South Africa beckons
JOHN Deere dealership group AFGRI Equipment Australia is heading for its other home, South Africa.
And it’s inviting customers to join an AFGRI team on a 14-day tour of the country, scheduled for August.
Torque got the heads up from Wongan Hills branch manager and group customer relations manager Brenton Read last week, while he filled in Torque with the latest “green news”.
The tour will be led by AFGRI’s commercial director Wessel Oosthuizen and marketing manager Jacques Coetzee and features a visit to AFGRI’s headquarters in Pretoria and a “technical visit” to John Deere’s headquarters in Johannesburg.
The tour party will also visit farms, several AFGRI dealerships and a tour of the Equaliser Ag factory in Cape Town, with a special focus on grain production (which should satisfy the tax man).
On days off, wildlife sanctuaries and a game reserve beckon, with an abundance of short tour choices including boat cruises and lagoon tours, para-gliding, scuba diving, golf, bungee jumping, quad biking and, of course, shopping for the ladies.
The piece de resistance, as far as Torque is concerned, is a full day touring the wine region of Stellenbosch, again with the focus firmly on grain production.
The following day, after a few farm visits, there’s a possibility of getting rid of all the dust at a local brewery.
As the tour draws to a close, it’s relaxing half day tour of Cape Town, including Table Mountain.
Tour dates are August 7 to August 20, so contact your local AFGRI dealership to book.
Butterfly mower
KRONE Australia, distributed by Kubota Australia, has announced a forward order program for hay equipment for 2018.
It includes its flagship Krone ECB 1000CR model, which is the first Krone butterfly triple combination EasyCut mower/conditioner.
The model provides a working width of 10.8 metres (35 foot), in combination with a front linkage-mounted Krone ECF360CR churning out three windrows in one pass.
It already has been put through its paces during the WA hay season, achieving a work rate of more than 100 hectares in a 12-hour shift, cutting crop with an estimated yield of five tonnes a hectare.
This compares with between 50 and 60ha achieved using a self-propelled model over the same period.
Each mower module comes standard with quick-change blades, massive spur gears for optimum driveline efficiency and a large diameter conditioning rollers.
A SafeCut protection system is a standard specification.
When a disc hits an obstacle, a tension pin breaks and the disc threads up on the threaded drive shaft to be clear of neighbouring discs to eliminate collateral damage.
Interestingly, the satellite gears are a Krone development.
Spur gears are designed with up to 66 teeth to ensure positive mesh and efficient power transmission cross the width of the mower.
Auxiliary gears drive one disc each and are therefore exposed to only minimum loading.
The EasyCut floating front mower comes with an integral spring-loaded suspension system which maintains a consistent ground pressure.
The rear-mounted wing mowers are designed with a DuoGrip system which suspends the mower in its centre of gravity and guides it on two arms to maintain a uniform ground pressure cross the entire working width.
JCB hit 10,000
JCB Construction Equipment Australia (CEA) sold its 10,000th JCB machine in Australia last month through its Victorian dealer the Michaels Group.
The milestone was celebrated with the presentation of a silver-plated JCB telehandler from JCB CEA chief executive officer Hylton Taylor, group executive chairman Philip Cardaci and general manager, (dealer network) Matt King.
The presentation was made to Brad Michaels and Terry Michaels from the Michaels Group, which is the largest JCB dealer in Australia.
JCB CEA has been selling JCB agricultural and construction equipment for almost 20 years.
There are five JCB CEA branches and 60 dealer outlets throughout Australia.
Silvan matches mowers
NOT every property owner or grounds manager has access to a large horsepower tractor, so Silvan Australia has introduced the Nobili TLP range that is specific to the popular smaller horsepower tractors.
Designed by Nobili to suit tractors with power ratings between 7-25 kilowatt (10-30 horsepower), the TLP range is available with a choice of cutting widths of 1.2, 1.35 and 1.6 metres (4 foot, 4.5ft, 5.2ft).
Each version is equipped with Y-shaped shredding blades and a low-profile body shape with a fixed tailboard that minimises the ejection of any solid materials that may lie on the grassed surface.
The cutting height is also adjustable by modifying the height of the rear roller.
Silvan Australia’s machinery specialist Gavin Wheatcroft said the three mulchers incorporate the Nobili “build quality” with the same design criteria as larger models.
“As always Nobili has responded to the market dynamics and especially the increased sales of smaller horsepower tractors with a range that is specific to their performance,” he said.
“The Nobili range will be the preferred choice for applications such as general clearing, clean-up of grassed areas and pasture topping, with a special relevance to ground managers needing to maintain large parks and park-type grassed areas.
“The benefit of mulching of course is that the mulched material is distributed evenly after cutting, unlike being windrowed with the breakdown and humus build up increasing soil fertility.”
The recommended retail prices range from $6589 to $7964.
p More information: 1300 SILVAN (1300 745 826), silvan.com.au or info@silvanaust.com