Latest machines all set to strut their stuff

With familiar events now returning to the live calendar, this month will see producers and contractors heading to Dumfries for the ScotGrass event to catch up with the latest in grass management and harvesting.

Static exhibits offer plenty of expertise on bagging chopped silage, wrapping silage bales, establishing or rejuvenating grass leys and applying nutrients in slurry, with event host SRUC covering a number of grassland and livestockrelated topics.

Several Scottish farm machinery dealers are also in this area, including Cam Engineering (Valtra, Krone), Carrs Billington (Massey Ferguson), Cornthwaite (John Deere), Davidson Tractors (Case IH, McHale), Gordons (Claas) and R C Dalgliesh (Case IH, Kverneland, McHale), plus distributor AgriArgo with the McCormick range.

The draw of powerful engines will surely be irresistible once the wellrehearsed demo teams on the working plots get their tractors fired up.

All the leading grass equipment makes are represented, with a full house of the self-propelled forage harvesters from Claas, Deere, Fendt, Krone and New Holland heading the spectacle.

Mowers begin the harvesting process, of course, and Tanco is expected to show its novel Autocut mowerconditioners for the first time, designed to deliver triple-mower capacity but using a smaller, less fuelthirsty tractor. The 8.9m and 9.8m outfits support the two rear decks on the tractor linkage and a pair of wheels – this stable platform helps flotation characteristics that reduce power demand.

High capacity tedding to encourage a rapid wilt under (hopefully) blue skies is the role of Kverneland’s widest model being introduced at the event, with its 14 rotors whipping up grass across 15.6m of working width.

New Holland will unveil the Pro-Belt heavy-duty variable diameter round baler engineered for high usage farmers and contractors.

The all-new model is said to achieve up to 8% greater bale density than current models and up to 20% increased capacity of up to 30 tonnes per hour.

A divided driveline to distribute stresses is among the build features, and isobus control through an in-tractor terminal should make the belt rolling machine easy to operate.

The sole roller-type round baler in Kubota’s range – the BF3500 – will also be at ScotGrass for the first time, this machine sporting 18 steel rolls to form the grass tumbling and compressing chamber.

A 15-knife SuperCut crop slicing system can be deployed together with a larger diameter intake rotor to help cram in more material, while an improved anti-blockage drop-floor mechanism with parallel action for added clearance helps keep incoming material on the move.

Once transported to the clamp by a fleet of assorted tractors and trailers, the chopped grass will be pushed up by Merlo telehandlers, and Claas and JCB wheeled loaders, with JCB’s rangetopping TM420S teleloader making its public working debut.

A 173hp engine, dual pump hydraulics and unique eight-speed transmission with directdrive torque converter lock-up is reckoned to give this new machine plenty of capacity while working at a relaxed, less fuel-supping pace.

● ScotGrass 2022 takes place on Wednesday May 18, 9am to 4pm, at SRUC Crichton Royal, Dumfries.

DRAWING A CROWD: Grass management and harvesting equipment will be back in action at ScotGrass on May 18 at SRUC Crichton Royal, Dumfries.