Since 1983, Walterscheid has been revolutionising harvest and tractor equipment for the Australian agricultural market. From advanced driveline solutions to gearboxes, clutches, and linkage systems, its portfolio has continued to evolve alongside modern farming practice under the three core pillars of efficiency, convenience, and safety.
As part of its broader company ethos, Walterscheid strives to help farmers reap the best quality crop while making efforts to conserve natural resources. Following the success of their award-winning first lower link hook, the Tractor Attachment System addresses key functions in the farmer’s workflow including coupling, adjusting, stabilising, and hitching. This considered design is catered to ongoing changes for industry practice, such as increasing farm sizes, crop diversity, and longer machine operating times.
Tractor Attachment Systems are commonly used for steering or towing mowers, ploughs, balers, and sprayers. Incorporating a statically determined three-point design, this boutique retrofit solution transfers the weight and resistance of an implement to the tractor’s drive wheels.
“We offer genuine Walterscheid rear attachment and front linkage systems under our other Motion Australia agricultural brand, Sabre AG,” says Andrew Sawyer, Business Manager for Walterscheid Australia. “This way, we cover all the requirements and customers can experience the benefits of a ‘butterfly system’ – less fuel, less ground compaction underneath, and fewer passes necessary for a wide sweep.”
The components of each assembly are constructed from forged material suited to the heavy-duty conditions on farmland. This contributes to the equipment’s overall resistance to contaminants such as dust and water, achieving optimum service life and uptime investment.
“The beauty of having a front attachment is that you’re steering in that direction, so you get a much clearer line of sight,” Andrew furthers. “You can utilise it to control various types of equipment – like mowers or ploughs – out the front by themselves, or use them in tandem with rear attachments.”
The front attachment design is a fairly recent introduction to Walterscheid’s offering, which has proven timely in conjunction with increased rainfall and a bumper season.
“As our field shows have started up again around the country, there has been a lot of interest in these linkage systems and combinations for mowers, which have become some of the fastest and highest selling products we’ve ever developed in this category,” he enthuses.
“Drivers can cover a wider distance, which means imprinting on the land less and having to do fewer passes of the field. You’re saving fuel by driving less distance overall, and whether you’re harvesting, mowing, or spraying, it’s a vastly more efficient process.”
Ultimate convenience
Drivers can operate the coupling and uncoupling mechanism directly from the tractor seat – saving time and mitigating the hazards of stepping outside the vehicle during service. Walterscheid’s premium quality hooks can support extremely high loads, and are constructed with safety in mind.
Not going anywhere
The Tractor Attachment System’s lower link hook features a safety locking mechanism and sleek, compact design. A closed housing offers protection against shocks and contaminants like dirt and dust. Similarly, Walterscheid’s top link hook facilitates the safest possible connection between the vehicle and implement, which guarantees maximum enclosure of the side-ball.
Integrated Protection
Aside from mechanical top links, Walterscheid also produces a hydraulic alternative complete with a shock absorber, creating an additional layer of protection for bouncing implements during operation, separating the impact from the tractor. This allows for better performance, safer driving conditions, increased grip, and reduced wear on the linkage components.
Total control
Swinging implements in narrow spaces or difficult terrain can pose a serious danger to nearby people, vehicles or equipment. To prevent this, linkage systems must ensure adequate stabilisation of the lower links. Common manual solutions like chains and struts are awkward and time consuming, which is why Walterscheid has developed an automatic stabiliser system.
Protecting valuable assets
Sabre AG’s Emergency Release System is a smart engineered solution used to protect tractors from sudden ignition. Re-usable after each disconnection, this assembly allows drivers to unhitch quickly and safely.
“In the unfortunate but entirely possible event that the mower, baler, or header catches on fire, this release system enables the driver to quickly disconnect that piece of equipment from the tractor and create some distance,” explains Andrew. “The machine might go up in flames, but the tractor is safe, potentially saving hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
