Lamma Show 2019: Components and maintenance

Designed to keep the farm workshop tidy and the welder out of the way was Grant Engineering’s welding trolley.

Featuring four roller drawers, the trolley has room on top for a large MIG welder. A bottle lifter saves back trouble manhandling gas bottles, while the overhead cable holder keeps the torch out of the dirt.

A few minor changes to the pre-production model shown are expected, with prices said to be £750 plus VAT.

Visitors to the show got to witness the launch of the world’s largest PTO-powered generator from P Cowell and Sons.

On display was the Lancashire-based company’s 160kVa generator, but the range goes all the way up to 200kVa. The company says 200-300hp is needed to power the alternator. An assemblage of parts sees an American-sourced gearbox attached to a Newage Stamford alternator.

An in-house designed speed light and siren system ensures operators hit the right revs when using the generator. The alternator carries a two year warranty and is priced from £6,000.

Available as a retro fit system, or fitted ex-factory from some manufacturers, Fogmaker is a system designed to control and extinguish engine compartment fires.

The system uses a loop placed above the engine, or any other area that is at risk of setting alight, which comprises of a plastic pipe filled with nitrogen and wrapped in a metal coil. When the pipe melts, the suppression system is mechanically activated. Water stored at 100 bar is blasted as a mist into the area, cooling, displacing oxygen and smothering the fire. A small amount of aqueous film forming foam surfactant is also included.

Prices vary depending on the size of system required, but the company says to kit a combine out, prices start at £4,000.

Cleaning equipment specialists Hugh Crane was showing a full range of its in-house built pressure washers.

The newest to its range is the Commando 350, and a smaller unit the 250. The 350 uses a Honda GX200 petrol engine, coupled to an UDOR pump, capable of pushing 15l/min at 130 bar. As standard the unit comes with a wash lance and gun, and 10 metres of pressure hose and a suction hose.

Chemical application is also possible with the unit, which retails at £1,286 plus vat.

A new system for cleaning ground mounted solar panels was being shown by German manufacturer SunBrush.

Mounted on the front linkage of a tractor, the system is available in brush lengths from two metres up to 7.5m. The company says a tractor of just 50hp is enough to handle the unit.

The rotating brush can be used with or without water, depending on the level of soiling, which is stored in a tank on the back. There is an option to heat the water. All functions are controlled by a joystick, including swinging over the brush at the end of each row. Prices start at £31,200.

Magna Tyres Group’s Obo Tyres launched a re-treading service for agricultural friction drive rubber tracks from 620-900cm wide, said to offer performance equal to a new track at half the cost.

The process grinds down the old lugs and top layer before adding new lugs and curing at the company’s Netherlands factory, and a one-year guarantee is offered for the re-treads.

A brand new agreement with Lincolnshire tracklayer importer Sly Agri, signed at Lamma, gives the company a UK distributor for the first time. Sly will also offer an exchange system for old tracks, eliminating disposal costs and reducing whole-life costs for tracklayers.

Trelleborg highlighted a number of new technologies, including TLC plus, a sensor-based app, which compares actual pressure in the tyres to optimum pressures for the tractor weight and application defined by the company’s specialists when tyres are fitted. Alerts are issued when tyres deviate from the optimum pressure, allowing timely adjustment.

Still at the prototype stage, ConnecTire is an ‘intelligent’ tyre which monitors pressure, temperature and slippage using sensors in units on the rim and inside the carcass, transmitting the data to an app via Bluetooth and wireless technology.

In-built GPS capability also identifies the position of the tractor, boosting safety and security and ConnecTire can also integrate with precision farming software to track the number of machine passes over the field allowing management of tractor movements to limit compaction.

Continental has marked its return to agricultural tyre production with new tractor and combine ranges produced at its Lousado, Portugal plant after a €50m investment.

A range of new technologies have been used, including the firm’s N-Flex carcass material which can absorb impacts and then return to its original shape, avoiding flat spots.

The TractorMaster is designed to operate at lower pressures and features the firm’s D-Fine lug which offers a 5 per cent larger lug surface plus a new bead design with a single wire said to offer more continuity of the bead than multiple wires.

Bead design on the CombineMaster is hexagonal, minimising slippage on the rim of front wheels on combines when high forces are exerted on them. Development on IF and VF technology is to result in further launches in 2019.

Bridgestone introduced the VX tractor tyre range, designed and manufactured in Europe and aimed at on-road applications such as grain carting.

However, trials have also shown improved traction in the field due to the lug design and larger footprint, says the company.

The lugs feature 20 per cent more rubber and a curved profile for improved comfort and extended wear, and the carcass is 50 per cent stronger due to the use of a six-layer tread belt.

Rated D and E for load and speed index to work at speeds up to 70kph, initial sizes released are from 380/85 R28 to 710/70 R42 with more to be added in 2019.