The chaser bin is a firm favourite among arable farming big boys, but a clever concept from Horsch and Fliegl could prove an attractive alternative.

Dreamt up by the team at Horsch’s 1,300ha test farm in the Czech Republic, the new tracked dolly picks up a Fliegl artic lorry trailer and allows it to be dragged around the field behind a tractor.

This removes the need for a chaser bin and means trailers don’t have to be parked in the field. The lorry just drops the trailer at the field entrance and the tractor with tracked dolly attached picks it up.

At the front the trailer anchors on to the dolly using a traditional fifth-wheel plate, while the back end hooks into a pair of foldaway catches on the trailer chassis. The rear trailer wheels are then lifted off the ground by lowering the front of the dolly’s running gear.

To help the tractor handle the considerable bulk of the outfit, the tracks are driven by hydraulic motors.

Horsch uses a controlled traffic farming system in the Czech Republic, so the dolly has been built to run on a 3m track width. However, this can be adjusted hydraulically to fit in with other systems.

The prototype is being tested at the moment and if it proves successful, it could go into production in 2015.

See also: CTF drives changes in chaser bins