Torque Talk

Range Rover pulling a silage trailer...

2011-08-30T11:59:32Z

A link to this was on our forums (www.fwi.co.uk/fwispace)

What have you pulled behind your 4x4?

Send us your vintage kit videos

2011-08-18T07:26:57Z

We're on the look out for videos of old combines, tractors, balers, wheelbarrows - anything that you've got footage of working.

Also - any pictures would be great too - add them to our Harvest Highlights gallery here.

Aidan Robb made this video of a rare 1961 McCormick International F8-63 in County Donegal, Ireland.

The family bought it as a wreck about a decade ago - since which time they've "brought her back to life".

The machine's pictured with a Case Axial Flow 2188, the combines working in tandem to cut the last of the winter barley.

Robotic grain carting a reality

2011-07-31T18:21:25Z

As hundreds, if not thousands of tractors are ferrying grain from the fields, US company Kinze Manufacturing has trialled a driveless tractor and grain cast for precise and efficient unloading.

Here's a quote from US magazine Farm Industry News:

"The equipment is driven to a field and then allowed to operate robotically. An operator in another vehicle can give commands to the equipment. For example, a combine operator tells the grain cart to come to the combine for loading grain. The cart and tractor pull in parallel to the combine and maintain that position as grain is unloaded into it on-the-go. When the combine is empty, the operator tells the tractor and cart to return to a predetermined location until the combine needs to unload again."

It's been developed with Jaybridge Robotics and has been tested for the last couple of years - although it's not available to buy just yet.

Jogle 'dozen' raise £24,000 for charity

2011-07-04T10:48:32Z

The thought of even cycling to the local shop to get my latest Farmers Weekly (or indeed Classic Tractor) fills me with trepidation. But one team of cyclists have pedalled 870 miles all the way from John O-Groats to Land's End and raised nearly £24,000, and all in just 11 days.

The team was made up of 11 cyclists who work for Claas dealerships Mill Engineers and Vaughan Agri, plus one farmer who stepped in after a last minute injury.

The aim of founding members, Nick Evans and Steve Blackwell, was to raise a total of £20,000 for two main causes - Cancer Research and the five Air Ambulance services covering the area the dealerships are in. Teams also raised money for local charities, like Stan Wyatt who raised £4,000 for the Dorset County Hospital Trust.

Above: Simon Viner (R G Spackman) with Richard Charman, Steve Blackwell, Nick Evans, and Steve McCahill (Mill Engineers Bibury); plus George Dyke, Andy Cubley and Richard Hutchinson (Mill Engineers Pewsey); Stan Wyatt and Tweka Yeatman (Vaughan Agri Dorchester) and Martin Hume and Allistair Tustin (Mill Engineers Harvington).

Munster-bound in a BMW 1 Series...

2011-06-06T20:56:32Z

Now I know everyone's going to think I've wangled a cushty number here... But I promise I booked a VW Fox hire car - not this bling white BMW to hoon up the autobahn in.
On checking in at the Hertz desk, I asked to rent a satnav, as I had no idea how to get from Dusseldorf to Munster (excuse the lack of umlaut - can't find it on my iPhone!). It turned out that hiring a satnav costs €8/day and a BMW with integrated satnav costs €12/day extra as there aren't a lot of cars out. It would have been rude not to wouldn't it?!
Oh, and work-wise - I'm out here testing kit with our European partners; Top Agrar, La France Agricole and Boerderij. Will keep you updated throughout the week!

Munster-bound in a BMW 1 Series...

2011-06-06T20:54:31Z

All set for a dusty Grassland and Muck!

2011-05-18T07:11:44Z

So, we're here at Grassland in our posh stand, and all the kit is raring to go...

This Krone's line-up - ready for Bernard Krone to come and start the display this morning (Wednesday). Farm Contractor of the Year, Harry Wilson will take delivery of a new Big X 700.

The first AMR (automatic milking rotary) farm in Sweden

2011-05-11T09:27:41Z

Delaval has let press onto one of it's customers test farm for the first time.
Here's a sneak peak:
There are two preparation robots that wash the teats, two that put the the clusters on and one that cleans the teats after the clusters have been removed.
The 450 herd being milked is Swedish Reds.

Hard life for a pickup

2011-05-05T14:24:44Z

Amazing what people will do to get a bit of PR... VW decided to test its new Amarok by - what else? - using it to demolish a 67 m high steel chimney weighing approximately 140 tonnes and standing at nearly the same height as Westminster Abbey.

The chimney would normally have been demolished using a 40 tonne excavator, but demolition experts EDS thought they'd have a go with the Volkswagen Amarok.

The structure was prepared using the standard procedure for any 'pull-down' demolition, ie flame cutting a 'shark's mouth' into the base of the chimney to reduce its structural integrity but still leave it standing.

Four 200m lengths of rope were rigged to the top of the chimney and attached to the towbars of four standard Amarok pick-ups, each with Volkswagen's latest four-cylinder, 2.0-litre TDI engine producing 163 PS of power.

The ropes were fitted with a quick-release safely mechanism to give the stunt drivers a chance of getting out of the way if the structure fell in the wrong direction.

But (you guessed it) the pick-ups smoothly brought the chimney crashing to the ground as part of the planned site demolition project in Reading, Berkshire.

All shook up in Elvis's tractor...

2011-04-28T14:00:56Z

John Deere has recently brought out a commemorative model of the 4010-Series tractor that Elvis Presley initially drove at his ranch in Mississippi, before it went on to maintain the grounds at Graceland.

It got us thinking of other famous people who've had tractors. Winston Churchill? Prince Charles?

If you can think of any, post a comment and we can follow it up and see if we can get some pictures...

Driverless tractor goes on the rampage...

2011-04-11T12:53:16Z

When guidance goes wrong... this driverless John Deere (can't quite work out which model) went on the loose, running rampant in a Walmart parking lot in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada.

No-one knows much about the story - but goodness know why it took so long for someone to jump on and grab the key!

If anyone knows anymore about this - let us know by commenting or emailing: emily.padfield@rbi.co.uk

Speed ploughing - not an April Fool!

2011-04-01T12:28:18Z

This is possibly the most fun way of getting your soil turned over, and it takes minutes - not hours! I'm not sure about the breakages though (tractor or limbs!).

Looking at the black smoke pouring out of these super-tuned Fords - it's no wonder manufacturers are falling themselves to come up with cleaner engines.

Conceived by farmers in Laholm, Sweden, it's typically Scandinavian...

Speed ploughing - no it's no April Fool!

2011-04-01T12:28:18Z

This is possibly the most fun way of getting your soil turned over, and it takes minutes - not hours! I'm not sure about the breakages though (tractor or limbs!).

Looking at the black smoke pouring out of these super-tuned Fords - it's no wonder manufacturers are falling themselves to come up with cleaner engines.

Conceived by farmers in Laholm, Sweden, it's typically Scandinavian...

Paint-on solar panels?

2011-03-30T13:29:03Z

This was uploaded to YouTube in 2007. Why hasn't it caused a revolution in the PV industry - and how far have the scientists got in developing it now?

Ted Sargent is a pioneer in the field of solar science and has been working on this paint-on technology for years. He believes it to be far cheaper than conventional panels, as well as being able to convert infrared (i.e. the light we can't see) into usable energy rather than just the rays the human eye can see.

Interestingly, quite a few of the comments centre around how this technology is perfectly feasible and available, yet is being stifled by those protecting the energy industry (haven't we heard these conspiracy theories before?). It does make you think...

Do you know anything about it? Contact me by leaving a comment or direct messaging @emilyfarmers on Twitter

Do you know anything about this?

2011-03-29T08:30:05Z

Cornish farmer and steam engine enthusiast John Sawle is researching the fate of two Foden steam tractors (above) that were exported to Buenos Aires in 1931.

They were apparently the last attempt to market steam agricultural tractors and were the world's most powerful tractors at that time - 80hp continuous, 120hp on starting from rest.

If you have any connections with the Argentinean farm machinery industry (or just happen to be very knowledgeable about Foden tractors) and can help, please email John at melbrown01@btinternet.com