Bringing a silage crop in from the fields has usually relied on one tractor with one trailer (or maybe two over on the continent).
Coupling a pair of trailers together obviously brings benefits of efficiency; one German farm recently took the concept to the extreme when it linked 10 – yes, that’s 10 – up to draw maize.
It happened at Grambow, a town situated 100km east of Hamburg in northern Germany. Staff at the farm decided to string the train together to test their Fendt 1050 Vario and the occasion was recorded by Agrar Paparazzi.
Even with 500hp on tap, it was still going to be a challenge; yet the tractor didn’t falter and brought home the 118t of silage for a bio-digester unit.
The Fendt had been kitted out with dual wheels to provide the grip, along with 1,200kg of ballast hanging from the front linkage.
Loading and discharge were obviously a remote affair for the driver, due to the distance between the tractor and the last trailer. Of course, the plan couldn’t have worked without side-tipping trailers.
Pushing the load up was a JCB 427 loader, which has an operating weight of 13.6t and is powered by a Cummins engine of 179hp.
Large-scale bio-digester units are common in Germany, with maize being the preferred feed crop. Ensiling it in this way ensures that there is a constant supply of material consistent in quality throughout the year. This is essential for efficient operation.
Once the season is over, the outfit will need to be put in the shed for the winter. All that is needed is a volunteer to reverse it in.
