North Yorkshire-based ag engineering firm JF Hudson has developed a front-mounted storage box that offers more capacity than a standard tractor toolbox and should save drivers the irritation of having spares rolling around the cab floor.

The containers are available in four sizes, starting with a 109-litre, 685mm-wide version that has a 50kg capacity and costs £324.

At the other end of the scale, the “12” has a volume of 203 litres, is 1,250mm wide and is rated to carry up to 80kg. It costs £462.

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Upgrade options

There are plenty of upgrade options, including swapping the standard plastic container for an aluminium or stainless-steel version.

Powder coating is available, too – in the colours of any mainstream tractor manufacturer – and the top-spec model can be fitted with a painted or stainless-steel nameplate.

Other extras include locks, LED lights and amber strobes, plus a storage trolley for £206 and a 25-litre water tank with soap dispenser for £104.

Brackets are available to fit most linkages, which hoist the box up into their folded position to minimise the front overhang. This means it sticks out no further than a weight block.

As well as the storage boxes, JF Hudson’s workshop builds hydraulically controlled loader bucket wings.

These can be extended to help scrape leftover material along a passageway without having the telehandler’s wheels touch-tight with the feed barrier.

The company has also added to its range of imported Spapperi vegetable kit, which now includes two semi-automatic transplanter models.

These can plant through plastic or directly into bare soil at a rate of up to 5,000 plants/hour in each row.