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August 2009 Archive for Machinery Journal

RSS By: Margy Fischer, MyMachinery.com

The Machinery Journal blog is your place to find the latest machinery updates, industry news, and interesting tid bits.

Coffee Shop Talk Turns Into Tractor Summit

Aug 27, 2009

This past weekend more than 250 farmers gathered in North Dakota for a reunion of sorts. For a couple of days, the farm of Mike and Jesse Arth hosted 58 Versatile tractors. There was a tractor from every series built by Versatile.

The event traces back to a spring time coffee shop chat when a group of farmers realized they all had several models of Versatile tractors among them. The expectation was for maybe 40 tractors to be at the event, but that grew by nearly 50% when the day came.

Hosts Jesse and Kelly Arth with their three Versatile tractors.

According to Jesse, the event began with coffee shop conversation, and five farmers realized they owned 11 Versatiles among them.

This G100 is serial number 20 of the first series built by the company. Dismounting the tractor is owner and restorer Chad Hegseth.

*Photos by Les Kletke

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Seven Acre Per Minute Harvest

Aug 21, 2009

On Aug. 15, it took three hours to get 175 combines in place across a single field to asset a new Guinness World Record. The official record is for the most combine harvesters working simultaneously in a single field.

Fifteen minutes after the assembled machines started, 100 acres of wheat had been harvested. That equalled out to be the once-in-a-lifetime work rate of seven acres per minute.

Organized by Combines 4 Charity, the event included late model machines as well as vintage harvesters. Each combine entry donated $1,400+. With additional money contributed from the 8,000 spectators the event raised $429,120 for four charities.

The previous record was set in Australia with 57 harvesting machines.

AGCO’s Tractor Revolution

Aug 18, 2009

AGCO wants you to drive one of their new tractors. That’s why at this year’s Farm Progress Show and Husker Harvest Days, you won’t see the same AGCO lot. In fact you may see something that looks more like a rodeo.

The “Experience a Tractor Revolution” road show will be at the events.

There will be:

interactive displays
daily live tractor demonstrations
presentations on new technologies
just-for-fun activities

At the focal point will be the new high horsepower tractors from AGCO, Challenger and Massey Ferguson. New harvesting, hay, tillage and application equipment also will debut at the shows.

For more, click here.

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Catch Claas in the Field

Aug 17, 2009

Claas invites you to see their machines perform in the field at this year's fall farm shows. A Claas product specialist will be on-site to answer any questions you may have.

Here's their schedule:

Claas Field Demos:
Penn Ag Progress
(Aug. 18-20)

Lexion Field Demos:
Farm Progress Show
(Sept. 1-3)

Claas and Lexion Field Demos:

Husker Harvest Days
(Sept. 15-17)

Sunbelt Ag Expo
(Oct. 20-22)

For more information, visit the Claas of North America homepage.

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Where the Wind Blows

Aug 12, 2009

This past Friday I was supposed to be a passenger in a hot air balloon ride that was to take off from the fairgrounds right next to the main stage during the fair. Sounds great, right? Well, the wind put a stop to our plans.

When the test balloon, which is an oversized helium party balloon, was sent up and went topsy turvy all the way in its ascension, our trip was cancelled.

You learn something new every day. The winds shouldn’t be above 8 mph for a balloon ride.

This experience reminded me of an e-mail sent by a friend a few weeks ago. Makes you appreciate the power of the wind to see what a wind storm did to this rural landscape.

Reportedly, the pictures are from the Medicine Hat area of Alberta Canada. The bales weighed up to 1,600 lb., and some were reported to have rolled up to 5 miles.

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Vermeer Enters Cob Harvest Market First

Aug 10, 2009

The Vermeer CCX770 is the first commercially available corncob harvesting machine.

Farm Journal first reported on this machine this past December. Click here for “Catch Those Cobs.”

The development of corn cob harvesting systems has been fueled by the future of using corn cobs as cellulosic feedstock for ethanol production, as with Poet and their Project Liberty in Emmetsburg, Iowa.

Vermeer sees corn cobs usefulness beyond a single purpose.

Corn cobs can generate income through:

Cellulosic ethanol production
Livestock feed supplement for mixed rations
Livestock and pet animal bedding
Blending cobs with coal to co-generate electricity
Gasification to create several types of energy for industrial processes
Industrial applications including construction materials, abrasives and absorbents

Vermeer has a dozen of their cob harvesters spread across the country and these income-generating markets. Customers in Ohio, Minnesota, Texas and Nebraska will take the machines to the field.

Their design features a self-contained pull-type cart that can be towed behind certain combine models, which doesn’t require any modification to the combine’s hydraulic systems or hydraulic drive.

For more, click here.

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