Agribuggy v300

In the summer of 2022 I took on a project that was very different to anything I had done before. Many of my previous projects have been yachts, superyachts and powerboats, so this was definitely a different animal. I worked with McConnel, a UK based agricultural equipment company, which is part of a larger international group, on the design (some of it “styling” if you wish, some of it more conventional design) of what could be described as their flagship product, the Agribuggy. This machine is a self-propelled crop sprayer, and it is a big beast!

It was for me, a design project to give the machine a modern face, but the machine overall has been transformed thoroughly in terms of engineering, from the mechanicals changing from being purely mechanical to hydro-mechanical. The machine retains the 4 wheel drive, 4 wheel steer capabilities and is full of all kinds of electronic kit which allows it to spray very precisely and in targeted quantities. My involvement was to give it a set of appropriate “clothes”. As it is such a large beast, whilst I wanted it to look rugged and strong, I also did not want it to look intimidating. So many machines on the market seem aggressive, but although there is a time and place for that, I wanted the Agribuggy to borrow a leaf from the original Routemaster bus, be big and robust but still look friendly and approachable. I did not do all of this on my own, I had the members of the McConnel design and engineering team help me, and we had long conversations also on other functional aspects of the device, how to make it easier to service, how to keep mud and dust away from so many parts, etc. We also looked into the rear, and I designed a partial cover too. We wanted the vehicle to be visible. These machines when they go on public roads are relatively slow 30 mph (50km/h) and it seemed important that following vehicles were alerted to the presence from a long distance so that they slow down in plenty of time.

The design and engineering team at McConnel have done a great job of interpreting my designs and putting them into production; there is a lot of work that happens between the concept sketches, initial computer models/renders and a final machine. I want to congratulate them for their hard work and dedication, but as always it is great to see something in real life. Now, we have to see how well it sells; fingers crossed!