Premium specification farm and construction trailers from Lithuanian manufacturer Laumetris offer features to satisfy most requirements at a bargain price.

The bright-orange bodies of the two models on show at Lamma certainly caught the eye and Woodbridge-based UK importer Suffolk Farm Machinery has sold three units since the brand’s launch in 2016.

Farm tipping trailers are available from 8t all the way up to a bulky 30t tri-axle option, with smaller 8t-12t units sitting on a sway beam chassis and those upwards of 14t on springs.

Standard features include fully certified high-speed 65kph axles all round, air-over-oil brakes, a hydraulic tailgate with rubber seal, LED lights and a single five- or six-stage lifting cylinder that drops fast for a quick tipping turnaround.

The Laumetris triple-axle trailer © Jonathan Page

A long list of optional extras includes drawbar spring suspension, steering axles on larger models, body extensions and a rear hitch with hydraulic, pneumatic and electric connections.

Another neat optional extra is the firm’s roll tarp system, which comes with a ladder leading up to an operator platform, so is safer and easier to use than those worked from ground level.

Retail price for the 24t version is about £32,000.

See also: Video: Lamma 2017 farm machinery up close and personal

Grimme triple-bed tiller

Grimme’s GF600 © Grimme

Root-crop machinery specialist Grimme will be offering growers and contractors its new and improved triple rotary-bed tiller for 2017 seed-bed preparations.

Three years in development, it is the first machine of its kind built at the firm’s German factory, with previous offerings put together by a third party and given a Grimme livery.

The outgoing RT600 combined three separate single-bed tillers fixed to a T-shaped frame, so was heavy, required a big tractor on the front and suffered with reliability issues.

Grimme’s designers went back to the drawing board to produce a more dependable folding triple-bed tiller to compete with the competition and the result is the GF600, which recently went into full production in Germany.

Key features include a heavy-duty frame, the option of a beefed-up 500hp gearbox that comes with a three-year warranty, auto-reset clutches and vibrating hoods to prevent build-up of soil.

Fewer blades on the rotor shaft minimises horsepower requirement, increases forward speeds and prevents overcultivation of beds, while the optional 12mm thick rotor blades gives growers a more robust choice on wearing parts.

Two out of the seven machines shipped to the UK have already been snapped up and the GF600 will cost other potential buyers between £45,000 and £51,000, depending on spec.

TWB front press

TWB’s front press © Jonathan Page

Sleaford-based machinery maker TWB has put together a front press that offers unique flexibility on its working width.

A Shropshire customer called the company and asked if it could build a front press with the option to run at 3m in front of a Terminator single-pass cultivator or 4m ahead of his power harrow drill combination.

The problem was solved by taking a 3m press – made with two rows of tines, levelling boards and a heavy-duty DD ring roller – and bolting two 50cm extensions on each end. The firm say it would take no more than an hour for fitting or removal between jobs.

Hydraulic folding reduces width when extensions are fixed for safe road transport and interested customers can have their own knocked up for about £14,000.

Elho stone picker

Elho’s Scorpio 550 © Jonathan Page

Farms on stony ground might be interested in a hydraulically driven Scorpio 500 stone collector from Finnish manufacturer Elho.

Other similar trailed machines used to remove rocks from cultivated ground ahead of planting are pto driven, so in the likely event of a stone getting jammed in the mechanism, spanners will be required to change a shear bolt.

With the Scorpio, the hydraulic system is simply reversed to clear the offending obstacle without the driver leaving the comfort of the cab.

With a minimum horsepower requirement of 125hp, it has a 5.5m working width and a bin capacity of 3t-5t depending on stone type. When full, the bin can be tipped straight into trailers to remove the load from the field.

There are four machines working up in Aberdeenshire, sold through sole UK importer Shutts Farm Machinery in Bakewell, Derbyshire.

A run of new machines is set to arrive in the UK from Finland this March and will set you back £40,000.

Heath grain pusher

The Heath Engineering Super Dozer © Jonathan Page

Heath Engineering has built a grain pusher that helps operators fill grain stores to capacity, without the need to invest in a telehandler with a longer boom.

The innovative Super Dozer is 3.94m long when closed, but two 5in double-acting rams push out its telescopic extension to increase length to 5.47m, helping to reach nooks and crannies without driving into the heap.

The box section that makes up the Super Dozer’s frame sits on edge to prevent build-up of grain on the implement, reducing mess when running in and out of the store.

Based near Shipston-on-Stour, the company will supply a Super Dozer with brackets for £3,350, or £3,200 without, plus a delivery charge if you can’t collect.

Trial new closed pesticide transfer system for free

Agrochemical company Bayer is giving 80 sprayer operators the chance to test a new closed-transfer system for pesticides for free.

Closed-transfer systems help minimise the risk of operator exposure and negate any splashes and spills when filling the sprayer, which could become essential for some pesticides to remain approved.

Bayer and German nozzle and sprayer technology company Agrotop developed the easyFlow M and it is better suited to larger arable spraying operations than the simpler easyFlow, which is aimed at small-scale and amenity pesticide users.

A can adaptor fits to product containers with the standard 63mm opening and attaches to the easyFlow M system, which can be retrofitted directly on to a sprayer or operated remotely after coupling into the sprayer suction system and to fresh water for rinsing.

Once attached, the flow rate is easily regulated, allowing the can either to be fully emptied or part cans to be measured accurately into a built-in measuring cylinder, and then introduced into the sprayer via the suction system.

Thorough cleaning of the whole system, adaptor, can and measuring cylinder, or just the adaptor and measuring cylinder if using a part can, is possible.

Distributed through Billericay Farm Services, Bayer has 80 of the new easyFlow M systems for sprayer operators to thoroughly test on farm over the next 12 months.