More than 20 000 people from around the country attended the Sunday Tribune Garden Show in Pietermaritzburg this year. Mowers, tillers, fertiliser spreaders and other machinery were among the many displays. Husqvarna’s Darryl Elliott said he was pleased to see a growing interest from small-scale farmers in power cultivators.
Certainly, he added, it makes more sense to use the TR430 model from Husqvarna’s Landowner range, which costs R9 000, to cultivate a smaller area efficiently, rather than buying a possibly unreliable second-hand tractor requiring a range of matching implements to achieve the same results.
The TR430 is powered by a 169cc, 3,2kW Robin Subaru EX17 engine, which has a tremendous record for reliability in South African conditions. Working width is 430mm at a depth of up to 150mm. The T560RS tiller from Husqvarna’s Commercial range is powered by a 3,7kW Robin Subaru EP16. Working width is 850mm wide at a depth of up to 280mm.
Then there’s the Husqvarna YTH 2648 TDF. The ride-on mower’s model number tells us what it is and what it does. ‘YTH’ stands for ‘Yard Tractor Hydrostatic’, meaning it has a hydrostatic transmission, ‘2648’ indicates that it has a 26hp (19kW) engine and a 48’’ (1,2m) cutting deck, while ‘TDF’ stands for ‘twin cylinder engine, diff lock and fabricated deck.’ The engine is the Endurance Series, manufactured for Husqvarna by Briggs & Stratton.
From John Deere
Mascor showed a wide range of John Deere turf and lawn equipment:
- EZTrak (above): These new mowers are highly manoeuvrable with a ‘zero turn radius’. The three models on display were the Z225 with a 14kW engine and 1m deck, the 17kW Z425 with a 1,2m deck and the 20kW Z645 with a 1,2m deck.
- Ride-on mowers: The X145 has a hydrostatic transmission driven by a 14,5kW engine and cuts 1m wide, while the 13kW D100 has a mechanical transmission.
- Gator HPX (below): The 4×4 Gator is now available with an 800cc 3-cylinder Yanmar diesel engine, with plenty of torque to make best use of the 4WD. John Deere claims a maximum speed of up to 45km/h, controlled by a fully sealed CVT transmission.
Ride-on mowers
Barry’s Mowers & Pools had a selection of ride-on mowers at the show, including the Tandem LTS 1500 (below, left), powered by a 13kW Briggs & Stratton engine, and the Husqvarna LTH 2038 (below, right), which has a 15kW engine and cuts 965mm wide.
