Exhibitors and visitors were in buoyant mood as the gates opened to a ‘normal’ Royal Highland Show once more.

While the machinery lines were entertained by the stirring sounds of a junior pipes and drums marching band, we unearthed new kit for stockmen and growers alike.

See also: Contractor invests in Zurn Top Cut Collect blackgrass harvester

Easier set-up for Portequip creep feeder

Setting up the Portequip calf creep feeder has been transformed from a two-person job to a single-handed operation with the latest version revealed at the show.

“With our original design, hooking and unhooking and positioning the cow barriers is a bit awkward and needs two people,” acknowledged Niall Johnstone of Portequip.

“A customer asked for a better solution and we’ve come up with a design that uses a hydraulic cylinder front and back to lift the load off transport securing pins, and once they’ve been removed, the barriers are pulled out on rails on both sides.”

The new setup has also allowed the feeder to be extended by 61cm to 3m to accommodate wider telehandler and tractor loader buckets without spillage, with creep capacity now 1.5t to 2t roughly, depending upon the feed involved.

Price is £5,500.

Big-capacity refuelling bowser from Cross

Cross Agricultural Engineering had contractors needing to refuel a fleet of tractors and forage machinery away from home in mind when it came up with its latest tank-within-a-tank bunded diesel bowser.

With capacity for 9,000 litres of fuel and 1,000 litres of AdBlue emissions control fluid, the Cross Super-Bowser has rear steps and a full-length gantry for access, and a large storage cabinet on the offside for spill control materials, tools and equipment.

The nearside cabinet houses an electric-start Yanmar diesel-powered fuel pump with filter and Piusi flow meter, while an electric pump dispenses the AdBlue.

Sprung self-return hose reels are fitted, with the AdBlue one made from stainless steel to resist corrosion.

Steel mudguards over BKT Ride Max FL 693 M radial tyres (size 580/65 R22.5) as well as air brakes are part of the running gear package.

Factory investment spawns new Redrock trailers

A new factory providing increased manufacturing capacity has enabled Redrock Engineering to start expanding its trailer range with a selection of half-pipe dump trailers.

Unlike the existing heavy-duty range with a kick-up rear end and swinging tailgate, the new models have a conventional level floor layout and a lift-up door with one-metre clearance.

Frank Flynn, managing director, explained that the profiled body, which sits on a box-section chassis, can be built in 8mm mild steel or more abrasion-resistant Hardox steel, with optional rear crash bar and side-mounted safety deflection panels available.

Running gear comprises ADR commercial axles, each with single-leaf parabolic spring suspension, mounted on a rocking beam assembly, hydraulic and air brakes, and tyres such as the Alliance 882 Agri Transport 560/60 R22.5 steel-belted radial fitted to the show trailer.

Prices start at £25,000 for the 16T and £30,000 for the 20T exhibited; and there is an 18T version between them.

Novel fire extinguishers cut costs

Oxfordshire’s Cherry Products is best known for its loader attachments and tractor tool/ballast boxes, but the company is now supplying a new line of high-performance fire extinguishers from its manufacturing partner.

With containers made from Kevlar with a UV protective coating, the lack of corrosion risk means annual inspections can be made by anyone considered competent to check that the discharge tab is intact, the use instructions are readable and the pressure gauge works.

The contents produce a high-density foam that in official tests provides considerably more fire-fighting capacity than a standard foam extinguisher of the same size, and it can be used on all types of fire.

Ian Fenton of Cherry Products said: “On average, our customers benefit from a 48% cost-saving over 10 years by no longer needing official inspections or multiple extinguishers of different types.”

The P50 extinguishers are also lighter size-for-size and discharge reliably, he maintains, as he warned growers preparing for the grain harvest that powder extinguishers carried on combines because of electrical systems often do not work when needed.

“Vibrations settle and compact the powder; you pull the trigger and it just goes ‘phut’ in the critical first moments of a fire.”

Prices are £75-£190 for the 2- to 9-litre sizes.

Hustler turns to spraying for new product range

While best known for its bale dispensing machines, New Zealand company Hustler has returned to its roots by developing tractor-mounted crop sprayers.

The original models were for orchard spraying; the new ones are aimed at operators who want a relatively simple general-purpose sprayer with a decent specification, says Mike Gibbs, business development manager.

The compact design of the 1,150-litre model includes an integrated swing-out induction hopper, hand wash and rinsing water containers, a small storage compartment and a deep sump for maximum extraction.

A 12m galvanised hydraulically folded boom can be installed with optional pendulum suspension and hydraulic lift, and stainless steel spraylines come with a choice of nozzle tips and either manual or electric control valves.

Prices for the full-spec Hustler LX1150 Contractor shown start at £14,650, with the Farmer model £11,464.

Farm tracks graded and filled

Wood chips were used for demonstration purposes – although one producer said he used them for cow tracks – but normally the Twin Track grader would be filled with road planings before setting off to rejuvenate farm roads.

Overall working width is adjustable using turnbuckles on the telescopic frame and it can be set up to grade and level off across the full width with a crown or flat top, or leaving a grassed centre section intact – hence the Twin Track title.

Built by RDS Engineering in Yorkshire for Jacobsens-GFM, it sells for £4,570 nett, says Symon Jacobsen.

Foster implements now made by Cherry

The Royal Highland Show marked the first outing for selected Foster implements now manufactured by Cherry Products – bale grabs, pasture toppers and scrub slashers at first, with linkage boxes likely to follow.

Graham Cherry explained: “They neatly complement our own range and, in addition to the rights, jigs, drawings and other manufacturing essentials, we attracted a key Foster product engineer to ensure we build them properly.”

Adam Drewery of Foster is now handling sales of all Cherry products throughout the North, and parts for other products, such as Foster forage boxes, are available.

Zero-exposure sprayer filling

The Vegcraft ProFill sprayer filling station from McDonald Agriculture will soon be available with Pentair Hypro’s Cleanload Nexus closed chemical transfer coupler.

It is designed for the new industry-standard Easyconnect chemical container cap, which has an integrated plug rather than a foil seal and does not have to be removed except when the container is emptied into a conventional induction hopper.

Once grasped by the coupler, a vertical probe displaces the outlet, allowing the contents to be emptied fully or in measured quantities; and when withdrawn, the plug reseals the outlet.

Empty containers are rinsed while still in place on the coupler before being released for disposal.

“It’s an ideal addition to our ProFill unit, which provides an all-in-one solution to chemical induction, and thorough container rinsing and draining,” says Adam McDonald.

“We produce them in different sizes for static use in the yard or mounted on a bowser, either in the cabinet or with our latest version, mounted to one side and raised and lowered hydraulically for an ideal working height.”

The static four-nozzle three-phase electric pump model on show is priced at £5,400, with the Nexus unit thought likely to be about £3,000 for exposure-free chemical transfer.

Consistent figures from new lamb weigher

IAE’s latest lamb-weighing crate has a 300kg LCD scale weighing animals on two pivot arms for accuracy regardless of where they stand, and smooth-operating twin entry and exit gates locked and opened simply using a novel pivoting handle design.

Welded lugs enable it to be slotted into a race, and while a locking-off mechanism is optional, wheels and handles are standard.

An entry-level EID-compatible version is also available.

Pivoting crate gets sheep off their feet

A finely balanced sheep turner for routine welfare management is designed for simplicity and minimal effort on the part of both animal and operator.

“It is intended mainly for foot-trimming and crutching,” says Thomas Smyth of Smyth Agri, Randalstown.

“Animals are easily tipped on their side with the head supported and neck held firmly to discourage struggling, and their feet presented just above knee height for ease of trimming and treatment, as necessary.”

It is designed for animals weighing 30-150kg, clipped or unshorn, and the restraining frame and neck restraint are held in position by infinitely variable latching mechanisms (like the one on a caulking gun for silicone sealant) that automatically grip and are easily released.

On the yard version priced at £1,000, the stabiliser legs double as handles when inserted into the end of the galvanised frame to trundle the device about on built-in wheels.

There is also an ATV-towed version with flotation tyres and a drawbar at £1,400.

More seeding options for Erth direct drill

A secondary hopper for placing slug pellets, microgranules or different seeds is a new development for the Erth Agriseeder exhibited by Dales Agri Sales, designed mainly for direct-drilling grass seed and, increasingly, ground cover crops.

The 3m rigid and 4m folding drills have two rows of serrated discs with seed boots alongside fed from a main hopper mounted centrally on the frame, with a fold-down side-mounted ladder giving on to an access platform.

Discs are mounted in pairs on trailing arms with rubber clamp inserts allowing a degree of movement and deflection from stones and the like – so far, so familiar.

But the frame on which the discs are mounted is arranged in segments, each carrying two pairs of discs front and rear (so eight in total), and able to move independently of one another. 

“When sowing small seeds, the last thing you want is to go too deep,” says David McCoubrey of Erth Engineering.

“Our segmented frame design allows for movement over undulations to achieve consistent sowing depths, with connected hydraulic cylinders maintaining consistent coulter pressure.”

Mr McCoubrey is also working on ideas for auto depth control to counter the effect of moving from areas of harder to softer soils, and vice versa, as well as the secondary hopper.

This will cater for slug pellets, which tend to separate amongst small prilled seeds, he says, and for different combinations such as peas and clover.

There will be options to place the second commodity down the seed spout or to broadcast it from splash plates.

Compact loader makes its debut

It was a first-time show outing for the Bobcat L85 compact wheeled loader exhibited by Inverurie-based dealer Balgownie.

The 5t machine rated at 800kg bucket capacity marks Bobcat’s entry into the compact loader market and is powered by a 2.4-litre Doosan engine developing 68hp.

Two-speed hydrostatic drive gets the machine nipping around farm yards and along local roads at up to 30kph, and there is a setting for pedal-regulated ground speed and dial-controlled engine revs for operating equipment such as sweepers and feeders.

A two-way adjustable steering wheel and fore-aft adjustable seat-mounted joystick helps operators sit comfortably, and the 5in dial and button-navigated instrument display switches to camera view when reversing.

Up front, the centrally mounted Z-linkage eats into forwards visibility, which is otherwise good all round from the sizeable cab, with the arms delivering a bucket load-over height of 2.5m.

Prices are volatile just now, but Balgownie director David Moir said £58,000 was a likely ballpark figure.