Kerry company RT Sales will be returning to the Ploughing with its JA 2122T (22ft telescopic) hedge cutter. Based near Castleisland, the company has evolved from RT Hedge & Tree Cutting Ltd which was set up by Padraig Teahan and his father-in-law Johnny Reidy in 2008. The firm built its first prototype hedge cutter in 2020. Components included Italian-built Bizarro gearboxes and the French-built Roquet pumps and motors, which are all tried, tested and proven.

With the firm’s cooling system, the oil return line on the cutting head runs through the radiator. A thermostat on the return line activates the fan, to keep the system cool. RT claims to have fitted a three times oversized radiator to ensure proper cooling. In the cab, it fitted an electronic proportional CanBus control system, which runs at a lower pressure compared to servo joysticks. It has two thumb rollers, one for the head tilt and one for the slew. A click diverter allows the head tilt roller to operate the telescopic function.

RT also built its own cutting head. With its design, the bearing housing and grease nipple are on the outside of the head, rather than on the inside. The spiral was also tightened, which allowed them to fit two extra flails into the head which allowed for more overlaps and a neater finish. They opted to build the industry standard 1.2m head.

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When designing the mounting system, RT said it wanted to create a design that allowed hedge cutters to be easily interchangeable between tractors, rather than needing axle brackets for varying brands of tractors. With this, it decided to brace the hedge cutter onto the tractors hitch. By removing the pick-up hitch, users can slot in RT’s unique hitch with two cranked plates which pulls the hedge cutter down to the hitch. It notes that this acts like a stabiliser, and keeps the machine nice and steady.

The RT ProArm hedge cutter range comes in three models. The RT ProArm JA 2118 and the JA 2120 are fixed arm hedge cutters with 18ft and 20ft reaches, while the JA 2122T is a telescopic hedge cutter with 18ft to 22ft reach.

With its design, the bearing housing and grease nipple are on the outside of the head, rather than on the inside.

In the cab, they fitted an electronic proportional CanBus control system, which runs at a lower pressure compared to servo joysticks.