Tom Dickson heads to Landpower’s facility in Altona, Victoria, to be shown the latest Amazone agricultural products
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Tom Dickson with the massive 1.7m-clearance Amazone Pantera 4502-H self-propelled sprayer
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Landpower is a massive force in the Australian and New Zealand agricultural machinery market, enjoying brand partnerships spanning more than 40 years with premium European manufacturers such as Claas, Amazone, JCB, Seed Hawk and Grimme, so we didn’t need to think twice when asked if we wanted to be taken around the latest Amazone products.
The company delivers integrated machinery solutions including combine, forage and potato harvesters, tractors, hay and forage equipment, spreaders, sprayers and tillage tools, and you would have seen a number of these reviewed in depth in Farms & Farm Machinery over the years.
The latest of these is the Claas Arion 440, which I believe features the best visibility from the driver’s seat of any tractor currently on the market.
The familiarisation day started with a behind-the-scenes tour of the company’s spare parts division, where more than 20,000 separate lines are warehoused.
Amazone product manager Craig Hopkins says spare parts availability is a major selling point for Landpower equipment.
“If the part is on the shelf, we can deliver the following day,” he says. “In the worst case scenario, if the part is not on the shelf, it can be flown in from oversees on permanently reserved air freight space and delivered within four to five days.”
We then headed to the product display. These, in particular, caught our eye:
Amazone Pantera 4502-H
The new Amazone Pantera 4502-H self-propelled sprayer is almost the same as the Pantera 4502-W that we reviewed previously except it looks like it’s on stilts. This high-lift version can glide over the tallest of crops without causing any damage.
A 4800-litre spray tank, 21-40m boom widths and a 0-50km/h road speed are shared features.
The 4502-H takes spraying to greater heights (pun intended), boasting a 1.7m ground clearance and 3m spraying height, which equates to a 50cm advantage in both areas.
Cenius mulch cultivator
The Cenius mulch cultivator is a tined cultivating machine designed to chop and return stubble residue back into the soil soon after harvest. With a broad range of working depths spanning 5-30cm, the Cenius is capable of shallow cultivation for weed control and seed bed preparation as well as more aggressive deep ripping to allow for maximum moisture penetration, which promotes good root growth of subsequent plantings.
The Cenius range is available in working widths of 3m, 3.5m and 4m in the linkage models and 4m, 5m, 6m and 7m in the trailing range.
The range is available with shear bolt protection for lighter, stone-free soils or with a pressure spring overload mechanism featuring a release force of 600kg for heavier soils and rocky areas.
All models in the Cenius range have a single row of levelling discs trailing behind the tines and a choice of up to eight different styles of rear roller.
A GreenDrill seed unit can be added to the Cenius to allow for the sowing of small seeds and catch crops in one pass.
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The Amazone XTender 4200 rear linkage hopper mounts on wheels for storage and manoeuvrability
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Amazone XTender 4200
Brand new to the market is the Amazone XTender, a three-point-linkage hopper with fan and metering devices for use in conjunction with the Cenius range of cultivation equipment.
The XTender features a 4200-litre pressurised hopper with a 50/50 split divider for simultaneous seed and fertiliser application. Its electronically driven metering units are taken from the Cirrus series drills.
The metering units are easily accessed during calibration and for emptying any residual product at the end of the job.
The XTender is rated for tractors up to 600hp using either Cat III or Cat IV N linkage for connection. A drawbar built into the sub-frame of the XTender acts as a towing point for the trailing tined sowing unit.
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The 12m-wide 12003-2TS trailed compact disc harrow is the largest in the Catros range
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Catros Special
Most impressive is the new Catros Special mounted compact disc harrow, which features a completely new frame design and improved features for better and more reliable performance when compared to the original Catros.
The three-point-linkage Catros is ideally suited for fast, shallow and aggressive cultivation of the soil. It features mechanical or optional hydraulic depth control, folding and adjustable side discs, maintenance-free sealed disc bearings, individual disc suspension and a redesigned frame.
The new Catros Special weighs slightly less than the previous model, comes in four working widths ranging from 2.5-4m and represents a great entry-level model for small- to medium-sized farms. It is also cheaper than the older model.
All in all, the day at Altona provided a great insight into the big range of Amazone products that is about to be launched onto the Australian market.