How to Kill Two Birds With One Stone!

Two largest Russian National Exhibitions – a specialized agricultural trade show “Agricultural Machinery and Equipment” and “Agrochemical Field Day” – have merged this year in the Tyumen oblast.

According to the farmers, the combination of the two exhibition sites kills two birds with one stone, since it saves your time in the season and gives you an opportunity to see everything at once at the same one place. The Tyumen branch of AgroCenterZakharovo exhibited 15 machines for various field operations.

The Challenger Spra-Coupe 4660 self-propelled sprayer with the working width of 24,4 m is one of the most popular machines in the Tyumen oblast. ‘This machine is the most productive of all the sprayers with the same working width’, says Artem Ozhogin, the Executive Director of the Tyumen branch of AgroCenterZakharovo. ‘The operating speed of the majority of the self-propelled and large trailed sprayers is 10-12 km/h. Therefore, during the day you can cover approximately 100 hectares. Challenger Spra-Coupe sprayers operate with the speed of 20-25 km/h due to the relatively insignificant weight and an excellent independent suspension of the front and back axle. The sprayers cover twice the areas worked by conventional sprayers. The machine showed itself very well at the medium-size enterprises’.

Combination of the powerful Caterpillar engine with the mechanical drive with a self-shifting gearbox significantly reduces fuel consumption.

Another top-liner of the Tyumen exhibition was the Rapid RDC S 400C mechanical seed drill produced by Vaderstad. Both the four-meter machine and the Spra-Coupe sprayer will do well at the medium-size enterprises. The Tyumen farmers are well acquainted with this seed drill thanks to the series of spring demonstrations of the equipment.

‘AgroCenterZakharovo enabled us to test the Rapid seed drill’, says Vladimir Kuchugurov, the Head of SPK Skorodum (Agricultural Consumer Co-operative), part of the OAO “Tyumen Meat Company” (Open Joint-stock Company). We were impressed by the uniformity of the young crops that emerged on the tenth day. We planted mixed cereal grasses for cattle and wheat. We sowed 250 hectares in total, 230 of which – on crop residue at the speed of 16 km/h! That was perfect! The JCB 531-70 telescopic loader as always caught the attendees’ interest. These machines impress the farmers with their loading capacity every year. They show the record carrying capacity. For instance, the exhibited JCB 531-70 loader is capable of lifting more than three tons to a height of seven meters. The farmers noted that the unique features of the product: the all-wheels, front-wheels and crab steering looked like figure skating.

The attendees asked the specialists of AgroCenterZakharovo a lot of questions regarding Challenger Sunflower CH 1845 disk harrow with the working width of 8,8 m. Obviously, the farmers are preparing for the autumn.

‘This machine is capable of working the soil at the depth of 22 cm’, says Artem Ozhogin. ‘This is a good choice for the farmers who do conventional tillage, those who deal with minimum tillage, and those who chose something in-between these two technologies.

It is fair enough that Fendt 933 Vario (330 hp) tractors sparked the biggest interest of the Tyumen farmers. The machine combines almost incompatible characteristics: the unsurpassed drawbar capacity and cost effectiveness.

‘The secret lies in the unique stepless transmission, which turns the huge engine power into the drawbar power’, says Aleksander Ermakov, Sales Manager of the Tyumen branch of AgroCenterZakharovo. ‘Fendt transmission has only four pairs of gearwheels. This allows the machine to develop speed up to 60 km/hour steplessly. It ensures high efficiency of transmission for the field and transportation operations’.

The efficient six-cylinder engine (operating volume of 7, 8 l) with an accumulative fuel injection system (under the pressure of 200 bar) creates an unprecedented drawbar power. The twin turbo creates perfect dynamics and so reduces fuel consumption. This effective engine allows to reduce the rpm rates to 2100 rpm, thus significantly saving fuel.

Another advantage of these machines is the exceptional operator comfort. The machine is equipped with a spacious cab, LED headlamps with the light beam adjustment function, climate-control, a comfortable seat, complete with an air suspension, a belt supporter and a dynamic shock-absorber, as well as a convenient ergonomic control panel on the right armrest. These are just some of the features that Fendt has in store for the operators!