Cobra hits the spot
Launched in 2012, the Cobra irrigator, designed and manufactured by Hi-Tech Enviro Solutions, quickly became a farmer favourite for its efficiency and ease of use, says the company’s business manager Rob Johnson.
Hi Tech Enviro Solutions, Waikato, spurred by the success of its Cobra travelling raingun, has upgraded the technology, producing a new model – King Cobra.
Designed to pull more drag hose, work on more challenging terrain, and travel slower when required, the King Cobra is said to be tougher and to offer more options for users.
It can carry up to 400m of wire rope, or 300m in difficult terrain, and now has a 6-speed gearbox versus the 3-speed unit on the standard Cobra. It has a high/low speed selector, the latter allowing very low speed when required – good for the low travel speeds required for water irrigation.
Other key changes: the impellor in the drive unit is repositioned to face outwards, making access and maintenance easier; a wider front wheel; and a socket on the handle to turn the rope drum, allowing users to easily undo the bolts holding the faceplate of the impellor drive.
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Graduates of a newly-updated Agri-Women’s Development Trust (AWDT) course are taking more value than ever from the programme, with some even walking away calling themselves the “farm CFO”.
Meet the Need, a farmer-led charity, says food insecurity in New Zealand is dire, with one in four children now living in a household experiencing food insecurity, according to Ministry of Health data.
Applications have now opened for the 2026 Meat Industry Association scholarships.
Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) says it is backing aspiring dairy farmers through a new initiative designed to make the first step to farm ownership or sharemilking easier.
OPINION: While farmers are busy and diligently doing their best to deal with unwanted gasses, the opponents of farming - namely the Greens and their mates - are busy polluting the atmosphere with tirades of hot air about what farmers supposedly aren't doing.