing the through-put, and that is a display that tells you the amount of power you are using from the engine, expressed in a percentage. In an even crop, you can push it to beyond 100% and you are working on the boost power, but care has to be taken when unloading on the move. The unloading auger takes a lot of power, and we start to loose revs beyond 125% and all hell lets loose when all the low speed alarms come on! My combine has got a Tier 2 engine fitted. The 9080 had a Tier 3, and the characeristics of the two were completely different. Mine would hang in much better before loosing revs, whereas the tier 3 engine would die much earlier. The Tier3 also drank a lot more diesel. About half as much again, well over 1000 litres a day. Still we were both able to march along at about 6 ½ kph in most standing crops.
We were able to compare our progress with a couple of demonstration machines which were brought on to the farm. Manns of Halesworth brought in a Lexion 480 for us to try, which certainly showed up our lack of engine power. However the table auger was badly set up and kept blocking over about 6 kph, so quite honestly their demonstration was a waste of time, due purely to rushing a new machine in as a demonstrator and not taking time to set it up properly. A great pity, I thought, and a waste of time and money. Having got used to the New Holland by now I thought some of the controls on the Lexion were a bit weird, and the monitor a bit hard to see, but my greatest critism was its build quality and noise levels. The other machine to turn up was also a bit of a let down. New Holland told us we should be getting a 9080 “Evolution” model on tracks. This would be the next stage in the New Holland development process and would give us a chance to evaluate their new ideas. What actually arrived was a rather battered 9080 that had just done a season in France with a few minor internal modifications and a better engine than our 9080. - In fact it was the same engine but better chipped! It certainly didn’t have tracks.
We are told however that the tracks will be a smaller version of the Quad-trac units, but they were unable even to show us a picture of one, so we will have to wait and see. I was hoping for a picture scoop for Top Link!
Why do demonstrators always shoot themselves in the foot? This bloke climbed up into the cab, charged into the crop at top speed and got about 50 yards before he had wrapped up the front auger completely! It took another ½ hour to extract the auger from the tangle of straw, clear the machine and get going again. Then he could go forward much more gingerly and in fact did quite a good job. Again to show the machine off at its best, it should have been fine tuned to a better standard. Sure we were going well at 7 ½ kph, but a glance at the returns display told me all I wanted to know. Perhaps I am a bit old fashioned, but I would much rather keep a slower but steady pace all day, knowing that I am in total control and that most of the crop is in the tank!
Having cleared the wheat it was on to about 350 acres of beans. Marvellous how the combine sets itself up as soon as you hit the “Beans” key. A bit of fine tuning with the switches to match the crop and we were off. A mixed crop this year. Some fields were quite clean. Others were dreadfully weedy and this slowed the pace considerably. The pace was slowed even more because the gravity separator back in the grain store couldn’t cope either. None the less we plodded on and wrapped up harvest 2007 at 4.30pm on Friday 7 th September.
For me this has been a most interesting harvest. Sometimes frustrating and difficult, but often a delight when everything is running smoothly and I am in my sealed and air conditioned cab with all the dust swirling around outside or all the insects of Suffolk buzzing around my lights at night. I would like to thank all the other staff at the farm for being patient while I grappled with all the mysteries on my new toy.
Around the time of the previous ploughing marathon in 2005 we became aware of one or two of our close friends being diagnosed with cancer and in particular our member and active supporter, Derek Lee. It was then that the decision was taken that our next marathon would be totally focused on cancer charities and so as we started to make plans for the 2007 event we nominated Cancer Research UK, Big C, Oesophageal Cancer Research and Macmillan Nurses as the chosen beneficiaries for this years event. As we entered 2007 we became aware that Jean Loads, the wife of our long term host and great supporter, was herself battling against cancer. This was a battle that Jean unfortunately lost, which gave us an even bigger incentive to raise the bar and try to raise a lot of money for these very worthwhile causes.
With his contacts, both past and present, Stephen Mitchell had arranged the use of a Claas tractor and Overum plough for this years marathon and our long term provider of fuel, Steve Burrows from Total Butler agreed to provide the 900 litres of diesel. That in its self is a considerable offer compared with 1981 when we held the first marathon.
In addition to the ploughing marathon we decided to have a hog roast supper and a vintage tractor road run during the 48 hour period that we were ploughing. By the end of June plans were well advanced, the Village Hall was booked for the supper, Richard Mace was planning the route etc for the road run when on a Monday afternoon at the end of June the heavens opened above Hindringham and dumped 42mm of rain in 20 minutes. As a result the village hall became flooded and soon after it became apparent that it would be out of service for some considerable time as a new floor would be needed. We then turned to David Loads to look for an alternative venue and in the public spirited manner that is his trademark he offered us a barn that happened to sit in the midst of the fields that we were ploughing – perfect. Well almost, except that it had no electricity, water or toilets, but with many friends and contacts we installed lights, set up a tractor operated generator and portaloos, erected some small marquees and suddenly the perfect venue was realised. The key ingredient for a hog roast is of course the pig which was kindly provided by Roger Newton from his outdoor herd at Bayfield, prepared and cooked by Graves at Briston and with considerable input from wives of committee a feast was prepared. With a good forecast for the weekend there was a real buzz around Hindringham as the marathon got underway at lunchtime on Friday, Saturday was a glorious September day and as the vintage tractors assembled at Waterloo barn around mid-day it was a real party atmosphere, the bob bob of the Marshalls, similar sound from the Lanz Bulldog and some beautifully turned out Fergies – both red and grey. They headed off around the back roads to Cley and returned late afternoon with some £400 in buckets that was to further swell the fund. As the evening approached and with the Claas 816 still toiling in the furrow, folk began to arrive for the evening of eating and drinking and general merriment. Some 170 turned up, all well fed and watered by the time they left and in addition to the feast, they had been entertained by “The Old Wild Rovers” who performed in the barn during the evening. It was a fantastic evening that will stay in the memory for a long time and when at the end our host presented us with an extremely generous cheque it gave me a feeling of great satisfaction that we had realised the target figure of £8000 without having yet gathered the sponsorship that our members have been actively seeking. The success of any club is its members and once again our very supportive team have delivered the goods that will be much appreciated by the very deserving charities.
A final statement of achievement will be published after the presentation dinner in November.
My thanks again to Ian Leech, who keeps me up to date with happenings at Wymondham, where members hired a coach to take them to the pumping station at Wiggenhall St Germans, near Kings Lynn. The pump house was built in 1934, on the site of earlier sluices and gates, and originally contained three 102 inch centrifugal pumps able to discharge 2,500 tonnes of water per minute. Later installations doubled its capacity and it now drains 170,000 acres of fens. Two pumps are driven by diesel engines, one being a 1951 Crossley and the other being an Allen. Each one burns about 45 gallons an hour. The other pumps are electric, of 1550 hp each, and all are capable of continuous operation 24 hours a day. The whole site is looked after by a team of three.
It was an opportune time to look round this site as there are extensive works being carried out to replace the pumping station with a new one by 2010.
After an extensive tour of this site, members boarded the coach again bound for Boston and the Mastenbroek factory for a tour of the works. Mastenbroek was foundered in 1950, and are well known for building draining and trenching machinery. They now also build rock trenchers, sub-sea cable layers, wind turbines and peat extraction machinery. 37 people are employed on the site where an extensive spare part facility as well as sales are administered from. The company also markets a range of verge, hedge and bank maintenance machinery. Evening meetings start again on the 8 th of October with Merlo handling equipment at the football club.
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