Fresh from the halls of the NEC, Birmingham, we bring you several articles of the latest arable machinery and technology developments on show at LAMMA 2022
Small chassis 1800 series sprayers
Knight Farm Machinery is now offering a 5,000-litre version of its smaller chassis 18 series self-propelled sprayers, designed as a lighter, lower-cost option, but with the same range of control and filling options, including a touch-screen panel for fluid control.
The stainless steel tank has a lower slung design, so the boom folding height is lower, useful for transport. Boom widths are from 24-40 metres, with the company reporting an ongoing move to 36m booms, where auto boom height control and GPS section control are universally specified by purchasers.
Power is supplied by a 225hp Perkins engine, and IsoBus is standard, either via a Mueller or third-party terminal.
Pinpoint precision for Bateman machines
R.J. Bateman is now fitting the Capstan Pinpoint III Envelop Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) system to its sprayer range, which is fully integrated into the IsoBus display and offers full rate controller capability.
Turn compensation, valve diagnostics and set-up are all displayed and operated on the terminal. Bateman says the range of nozzles for PWM applications is beginning to expand, but recommends Wilger nozzles, which offer the flexibility to work at higher duty cycles and take advantage of the improved pressure and rate stability offered by PWM.
Customer feedback has suggested Capstan Pinpoint can pay for itself within 18 months with greater application accuracy whi, h cuts lodging and ensures targets are hit, with improvements visible in the field.
Step change in tech for V-Form subsoilers
Cousins of Emneth has introduced a step change stepped design leg on its V-Form subsoiler to provide middle ground between Micro wing points and the deep working V-Form leg, offering minimal soil disturbance and reduced lifting, which can also be retrofitted to existing models.
It is preceded by a row of cutting discs in line with the legs and new design of shark fin roller at the rear uses shallower teeth, again to minimise disturbance. The teeth are also integrated with the leg to close the slot slightly. A four-metre folding model has a power requirement of 200hp.
Increasing demand for specialist harvesters
Ploegers sister company Oxbo offers a range of specialist harvesters globally and is now seeing demand in the UK for mechanisation in fresh market crops which were traditionally picked by hand, due to labour shortages.
The green bean harvester on display uses a picking reel to strip beans from the vines which are then conveyed into a cleaning fan to remove leaves and debris before being placed into bags or boxes on a rear platform, ready for loading into trailers.Work rates are around one hectare in eight hours.
The company uses a similar design for its trailed sweetcorn harvester, which cuts stalks before hydraulically driven rollers gently pull the ears off; a claimed 1,200 cobs/hour can be harvested.
