“Jenna brings with her experience of working in a demanding Export Sales environment having previously worked as an Export Coordinator at Land Rover spares and accessories specialist Britpart Limited. She is fluent in French and Spanish and these language skills will be important in helping us to grow our business into new markets.” comments McConnel Export Manager Mark McKinnon.

Jenna regards one of her primary roles as establishing solid partnerships with existing and new distribution partners. She will be directing her efforts across Europe, Northern Africa, Canada and South America where her language expertise will prove vital in establishing new contacts.“McConnel is a well established company with a fantastic range of products and I’m looking forward to using my language skills as well as further developing McConnel’s export business,”

Jenna explained. Jenna can be contacted direct at jarcher@mcconnel.com

The well-proven concept of the Discaerator has been taken a step further not only in productivity but also in design, as the 4000 is totally different to the 3000 in that it’s a trailed machine. The separate cultivation units and roller are individually mounted on an exceptionally robust mainframe.

All new configuration allows the operator a multiplicity of choice in working depth for both discs and legs, enabling optimum settings for differing soil conditions, with the flexibility to change, for example to work deeper on tramlines. This also offers the opportunity to save fuel when only shallow cultivation is required.

With the choice of 7 or 9 cultivator legs - minimum tractor power is 250hp - the working depth is altered in two ways. Firstly, the legs can be set manually on 4 different settings, but for quick and easy adjustment the parallel mounted frame height can be moved hydraulically and set with ramlocks in 18 increments. The leg settings are independent to the discs and the maximum working depth is 410mm (16in).

The unique design of the McConnel legs do not mix subsoil with topsoil, but heave and aerate the soil. Mechanical break back legs are fitted as standard using a 4 life shear bolt system. The optional hydraulic break back legs have an auto-reset function that resets, fully independently, without operator input.

The disc unit features two rows of 500mm concave serrated discs. The front row consists of 9 discs at 500mm spacing at a 15deg angle with 17 discs in the rear row at an opposing 15deg angle in 250mm spacing. The two rows work the soil in opposite directions leaving a fine tilth. Each disc is individually mounted on the frame and features a rubber shock absorber for increased durability and low maintenance.

Working depth for the discs is set by the packer roller height adjuster in 5 increments of 25 mm. A 600mm ridge packer roller with scraper is standard with an option of 800mm.

Built to McConnel’s exacting standards, transport is also a key issue. The Discaerator 4000 has hydraulic folding wings reducing the width to 2.8m, whilst the wheels are lowered into transport mode hydraulically. Both are secured with transport locks. Road lighting and hydraulic brakes are fitted as standard.

With the combination of quality and design McConnel has created a single pass cultivation machine for all conditions with the ultimate flexibility.


The range is soon to be extended as 5 and 6 metre versions are currently under construction.

The combined use of a standard three metre McConnel shakaerator linkage system and power harrow for optimum seed bed preparation has been reducing man hours and increasing yields for the innovative arable and beef farmer who last year averaged 1.9 tonnes of oilseed rape an acre having adopted the practice for the first time on the family’s 815-acre farm near Hereford.

Utilising a piece of standard equipment that most farmers have sitting somewhere in the yard and by employing the linkage system to attach a power harrow may not be state of the art, but it has certainly been delivering impressive results in the fields and on the books.

According to Jonathon, it provides both a practical and intelligent solution in the creation of an ideal seed bed in one pass for farmers constantly wrestling to stretch the finances and make best use of time and resources. And, while the concept may not be revolutionary, what impresses is the fact that this cost-effective retro-fit is achieving the sort of results that might be associated with a bespoke machine costing considerably more than the the price paid for the three-point, rear-linkage arms.

Having purchased a shakaerator and retro-fitted a set of McConnel rear-linkage arms, the Hereford farmer has now taken the development a stage further this year and attached a seed unit on top of the shakaerator as a third option. The additional configuration required a day in the workshop attaching a main bracket for the seed unit and seven adjustable brackets to allow the seeds to drop at the perfect point and optimum depth of approximately a centimetre behind the shakaerator legs.

The ability to combine these processes in one pass and create the optimum seed bed environment for tap roots such as rape through the use of a shakaerator drastically reduces the time and cost involved in carrying out another pass. This might be calculated conservatively at between £10 - £12 an acre according to Jonathon Goodwin.

“It’s a practical solution that makes sense from every perspective. We looked at other options, but they required a very high horsepower tractor between 160 – 200 HP. Then, there was the investment in the new machinery itself which was colossal. Frankly, in our position, we just couldn’t justify it,” he says.

“We thought about it and came up with more of a DIY approach, but it’s something anyone could do. Most farmers have a shakaerator and a power harrow, so it’s simply a case of using existing equipment. The addition of the seed box was just another natural development and it works with a great level of accuracy and control.

“Using the rear-linkage arms, we put the standard three-metre power harrow on the back of the shakaerator so we could take out the compaction and form the seed bed and then follow with the harrow behind to create the tilth.

“It also operates using a 150 HP tractor which is still fairly standard so we didn’t need to consider additional investment in this area either. I reckon we’ve saved a small fortune as well as reducing the man hours significantly,” he adds.

As for the results out in the field, Jonathon has already carried out extensive use of the retro-fit combination and believes that the experiment has been a resounding success. He’s also been renting out the retro-fit machine to several of his neighbours

“When you look at the results achieved and the seed bed created in one pass, it’s even more pleasing. I reckon it’s definitely as good as anything else I’ve seen, but at a fraction of the cost. These days it’s all very well looking through the glossy brochures and seeing all these incredibly expensive machines and dreaming, but when they’re not an option you’ve just got to get on with it and use what you’ve got in the yard,” he concludes.

surface prevents accidental contact with the switches and there is a new large emergency stop button in place of the old toggle switch.

Operators will also appreciate the new mini joystick, which has three proportional controls that operate the main functions of the Power Arm: reach, lift and head angle. All can be activated simultaneously with just two fingers, so it is extremely easy and comfortable to use.

Safety of operation is also enhanced as lift and angle float are disabled on arm movements and automatically restarted on joystick release. The new XTC control box can now also be used on a wider range of power units as it has 12 and 24v operating voltage.