New heavy duty combined crop roller and compact front box available

• A combination front mounted crop roller and compact front storage box unit is now being marketed by North Yorkshire based J.F. Hudson, with the crop roller demountable out of season

The concave profile crop roller, with a toothed mid-section, is of heavy-duty construction and designed to compact the straw swaths left by today’s increasingly large combine headers, or large rowed-up grass swaths.

The company says while there are also some big tractors around now, they do not necessarily have any more under-belly clearance than some lower horsepower models and

the roller avoids straw or conservation grass being dragged by the drawbar, axle, or any other projections under the tractor.

Managing Director James Hudson said: “The heavy-duty roller smoothly flattens crops, while the Compact Front Box provides somewhere to store enough essentials such as twine and fuel to cover a full day in the field.

“A compressed swath makes for a much more consistent feed into the baler or forage wagon, avoiding large clumps caused by crop drag. The roller has the weight to generate sufficient kinetic energy to maintain rotation when out of work on a normal headland turn, and therefore, a smoother start on the next swath.

“The roller’s operational height is variable by means of the tractor’s front linkage and its robust box section frame will nudge any bales out of the way if necessary.”

Either component can be used independently and both can be fitted to any tractor front linkage. Crop rollers are available in 1.2m and 1.6m widths and the front boxes are designed to be used with the linkage folded up, thereby minimising forward protrusion. Their low profile also improves the driver’s line of sight. Both the rollers and boxes can be custom-painted.

Prices are: £2,254 for the Standard 1.2m & £3,256.00 for the Standard 1.6m – Optional extras and bespoke requests will alter this price.