Pöttinger has launched a new generation of rear mounted combination mowers, the NovaCat X8, with a number of variations.  Aimed firmly at large farmers and contractors the NovaCat X8 is designed to handle the demands of large scale mowing and in conjunction with a 3m front unit offers a working width of 8.3m and front mower overlap each side of 410mm helping to eliminate striping when turning.

Full mower protection is provided by an accumulator cushioned hydraulic breakaway system allowing each mower to pivot backwards in the event of a collision, resetting itself automatically once past the obstacle.

Purchasers can chose to configure a NovaCat X8 with either mechanical spring or infinitely adjustable hydraulic mower suspension, the latter coming as standard with Isobus compatible controls for full tractor machine integration. This option also includes hydraulic folding of safety guards for road transport allowing the operator remain in the cab, whilst preparing for the transport.

The Institution of Agricultural Engineers’ (IAgrE) campaign to increase student membership, which began in 2001, has recruited over 2400 students with  just over ten per cent  retaining membership once they have completed their studies – for most other institutions it is an average of three per cent.

“For the Institution to continue to prosper we need the support, ideas and creativity of younger students and engineers during their early years.  We want to be the natural choice for students engaged in agricultural engineering, providing links to appropriate levels of expertise,” said IAgrE Chief Executive Chris Whetnall.

Membership for students is free, subsidised by the Douglas Bomford Trust.  IAgrE visits colleges and universities regularly to strengthen links with them and to date 17 colleges are academic members with IAgrE supporting events and open days.  To encourage raising the professional status of agricultural engineering IAgrE is also working

towards attracting more lecturers and college principals to join and to encourage more colleges to become supporters of IAgrE membership.

All Massey Ferguson 1500 Series compact tractors now come as standard with an extended warranty spanning two years, or 1200 operating hours, whichever occurs first.

Offered to customers as part of Massey Ferguson’s after-sales Manager package, the extended warranty covers all of the tractor’s major mechanical components against failure or breakdown.

To satisfy the extended warranty’s conditions, customers must have their MF 1500 Series tractor serviced by a Massey Ferguson dealer in accordance with the specified maintenance schedule for the tractor. The MF 1500 Series range encompasses tractors from 19.5hp to 46hp.

Amazone has developed the Catros+ compact disc harrow for fast, shallow and intensive tillage. Oversized 510 mm diameter serrated discs make the Catros+, available in working widths of 3.0 and 3.5 m, well suited to incorporating huge amounts of straw. The Catros+ is also said to be ideal for the working in maize straw and stubbles, for ploughing up grassland and for fallow field rejuvenation.

The short and compact design of the Catros+ reduces pulling power requirement and is equipped as standard with an integrated stone safety device and maintenance-free disc bearings with integrated slide ring seals. The individual elastic suspension via rubber spring elements helps the implement to follow ground undulations.

It can also be combined with various following rollers, such as a tooth packer or tandem cage roller, with the optimum choice for most conditions being the wedge ring roller. This roller levels the soil surface, reconsolidating it in strips, resulting in a good soil contact within the strips, said to be ideal for germination. Via the remaining, unconsolidated areas water can still soak away into the soil to reduce the risk of capping.

John Deere celebrates half a century of tractor production in Manhheim this year. The new John Deere Lanz 28hp 300 and 36hp 500 tractor models launched in Apil 1960 not only ended the era of the technically outdated Lanz Bulldog, but also marked the start of a new approach to the requirements of European customers.

Since April 1960, the John Deere Werke Mannheim (JDWM) factory has assembled over 1,335 million machines, including several thousand wheel and crawler loaders up to 1983. Starting at just over 5000 units per annum in the early 1960s, and driven by a high demand for mechanisation in agriculture, production at Mannheim rapidly increased to a peak of 41,000 units in 1977. Following changes in European and worldwide agricultural markets, tractor production at Mannheim decreased in the 1980s and the early 1990s, to bottom out at 21,200 units in 1993. New product designs, the opening up of central and eastern European markets and increased overall demand worldwide led Mannheim’s production to recover to reach an all-time high of 45,700 tractors in 2008.