RURAL NEWS // DECEMBER 1, 2020
28 MACHINERY & PRODUCTS
Get in early or miss the boat! MARK DANIEL markd@ruralnews.co.nz
WITH A second wave of Covid-19 bringing Europe to a dramatic slowdown, as more severe lockdowns are imposed, reports suggest that product and parts supplies for the Australasian markets are likely to come under pressure. It is likely to become a greater problem as we move into the second part of 2021. This is due to our growing season being the reverse of the Northern Hemisphere and falls at a time when there are annual factory summer shutdowns.
While production is continuing, with most manufacturers implementing lessons learned during “Lockdown 1”, the likelihood is that overall production levels will be difficult to maintain because externally-sourced key component supplies – such as hydraulic pumps, batteries and tyres – are said to be tight. A further concern is that incoming President Joe Biden may take more effective control than his predecessor and place the US in some form of lockdown. This is likely to restrict supply – particularly of higher
Machinery product and parts supplies for the Australasian markets are likely to come under pressure due to the second wave of Covid lockdowns currently happening in Europe.
horsepower tractors and broadacre machinery. “Covid-19 lockdowns are affecting component manufacturers in the supply chain, increased constraints at certain ports and interruptions
to shipping are all making things challenging for importers,” says Peter Scott, NZ manager of AGCO New Zealand. Rural News understands that there is also pressure on new product
supply due to the ongoing “mini-boom” being experienced in the Australian market, driven by rains and its government’s capital allowance initiatives. The Tractor and Machinery Association
of Australia is reporting year-to-date sales of tractors are up by 22%, with the eventual market likely to top 13,000 tractors – a first since the 1980s. However, it suggests the Covid situation, resulting in lower production levels, is likely to add 12-16 weeks to typical delivery lead times. Back in NZ, Alistair Horrocks, Deutz Fahr sales manager for Power Farming, confirms that whole-goods supplies are still flowing into New Zealand. However, he says the typical six-month lead time from order placement to delivery has now
blown out to around eight months. “Any delays we are experiencing are largely caused by shipping issues, with empty containers hard to come by, finding slots on boats, then sailing being delayed or rescheduled,” he told Rural News. Horrocks says that while the key German and Italian supply factories are managing the situation well and largely maintaining production levels, Power Farming is having to use extended forecasting to keep supplies arriving for its NZ, Australian and US operations.
KRONE LOOKS AT REVERSE DRIVE ANYONE FAMILIAR with precision grass harvesting will remember the domination of the drum-type trailed harvesters of the 1980s and ‘90s. This was overtaken by the popularity of flywheel type machines, which delivered more output, less fuel consumption and a better chance of surviving foreign object ingestion. Those flywheel-based machines evolved from rearlinkage mounted, reverse drive machines that were the norm when forage maize became popu-
lar in northern Europe. This was at a time when self-propelled units were only just starting to appear. German harvesting specialist Krone is now looking to turn the clock back and creating a sense of déjà vu with its latest development project – a prototype reverse-drive forage harvester that has been undergoing testing in maize. Designed to be mounted on prime mowers like the Claas Xerion 5000 or the Fendt 1050, the prototype weighs over six tonnes and can be equipped with
Krone’s six to 10 row maize, conventional grass pick-up or directcut, whole-crop headers. It features a chopping cylinder from the Big-X harvester range, and hydraulically-driven header and feed rollers. The prototype is said to be a match for Krone’s Big-X 480 cousin in terms of output and chop quality, with reduced fuel consumption and a significantly lower capital cost. – Mark Daniel @rural_news facebook.com/ruralnews
Krone has developed a prototype reverse-drive forage harvester that has been undergoing testing in maize.
ROUND BALEAGE TIPPER
See us on SITE 8 on Thursday 10th December 2020 - Harrisville Speedway
Transports and stands wrapped round bales on end for storage
TEDDERS The KRONE series of rotary tedders use high build quality to provide dependable machines in a full range of sizes and dimensions. They deliver an exemplary level of standard specification and boast a host of innovative features. Working width from 4.6m to 11m.
EasyCut Mower
Swadro Rake
Low maintenance, high quality and dependable. Produce exceptional results with the Krone machinery range.
IT’S QUICK, IT’S CONVENIENT, IT’S EFFICIENT H NOW AVAILABLE AS A SINGLE OR DUAL UNIT H • Thick layers of plastic on bale ends provide superior protection against ground moisture and weather while stored. • No flat sided bales (simplifies feeding out). • Less storage area required. • Suitable for medium HP tractors. • 3PL mounted (no front axle stress). • Bale tipped in one easy movement. • No need to reposition bale before tipping. • Simply trip and flip.
CONTACT US FOR YOUR LOCAL DEALER
For more information call us on 06 370 0390 www.tulloch.nz Dealers located nationwide
Maitland - RD5 - Gore Phone/Fax 03-207 1837 or 027-628 5695 www.james-engineering.co.nz
