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PRODUCT NEWS<br />
Left: The Atrac M4 offers a high<br />
clearance of 1,400mm and an<br />
optional four wheel drive<br />
white knight<br />
Goldacres is Australia’s<br />
newest tractor company –<br />
taking some features from<br />
its self-propelled sprayer<br />
line to launch its new<br />
M series multi-purpose<br />
tractors<br />
To be marketed under the new Atrac brand, the range<br />
comprises the M4, based on the Goldacres G4 self-propelled<br />
sprayer, and the M8, based on the G8 sprayer.<br />
With the M4 able to handle a 6.5 tonne load and the M8 having<br />
a 10 tonne carrying capacity, Goldacres sales and marketing<br />
operations manager Stephen Richards says both tractors will be<br />
able to carry a wide range of accessories.<br />
“We essentially made it for the spreader market, though we<br />
think there are other markets it will get into – the sky is the limit!”<br />
The M4 offers a high clearance of 1,400mm and an optional four<br />
wheel drive that can be disengaged at the flick of a switch and<br />
a rear axle differential with an internal lock feature if the going<br />
gets really tough.<br />
Goldacres says the M4 is built on a torsionally rigid semi truss<br />
fully welded chassis with a five-link suspension and heavy<br />
duty torque rods, as well as a rear anti-sway bar and airbag<br />
suspension on all four corners.<br />
Richards says the M4 has a 160hp (119kW) Cummins fourcyilnder<br />
engine plus an Allison 2500 series 5-speed transmission<br />
– helping the tractor reach a top speed of 50km/h.<br />
The M4 also has an optional hydraulically adjustable axle<br />
allowing the wheel track to be adjusted from 2,000mm to<br />
3,000mm, with a total of five axle config ations available.<br />
The M8 has an 817mm clearance with a 3m track with four<br />
wheel drive, alongside a 260hp (194kW) Cummins six-cylinder<br />
engine with an Allison 3000 series six-speed automatic<br />
transmission with electronic push button selector.<br />
Both models have a 300-litre poly diesel fuel tank, which helps<br />
power the tractor through long days in the paddock without the<br />
need to refuel.<br />
They also both have a dual tilt and telescopic steering column,<br />
air suspension seat with seat belt and training seat and<br />
Bluetooth equipped radio as standard.<br />
Both models will be available Australia-wide through select<br />
dealers, Richards says.<br />
Left: The Rovic spreader<br />
spread the news<br />
Rovic Holdings is making<br />
spreaders, under its own<br />
name and with new features<br />
to make fertiliser application<br />
more precise than ever<br />
Rovic Australia has launched a new range of 10 trailed<br />
spreaders with new features it says could represent a 30<br />
per cent saving in fertiliser use.<br />
The company formerly produced spreaders under the Connor-<br />
Shea and later Grasslands brands in the 1990s, but is making a<br />
return to Australian agriculture with the new models.<br />
The four largest models in Rovic’s GSR spreader range, able<br />
to carry between 12.5 tonnes and 20 tonnes of fertiliser, come<br />
equipped with Rovic’s Twin Chain Technology, which Rovic’s<br />
director of Australian operations Peter Piddington says works<br />
with GPS positioning to give the farmer full control over the<br />
machine.<br />
“The majority of trailed spreaders on the market have a large<br />
wide belt, or a large wide chain, whereas we have a split chain,<br />
so a chain on the right and the left, and the machine can vary<br />
the speed of both of those in conjunction with the speed of the<br />
discs,” he says.<br />
“If you have a 36m spreader but you only have 24m left in the<br />
paddock, the computer will actually slow the machine down to<br />
narrow it, so you are not spreading fertiliser over ground that<br />
has already had fertiliser applied.<br />
“This leads to a saving of somewhere between 15 and 30 per<br />
cent of fertiliser by using true variable rate,” he says.<br />
Rovic uses the TeeJet ISOBUS controller for its spreaders, which<br />
Piddington says can map the entire paddock after one outside<br />
lap is completed.<br />
“In Australia they are mostly known for sprayer technology but<br />
in Europe and America they have also been working on spreader<br />
technology and bringing that over here,” he says.<br />
The spreaders come with a two-year warranty on the bin and a<br />
five-year war anty on the chain, while the spreaders themselves<br />
are equipped with stainless steel parts where possible, right<br />
down to the nuts and washers.<br />
This equips them for urea spreading, though Piddington says<br />
the machine is also capable of spreading material including<br />
manure and clay.<br />
Rovic will be distributing the spreader range across the country,<br />
Piddington says.<br />
6 Trade<strong>Farm</strong><strong>Machinery</strong>.com.au THE TRACTOR YOU WANT IS NOW EASIER TO FIND
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