McConnel, the British company behind the yellow hedgecutters familiar on Irish roadsides, has used the National Ploughing Championships to launch two new control systems for its Power Arm range. The firm, the first in the world to sell a tractor-mounted hedgecutter, says the Pioneer and Voyager systems bring advanced proportional joystick control, better floatation and wider auxiliary function control.

Pioneer uses a compact joystick laid out for fingertip operation, with forward-mounted thumbwheels within easy reach; Voyager offers the same functions through a larger, more ergonomic joystick built for full-hand use. "Pioneer and Voyager are proportional controls, so Pioneer offers you three services that are proportional and Voyager offers you five proportional services," deputy general manager Edward Hall told Agriland. Pioneer replaces the Motion Control system and Voyager the Evolution Controls.

Hall said McConnel designs all its control systems in-house even though it does not manufacture the components, "so that they function exactly how we want the machine to work". Both systems introduce the company's Advanced Float technology, which lets operators fine-tune verge-mowing float to the terrain, and are paired with a new membrane keypad whose LED indicators show which functions are active. A 'Swap' function lets the operator reassign the thumbwheels to personal preference or a particular task.

The controls are available on the 62, 67, 72, 77 and 85 series Power Arm models and are aimed at operators working in dense vegetation who want more precision.

On the Irish market, Hall was frank about its importance: "In the Irish market, we believe that we've probably got about 80% of the market. That size of a market share doesn't happen overnight; it takes a lot of hard work to allow us to deliver that level of service to the marketplace." Competitors "always on our heels" keep the company developing, he said, and the Ploughing was the "perfect opportunity" to put the machines in front of customers — so many of whom wanted to talk that it took him a long time to get around the stand. "You think McConnel, you're already thinking hedge cutter," he said. Joshua Kelly reported for Agriland.

Source: Agriland