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Know How / Machinery maintenance

Advice on keeping your farm machinery in good working order, from tractors, to combines to tyres and trailer brakes. Get tips on pre-harvest combine and forager checks, see guides on tractor maintenance, such as checking tyre pressures and find out how other farmers have fitted retrofit options.

Advice and tips

CULTIVATORS

Tips for picking the best cultivator wearing metal

Replacing cultivator legs, wings and points can be a depressingly regular and ruinously expensive pastime for those working in the nation’s most abrasive soils. But instead of hunting around for…

TRACTORS

Worn-out tractor seats: How to refurbish or replace them

Thousands of hours subjected to bouncing backsides, grubby overalls and flatulence can take its toll on a tractor seat. But considering it’s such a crucial contributor to driver comfort, this…

MACHINERY MAINTENANCE

How to get the best from a McConnel hedgecutter

Since the launch of its first Power Arm trimmer in the early 1950s, McConnel has been a dominant force in the world of flail hedgecutting. From a starting point of…

TRACTORS

22-year-old Fendt Favorit 515C gets £15k revamp

The allure of a new, top-spec tractor might win over many farmers and contractors, but Matthew Barnett has considerably more time for older machines with a proven track record. He…

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Case studies

MAIZE DRILLS

Drill rebuild provides isobus-ready Vaderstad for sub-£10k

With new machinery costs soaring, Dorset mixed farmer Jamie Hawkins decided to give his ageing 3m Vaderstad 30 mounted drill a major spruce up. As well as replacing the soil…

MACHINERY MAINTENANCE

Hydrogen-based cleaning kits get old engines running smoothly

A system for clearing carbon deposits from coked-up engines is now being offered by a Warwickshire firm as an on-farm service. Hydrogen cleaning has been used in the automotive industry…

MACHINERY MAINTENANCE

How to pick the best cultivator wearing metal

Soil-engaging parts are one of those boringly inevitable expenses when running a cultivator or drill. But while many shop around for the cheapest lumps of metal to haul through the…

MACHINERY

Video: Custom Ford 7700 gets V8 muscle injection

If the burble of a throaty V8 engine puts a smile on your face, Luke Furse’s modified Ford 7700 will have you grinning from ear to ear. Twin gleaming stainless…

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Insights

MACHINERY MAINTENANCE

Keenan mixer wagon renovator offers repair tips

The daily chore of chomping through tonnes of abrasive feedstuffs mean a mixer wagon’s innards only have a limited lifespan. Added to that, the tight environments in which they work…

TOOLS

Safest options for changing wheels and jacking machinery

Perching bottle jacks on timber blocks or using loader pallet tines to lift farm machinery ready for wheel removal may have been the standard practice of yesteryear, but today’s heavy…

MACHINERY MAINTENANCE

Red diesel: The problems uncovered

Last autumn, reports of blocked fuel filters came flooding in from parts of the UK, with the finger being pointed at the increasing content of biodiesel being blended into red…

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News

CULTIVATORS

Agricast extends range of tough tungsten carbide points

Wearing parts specialist Agricast has extended its range of cultivator-specific tungsten carbide points to another four implements, and also expanded the choice of universal soil-engaging parts available. Like the company’s…

MACHINERY MAINTENANCE

Multi-brand tyre app offers load, speed and inflation advice

Making the contents of bulky farm tyre technical data books available on a mobile device app has made it much easier for farmers to get guidance on inflation pressures for…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Corteva to issue new advice on best practice with Univoq

Corteva Agriscience is set to issue new advice to wheat growers, having completed a six-month investigation into problems associated with its Inatreq-based fungicide Univoq. Some growers experienced issues with sprayer…

MACHINERY MAINTENANCE

Farmers report more problems with blocked tractor fuel filters

Urgent action must be taken to resolve ongoing problems with blocked fuel filters in tractors and other farm machinery, NFU Scotland says. The union has reported that once again farmers…

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Video

COMBINES

Video: Orkney contractor converts his combine to tracks

Farming on the Orkney archipelago in the north of Scotland throws up challenges unlike anything on mainland Britain. The biggest of those is the weather – the Gulf Stream brings…

MACHINERY

How to service a Honda ATV

General Fluids & filters Engine Transmission Brakes & Tyres Suspension They're one of the most used pieces of kit on any livestock farm, but when was the last time you…

MACHINERY

Video: How to get the best from your sprayer

James Stafford Top 10 tips Videos Sprayers are one of those bits of kit that need a good dollop of TLC to keep them running at their best. We talked…

MACHINERY

Video: Getting the best from a Horsch Pronto

  Our series which sets out to advise users on how to get the best from their machinery continues with a look at the Horsch Pronto drill – a Pronto…

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