Posts Tagged ‘Massey Ferguson’

Massey Ferguson is launching two new combines for the 2016 season – the new MF Activa 7340 combine, which is powered by the latest, highly advanced four cylinder engine and the six cylinder powered, MF Activa 7344.

The MF Activa 7340 combine is powered by the latest and most advanced 176hp, AGCO Power 4.9 litre, four cylinder engine, employing pioneering engine technology to boost power density. This enables the four cylinder engine to deliver unrivalled performance to improve efficiency and economy.

“It’s been a long time since a combine has been powered by a four cylinder engine,” says Adam Sherriff, Manager Marketing Massey Ferguson. “This offers the operating benefits of a six cylinder, but in a lighter, smaller package.”

The large displacement, 4.9 litre four valve/cylinder engine features Fourth Generation common rail fuel injection and controls and employs maintenance free SCR technology to meet the latest emissions standards with low fuel consumption.

With the engine comes a new CANbus linked control panel in the cab. This colour screen shows a range of engine and combine operating information.

A new ‘sectional’ concave, which can be changed through the stone trap, further improves the versatile combine’s harvest quality in a range of crops. This allows operators to quickly and easily switch the front section of the concave to, for example, a wider maize unit without the need to remove the elevator.

Six cylinder MF Activa 7344 with PowerFlow header

The new MF Activa 7344, which replaces the MF Activa 7244 is now available with the option of a 5.5m wide PowerFlow header. This brings the benefits of this output enhancing cutterbar to users of smaller combines, providing unparalleled performance in oilseed rape, while improving cutting and output in a wide range of crops.

“PowerFlow is proven to boost output by up to 73% in oilseed rape, 15% in wheat and 12% in barley. It is also particularly useful in difficult conditions, helping farmers secure more of their harvest, more quickly,” explains Mr Sherriff.

The existing range of FreeFlow cutterbars, with Terra control auto-levelling option, is still available in widths from 4.2m to 6.6m.

The five straw-walker MF Activa 7344 is powered by a new advanced 218hp AGCO Power 7.4 litre, six cylinder engine. This durable, fuel efficient and powerful engine is set to precisely deliver the torque and response required for efficient performance when combine harvesting.

The new MF Activa 7344 also benefits from the same drum and concave with independent adjustment as the MF Activa 7340. It also benefits from the Active Rear Beater Concave, for optimum threshing in a wide variety of crops and conditions.

The combine harvester features the same new, multi-function lever and terminal as the MF Activa 7340 and is topped off with new styling. This follows the Massey Ferguson Combine family feel with a new cab roof, grey upper part and a new rear straw hood. A wider flanged Rockinger trailer hitch is another new option.

The new Massey Ferguson ProCut system for MF 2200 Series large square balers introduces unique clamp-on rotor fingers and a range of new features to deliver a huge increase in capacity with a finer, uniform chop while also offering superb service access.

The 650mm diameter ProCut rotor is equipped with 26mm wide hard-faced, cast steel fingers, which are made in three sections – each clamping onto the centre tube – and held in place with bolts.

This unique mounting allows rotor finger sections to be replaced easily, saving time and maintaining optimum performance.

New Quad Augers, on each side, provide a consistent feed to the rotor. These increase capacity and ensure unrestricted, even feeding.

ProCut knives are mounted in a full-width, drop-down bed and are held in a ‘magazine’, which rolls out completely to the left-hand side on Easy Glide roller bearings, providing best-in-class access for servicing.

No tools are required. Simply releasing a catch after lowering the knife bed allows the whole magazine to roll out to one side, providing unrivalled access to the knife bank for servicing and maintenance.

Knives are spaced evenly 43.5mm apart across the bed, providing a fine, consistent chop. Made from 4mm thick tungsten hardened steel, the knives have a new serrated edge design to stay sharper longer and help cut power consumption. Simply releasing a locking pin makes it easy to lift out and change the knives.

Two hydraulically selectable knife banks in the magazine allow operators to quickly engage or disengage the knives and change chop lengths. Both knife banks are fitted with hydraulic protection. This uses an accumulator on each side that allow each knife bank fold back against the hydraulic pressure to let foreign objects to pass through.

The driveline on Massey Ferguson ProCut balers has been strengthened to handle the higher capacity it now provides, with all six-string models (making 120cm wide bales) driven through a new gearbox. The slip clutch can now also transmit 35% more torque.

Other changes include a new slip clutch and a revised cam track design for the pick-up, which gathers the swath more effectively and now be standard on all Massey Ferguson large square balers.

The ProCut system is controlled by the ISObus compatible C1000 terminal, which now includes buttons for knife control as well as pressure overrides.

ProCut is available on the MF 2240*, MF 2250, MF 2260, MF 2270 and MF 2270 XD.  (*MF 2240 is not available in all markets).

Australian contractor Wayne Marshall loves his Massey Ferguson tractors for their engines, their economy and the uniformity of their cabs.

Wayne has a fleet of nine Massey Fergusons, including three 15-year-old tractors that he just can’t bear to part with.

Wayne and his wife Judy operate Bundy Ag from their home in Maffra, Victoria, Australia. They offer a range of services including bulk silage, hay cutting and baling, full cultivation and transport.

Silage is the primary focus of the business, which was formed 15 years ago when Wayne left the family business to start out on his own.

His most recent Massey Ferguson purchases include an MF 6614, an MF 7622 and an MF 8680.

“We’ve had Masseys for 15 years and what I like about them is their accessibility of service, their economy, and I’m happy with the AGCOPower engine,” says Wayne.

The Marshalls bought their MF 6614 last September for hay and silage production and for operating their round baler.

“It pulls the baler beautifully and it also does drilling. It’s fitted with a loader and does a variety of loader work and earthworks,” Wayne says.

“It’s the first time I’ve gone back to a four-cylinder engine for a long time. The economy was a big part of that decision and it’s very cheap to run. It’s also very manoeuvrable and has a good turning circle. It’s just a good basic tractor that’s cheap to run.”

Wayne bought the 215hp MF 7622 about 18 months ago and uses it to pull his loader wagon during the silage season. He particularly likes it for the Dyna-VT variable transmission.

“It’s very good and it’s also economical. We use it for a lot of cultivation work, mainly discing and ripping. With both those tractors we are using AdBlue because it’s going to be law soon with our diesel rebates. That was a big consideration,” he says.

“The other thing is the whole range of Massey Ferguson tractors have the same cabin layouts. It’s very easy with staff as they’re familiar with the controls and can go from one tractor to another.”

The third new tractor in the Marshalls’ fleet is the six-cylinder 320hp MF 8680, which was purchased six months ago. It is mainly used for loader wagon silage and earthmoving.

“It also runs on a laser bucket for irrigation layouts and it is very good. I am very happy with it. It has high horsepower and very quick road speed. We are running it with a Topcon GPS guidance system.”

Their full fleet of tractors includes two MF 7495s, which are also used on the loader wagons, an MF 6475, which is used on a round baler and for loader work, two old MF 4270s, which are Wayne’s original tractors and have 12,000 hours on the clock each, and an MF 6255, which is also 15 years old and is used for ripping and discing.

“I can’t get rid of them,” Wayne says about the older machines. “They have sentimental value. I’ve also got a Valtra 202 with a butterfly mower conditioner, which is four years old. It’s running the AGCOPower engine as well and is from the same stable as Massey Ferguson, but I chose that tractor for its long wheel base.”

Wayne is impressed with the advances in technology Massey Ferguson has made in recent years.

“The tractors have come a long way. I’ve seen big changes in the last six or seven years with what we can do with them and the time and fuel savings,” he says.

“They’re a pleasure to drive and the operators can hop out of them at the end of the day and still feel ok.

Wayne and Judy buy their Massey Fergusons through Donalda Motor Service in Maffra. He says a big consideration for sticking with Massey Ferguson is the fantastic support they get from them and from AGCO.

“They’re very good with their backup. They go beyond the call of duty. They’ve been very good to me since I started off in business.

“AGCO is based in Melbourne and we’re very happy with their technical support. If we have any problems they never put a foot wrong. That’s the reason I’ve stuck with them.”

A visit to Kenya prompts the production of a video to demonstrate the merits of buying genuine AGCO filters and how to spot counterfeit parts.

In March 2014 Jeff Challis, Business Manager, Parts Sales, Africa and Middle East and Pete Winterbottom, Manager, Aftersales Marketing, EAME visited Kenya to meet with our Massey Ferguson distributor FMD and visit some of their key customers. These customers varied from important municipal customers such as Nairobi Airport to owners of large tea and sugar plantations. The purpose of the visit was to discuss the virtues of genuine parts. Jeff demonstrated this by dismantling a genuine filter and comparing key features with a popular spurious filter. From the outside both filters looked the same but Jeff quickly highlighted that underneath this veneer there were some significant differences. Jeff’s demo had such a positive impact that FMD said they wanted to train and equip their own staff to do the same demo when on the road visiting customers. To assist with this, the EAME Aftersales Marketing team produced some practical demo kits including genuine and spurious filters along with flip chart slides. Jeff took the kits back to Kenya and also Sudan in early 2015 to train the local field sales teams to use themselves.

As an aide memoire for the local teams, we filmed Jeff at the Stoneleigh training centre conducting the demo. A group of UK service technicians that were on a training course in an adjacent workshop at time of filming stopped what they were doing because they too were so intrigued to see and hear what Jeff had to say. So much so that we decided to publish the resultant videos on YouTube for all to see.

We’ve created 2 versions of the demo; a 3 minute and 15 minute version which can be watched on YouTube or downloaded from asset bank. We’re now considering the possibility of creating different language versions in order to spread this key message: – When it comes to Parts ‘The Genuine Choice’ is the only choice!’

To learn more about AGCO Parts please visit: http://www.agcocorp.com/parts-service.html.

By Dr. Bernhard Schmitz

AGCO’s Fuse^® Technologies strategy and precision farming products were presented during the recent Future Farm opening in Zambia. Visitors learned about AGCO’s technology offerings that are currently available for the future farm:

• All technology enabled machines were equipped with Auto-Guide^TM
• All technology enabled machines were equipped with AGCO’s telemetry system, AgCommand^®.
• The open approach of the Fuse strategy was perfectly demonstrated with the presence of Precision Decision next to the Fuse tent. Precision Decision offers services around precision agriculture such as soil sampling.

The Future Farm perfectly showcases AGCO’s open approach by exemplifying how different agricultural business partners are brought together to connect and demonstrate the best farming practices for Africa.

To follow the latest updates about the Future Farm, connect with @AGCOcorp on Twitter and follow the hashtags #FutureFarm and #AGCOAfrica.

 

Dr. Bernhard Schmitz is a Commercial Manager for AGCO’s Advanced Technology Solutions group, focusing on Fuse precision farming products for the EAME region.