Niels

Was the FTF/Modeltractor stand there both days? Went to have a look Sunday at 3 PM but I was looking at some rather empty tables.

Aha ok well I am only a little 'un as you saw for yourself . Shoved the seat right forward and did well. Lovely 'Active' seat with heating and all. Lack of self cancelling indicators as you said is appaling! How dare MF even building one like this still. Cab is maybe a little dated but layout fairly well. Liked the armrest controls with the 'flippers' for hydraulics but not much place to rest your arm and hand on. Had two screens in the cab (GPS and Kv Isobus) and then it does get really cramped! Compared to my old 6480 it does seem to use a bit more fuel but going 55k on the road also speeds up the job of course compared to 40k on the old one. Windscreen wipers front and rear not going at once by the way. Rear is on seperate button.

Gav, I heard you say something about the MF's footh trottle on here. What is wrong with it? I drove a new 7495 myself today and it seemed fine? Lovely tractor I thought. Only missed the cruise control like Fendt's TMS or did I miss something?

I fully agree with you, I think , but I saw so many harvesters still with people standing on the back that it made me wonder if I was wrong. Thanks.

Jez: The Grimme and Dewulf are both about equal when it comes to unloading I think. The potatoes will always be dropped about two to three feet depending on trailer size. The solution is fitting 'fall breakers' in the trailers. Gav: Aha, seems interesting. So there are some in the UK at least. I think that, with these big machines, it also isn't possible to grade them with people standing on the harvester. You don't as well with the Pearson? Do you think that it is better grading them on the harvester or in store? Do some stones pass over the harvester and damage tubers before they are stored bulk or in boxes?

True, but keep in mind that we are on 75cm rows (30") and not 36" like the majority of the UK growers I think? Grimme do produce the Tectron to lift two 72" beds but that makes it an awkwerd big bugger on the road to move about being 3,6m wide. Now its 3,15m I believe for a 4x 75cm machine.

Potato harvesting over here is done a little different sometimes compared to the UK. I thought I'll show some pictures from the difficult season which Dutch potato growers are facing this year. A Dewulf Kwatro four row potato harvester which our local dealership was demonstrating today. Dewulf are more known for their two row self propelled bunker harvesters, especially in the UK, but they decided to properly enter the four row SP market this year with the Kwatro. It has proved to be a very succesful machine. With Dewulfs great rival in the background, a Grimme Tectron 415. Both machines are very much alike. Claas tracks and cab, four rows, bunker. The Grimme did half a round on the field but clogged up with soil. Good advertisement for the Dewulf boys as their Kwatro kept on going, albeit at a steady phase. The Dewulf again. It has a ten tonne bunker which can be unloaded on the move. It is powered by a 450 HP Scania engine. During such difficult conditions it needs every horsepower. Everything is build very compact these days. A nightmare for the guy who has the job of cleaning it. Dewulf claim theirs is the easiest to clean over any harvester. One large 1050 tyre is used at the rear to press the soil down evenly. It was doing well on the slippery wet clay. The machine's lifting unit is supported by 5 steel wheels and doesn't use diablo roll's anymore. The disc's are hydraulically driven. Wonderful in these conditions. This is the farmers own harvesting set-up which proved useless in wet conditions. Most large potato growers over here (200 acres or more) use four row trailed machines these days. To show that conditions certainly weren't ideal. This NH T6090 got stuck on its first load. Luckily a MF 8250 Xtra comes to the rescue. Wide tyres underneath this trailer would do it much good. Plenty of attention for the Belgian machine. Three of these Kwatro's have been sold in my area this year, which is impressive since it only excisted on paper last year. For next season three more have already been ordered, with more to come I am sure. This Grimme Tectron 415 was working just half a mile away. Making short work of four acres of 'Bintje' potatoes. In recent years Grimme have sold an unbelievable amount of these harvesters in the South-West of Holland. One of the prime potato growing areas in our country. With plenty of fresh water, and nice clay soil, yields are decent. The farmer will be glad when his harvest is done. The contractor still had a few customers waiting. Grimme use two smaller wheels at the rear rather than one. Unloading the potatoes at the farm. A New Holland TM 155 with a 20 tonne Beco trailer. There is still a place for classics! a Case IH 1455xl on a Miedema 15 tonne trailer. These potatoes will be sold from the farm yard and in local shops so they are stored in 1 tonne boxes. From the field straight into storage.

Good luck. Think most is chopped round this time of year. Bit of grain maize if your lucky!

Your right it wouldn't be 4t/ac the following year! Seedbed looks good. Good luck with the maize scene, they are very tricky to make realistic.

Here's some pictures:

It is nice but doesn't really look like the real thing. Some big puddles and ruts would make it realistic!

No pictures i'm afraid, I'll ask the chap. He must have some. They don't have a website.

Asked the guy and he still does the conversions but only if the buyer can supply a Jaguar 880 as they are difficult to get these days.

That would be Mathieu Perdaems and Pieter... something. I'll ask them for you. See if they still got some.

Two Dutch guys did a 15.000th one years ago. Think you can still get one for €100.

Erik, how are farmers currenty coping in the Flevo with the wet weather? I heard some had already started to plough their onions under that got left on the land.

Don't know what scrap does these days. Not a lot I imagine .

Lovely Fiat 640. Well done up!

Is that fourth trailer behind the 7930 especially for the forage harvester Gav, or will you be using that yourself? The 6930 must have quickly been dragged from another job or something, being on row crop wheels. The nice wide trailer wheels aren't up to much good with that in front.

Looks rather green then!

I don't think that Jaguar is chopping straw but rather grasseed hay or a wheat/peas mix or something.

That Fendt was sold to a Dutch contractor to go on a laser land leveller.

No it isnt. Came when the 500 series was launched. The 540 had as option either a Merc or a Cat engine. It was the only model you could pick your own engine on I believe.

Means its got a Caterpillar engine and not a Mercedes.

Prototype of the new 680 model indeed.