Innovations focusing on making life easier at Eurotier 2024

In mechanised cattle feeding, metal foreign bodies in the fodder can be ingested and can lead to severe injuries in the digestive tract of the cattle, often causing illness and sometimes death.

To counter this problem, permanent magnets have been installed in feed mixing systems, and unwanted metal foreign bodies are held by the magnets.

To date, however, the difficult task of manually separating the foreign bodies from the magnets could result in injuries to the person performing the work, not least because the mixer blades and auger for shredding the feed are installed in the immediate vicinity of the magnets.

But in the system designed by Siloking Mayer Maschinenbau GmbH, the heavy-duty magnet can be easily removed from the feeder, together with its surrounding housing, and with all the foreign bodies held by the magnet.

This is enabled by a design breakthrough using a "non-ferritic" stainless steel magnet housing which is resistant to the magnetic pull.

This has won a silver medal in the EuroTier Innovation Awards, mainly because of the safety and ease of removal of metal foreign bodies.

“For farmers, this innovation makes cleaning the magnet much safer and more efficient. Particularly with neodymium magnets, captured foreign particles previously could be only removed with great effort. Now the user can clean the housing from the outside and does not need to overcome the holding force of the magnet,” said Siloking sales director Sascha Behrend.

Siloking sells feeding technology in over 50 countries.

Another machine seen at EuroTier has improved the precision to which feeds can be mixed. Kramer, a well-known German manufacturer of loaders and telehandlers, claims to have integrated a dynamic weighing system into a telescopic loading system for the first time.

A EuroTier gold medal for innovation confirms the importance of this breakthrough. While weighing systems for loaders are widespread, they do not operate dynamically, and the load centre of gravity of the loader has to be taken into consideration and calibrated. Successful weighing also entails stopping on a flat surface and running through a defined lifting range.

But with the new KT316 telehandler's integrated dynamic weighing system, shovel weighing can be carried out much more easily, faster, and more accurately.

This will help farmers seeking to more precisely prepare feed mixes, but in Germany, it will probably be particularly welcome for workers in the country's 10,000 or so biogas plants, where regulations require precise measuring of feedstock amounts.

The dynamic weighing system operates independently of the implement, the load centre of gravity, or the position of the loading system, including the telescoping function.

Also in the mechanised livestock feeding area, constantly climbing on and off a loader is strenuous for the operator, and poses an injury risk, especially if the operator switches between briefly moving the working machine forwards, and jumping off to do something on the ground -- which is the case for many farming chores.

Weidemann, the German agricultural machinery company, has made things so much easier with the 'Follow Me' assistance function on their fully electric Hoftrac 1190e articulated loaders.

A silver EuroTier Innovation Award shows how significant this breakthrough is.

For example, if erecting a temporary fence, you can walk along and use a hand-held remote control to have the Hoftrac obediently follow you across a field, carrying the extra fenceposts you need.

This autonomous operability reduces the workload, but with built-in safety.

The 'Follow Me' mode is activated on the loader by a key switch, the operator steps out, walks away, and activates forward movement with their remote control.

For safety reasons, the loader only follows while the button on the remote control is continuously pressed. And a virtual safety area is formed around the machine on all sides of the machine. If people, animals or objects are in the safety area, the machine comes to a standstill.

The parking brake function, including auto-hold and hill-hold, activates in the Follow Me function just as it does in manual operation. As soon as the machine is standing still, the electric parking brake automatically activates. The parking brake is automatically released when the machine is put into gear again via the remote control.

As well as in jobs such as fencing, Follow-me is an ideal function when collecting stones from farmland, or in harvesting of fruit, potatoes, etc.

Machinery users on livestock farms will also welcome an innovation which will not only add safety but will also improve the quality and efficiency of their grass mowing next year, as they harvest fodder for their herds.

This is the Krone QuickChange, a quick and safe new system for changing mower blades.

The blades weigh around 150 grams, and rotate at 300 kilometres per hour. They are one of the most wear-prone components in the world of agricultural machinery, which affects the quality of work, hourly output, and fuel consumption.

Regular replacement is therefore vital, and the QuickChange enables the knives on Krone brand mowers to be turned or replaced quickly and effortlessly, safely, easily and comfortably. The tool runs on compressed air, for which it can be connected directly to the tractor's air intakes.

Placed between the disc and the blade carrier and activated, it applies air to press down the blade carrier. The blade retaining pin is now exposed, and you can remove, replace, or reverse the blade.

The Krone QuickChange was a one-star innovation winner at the Space agricultural show in France.