Highlights from the Yorkshire Agricultural Machinery show

Jun 27, 2023

The annual Yorkshire Agricultural Machinery Show is the ideal opportunity to see the latest equipment on offer from local (and not so local) manufacturers.

James Andrews picks out some highlights.

See also: Ranked: The UK's biggest farm machinery manufacturers

Pulling in the crowds on the Independent Agri Parts stand was a gleaming Case IH 1455 XL restored by business owners Paul and Steve Durkin.

The accident damaged tractor was bought by the Bridlington-based firm in June last year, with a heavily crumpled front end and a smashed axle casing.

It was completely stripped down and inspected before the rebuilding process began.

Most of the mechanicals were in serviceable condition, and the engine had been treated to a £4,000 rebuild just before the accident.

However, a large portion of the bodywork was destroyed and the cab glass had been ruined by sparks from an angle grinder.

Almost all parts for the build were sourced from the company's suppliers – Kramp, Bepco, Sparex, Granit and Vapormatic – but some salvaged body panels had to be sourced from the Netherlands at great expense, particularly the front grille.

Finishing touches included a full respray, fitting a complete set of cab glazing, and installing a new wider set of wheel rims shod with Ascenso 650mm rear and 540mm front tyres.

The renovation took just five weeks, but the cost was more than £28,000. The firm is planning to sell the tractor and it had a couple of potential buyers registering interest at the show.

Thanks to its large beam and hydraulic ground departure system, the latest Unimole mole drainer from Cambridgeshire firm Ceres creates minimal surface soil disturbance.

The secret to this is a hydraulic ram mounted between the headstock and beam which, when run in float, allows the leg, bullet and expander to ride gently out of the ground as the link arms are lifted.

The system also helps the leg pull gently back into work before it settles at its pre-set depth.

Additional features include a centrally mounted serrated disc to cut though trash, shear-tab leg protection with replaceable hooks, and a stowage point for the expander.

The mole plough can also pivot so that it follows the path of the tractor, and there are springs to help keep the movement smooth.

Ceres has been building products for other agricultural makers for years and has been selling under its own name since 2020. The Unimole is one of its most popular products, with a list price of £9,020.

Other equipment in the firm's line-up includes grain pushers, bag lifters, loader/telehandler attachments and post knockers. It also makes ballast rollers, grass harrows and log splitters.

To take the hassle out of loading bulk bags, Leeds Welding Company has built a dedicated filling bucket.

This can be dug into a pile of material – seed, fertiliser, stone and the like – and it has capacity to hold 0.6cu m.

Bags are suspended from hooks on the side and there's a hydraulic trap door to release the contents. List price is £3,400, excluding brackets.

It's the latest in a line of equipment from the Yorkshire fabrication firm, which has been selling under its own name for the past five years.

Most of the products are loader and telehandler attachments, but it also offers tipping trailers, yard scrapers and tractor weight block toolboxes. A larger 1cu m bag filling bucket is also on the way.

Local trailer maker DRT was showing off one of its latest 16t grain trailers, rolling on 10-stud commercial axles shod with 560mm flotation tyres.

Built at the firm's workshop in Full Sutton, York, it features a hydraulic tailgate, roll-over sheet and a mild steel body fabricated using 5mm metal in the floor and 4mm on the sides.

This sits on a box-section chassis with twin tipping rams and an 18t sprung drawbar.

Other features include LED headlights, air brakes, mudguards and a front access ladder. List price of the 16-tonner (pictured) is £25,000.

DRT has been building grain, root crop and bail trailers since 2010 and offers a broad range, including grain, root crop, dumpers and bale trailers, as well as bespoke options.

The first electric pickup to go on sale in the UK hasn't come from Ford, Toyota or Isuzu but, instead, Chinese brand Maxxus.

Available to buy now through a network of some 50 dealers, the T90EV is fitted with a 150kW (201hp) motor and 88.5kWh battery pack that promises a range of up to 220 miles.

For now, only rear-wheel drive is being offered, but the firm says a 4×4 model is on the way. Payload is up there with most pickups at 1t, but the towing capacity is just 1.5t – 2t less than key diesel rivals.

It is based on a regular diesel platform, with a single drive motor connected to the rear axle and the battery packs slung under the chassis.

Where the engine would normally sit, the firm has fitted a control module and ancillary equipment.

Just one spec is being offered, with leather-look interior trim, a touchscreen display and alloy wheels. List price is £49,950 and buyers get a choice of several colours, including metallics, which add £575 to the total.

Although best known for its range of 4×4 livestock trailers, Yorkshire maker Graham Edwards is seeing growing demand for its range of larger tractor-drawn models.

The TDM820 on show at the Yorkshire Agricultural Machinery Show is the biggest on offer, with a 20ft body riding on tandem axles that can carry a gross weight of 8t.

Features include aluminium treadplate floors, double inspection gates, leaf-sprung suspension and hydraulic brakes. The pictured trailer is also fitted with optional electric powered decks.

Because the body and chassis are separate, the top can be lifted off, allowing the trailer to double-up as a flatbed. A demount kit is available to do this, which comes with four legs and a jack.

List price for the TDM820 is £13,330, with power decks adding £3,670 to the price and partitions coming in at £345.

Taking up a large chunk of the stand occupied by slurry specialist Gissing was its latest 12m dribble bar, fitted with twin distributors and a Bluetooth in-cab tablet display.

The vertical folding model is built with a heavy-duty frame that can be used either on the back of a tanker, or with an umbilical setup.

In the latter configuration it's capable of carrying a reeler to help reduce the number of vehicles that need to be taken to a job.

Construction of the frame and distributors takes place at the firm's factory in Brigg, Lincolnshire, and both come with a five-year warranty.

List price of the 12m model pictured, including left and right shut-off and Bluetooth tablet control, is £24,000.

Gissing is also now the official distributor of Angus Flowmaster slurry pipe, which it can supply in large quantities.

Trailer specialist Indespension has made some improvements to its range of livestock trailers, including fitting a fully sealed floor and Bradley locking hitch.

Other notable features include large side-mounted wheels running on seven-leaf suspension, which is said to give a smoother ride and reduce noise. They also have waterproof LED lights, a spare wheel and metal mudguards.

Optional aluminium decks are available that fold down from the sides, and these are loaded via a 10deg ramp that pops out of the tailgate.

List price of the 12ft twin axle model pictured with decks, dividers and fold-down front panel is £9,050. The firm also offers a larger 14ft tri-axle version that starts at £7,715 without decks.

Fitted with a 4kW electric motor in place of the usual Hatz diesel engine, Bobman's Super electric bedding machine offers a quiet and fume-free way of cleaning and freshening up cubicles.

Like its diesel equivalent, the nifty tool combines a scraper and sweeping brush with a hopper and spreader that can distribute chopped straw, sawdust, waste paper and lime.

Users sit on the three-wheeled machine like a motorbike and use a foot pedal to control their speed. In standard form, drive is only sent to the single rear wheel, but there is an option to have all three propelled.

Thanks to a 48V battery system, run times of between 30 and 60 mins are possible, making it suitable for up to 150 cubicles.

Capacity of the fixed hopper is 500-700-litres and it's capable of spreading from 50cm to 200cm.

For those that don't want to haul bags into the hopper, there's the option of a hydraulic self-loading version.

The Bobman Super is built in Demark by Jydeland and is sold in the UK through Lancaster distributor RE Buildings. List price as pictured is £18,200.

A new sheep handling system from New Zealand is designed to be carried by a tractor loader or telehandler, avoiding the need to tow it around on a trailer.

The central part of the Porta-Yards system from Landquip is a 2.5m steel V race with a rubber floor, three-way drafting and 2.1m-long forcing gate.

Up to 10 1m alloy hurdles can be stacked on the sides of the race, making it suitable for handling up to 250 head.

These have solid top sections to discourage sheep from jumping and protect the legs of working dogs.

For maximum flexibility, the yard comes with L braces and three-way joiners so that producers can configure it in multiple ways. There's also the option of adding a dosing gate.

UK importer Wise Agriculture says that the system is considerably faster to set up and pack down than trailed alternatives, and means a livestock trailer can be pulled behind the tractor at the same time.

Forklift Porta-Yards are available in 100-head and 250-head capacities, with the smaller option priced at £4,512 and the larger coming in at £6,685.

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