Agricultural developments: 1959
Posted by Chris Graham on 23rd January 2020
It’s 1959 a new decade is about to be born and the latest agricultural developments are revealed at the Smithfield Show in December, as Tony Hoyland explains.
Business was thriving for Roadless Traction Ltd, which was exhibiting its four-wheel-drive conversion for the Fordson Dexta, for the first time. For the previous four years, the company had been producing conversions for the Fordson Major and, latterly, the Power Major under licence from Selene SAS, Italy.
The new conversion had been prompted by sales of the 4WD Fordson Major, which had increased by 750% over this period. No performance figures were available but trials showed the Dexta conversion’s performance had been improved considerably.
H Leverton & Co and Fred Myers Ltd unveiled the new John Deere/Lanz MD25S combine harvester. It was a high-capacity pattern with a 7ft 9in cut to appeal to the contractor as well as to the larger-acreage farmer. Powered by a Perkins P4 diesel engine, the combine incorporated the well-tried, Lanz double-stage cleaning system. This system, first by windblast and then by a grading cylinder, had proved its capacity to give a cleaner sample in a succession of wet, English summers.
Cooch & Sons Ltd was exhibiting a modified version of its steel-framed potato sorter, the No. 6AT Cooch Major. The machine was fitted with 20×4 pneumatic road wheels, and had a tractor hitch. Two cast wheels were retained at the feeding end to facilitate movement at the pit. The price, with roller bagging conveyor, was £195 and, with a steel web, £172.
A new IH pick-up baler, the all-new B-46, was the star of the show on the International Harvester Co of Gt Britain Ltd display. It was said to have already made a ‘profound impression’, reflected in many orders taken for next season. The Farm Implement & Machinery Review said of the machine: ‘The new short smooth feeder auger, three packer fingers with an extra-wide sweep and the extra-wide feed opening, confirm the general impression of a unit with a capacious output.’
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