Farmhand has informed the Irish Farmers Journal that it will be doing something exciting at this year’s National Ploughing Championships.

Farmhand has not exhibited at the National Ploughing Championships in 20 years and according to its marketing director, Stephen Scrivner, the company wanted to “come back with a bang”.

Farmhand will be displaying the all-new Krone Big X 780 self-propelled forage harvester and the Amazone Pantera 4502 self-propelled sprayer at its stand this year.

Krone

The new Krone Big X 780 is from the latest generation of the Krone self-propelled forage harvester range. The forager is powered by a Liebherr D9508 V8 engine capable of producing a significant 775hp.

The self-propelled machine is packed with new and updated features including ease of attaching/detaching the header, the pivoting of the header on a hydraulic cylinder, the direct driveline with a long service life and the smooth and continuous crop flow provided through six intake rollers.

The Krone MaxFlow chopping system provides the option of fitting your Big X with 20, 28 or 36 knives depending on the desired chop length. The Big X 780 comes standard as two-wheel drive but it is also available with hydraulic wheel motors on all four wheels as an optional extra.

The Big X range can now be purchased with a LiftCab feature. The award-winning design was first unveiled to the public at Agritechnica last year and will be on show at this year’s National Ploughing Championships. The design comes into its own while harvesting very tall crops such as maize. The cab has the capability of rising up to 70cm above the standard resting position.

Amazone

The Pantera 4502 self-propelled sprayer features a tank volume of 4,500 litres and is available in working widths of 21m to 40m.

The Pantera is hydrostatically driven at a speed of up to 50km/h. The sprayer is a large unit. However, when using the four-wheel steer, this sizeable machine has a nimble turning circle of 4.5 metres.

The operator has the ability to switch from four-wheel to two-wheel steering using the multi-function joystick.

The Pantera is powered by a six-cylinder Deutz Common Rail engine that churns out 218hp. It has a transport width of 2.55m and weighs in at 9,600kg.