Every now and again a new product comes along that surprises in both its simplicity, ingenuity - the Trakjak, designed and built by Pauric Fay, from Cootehill, Co Cavan, Ireland, is one such innovative product.

This is a device that uses the tractors own three-point linkage to safely raise a tractor's rear wheels clear of the ground. Once the wheels are raised, they can safely be removed without having to place extra support or axle stands to support its weight.

Farmer, contractor and engineer, Mr Fay said: "I saw the need for something safe to use to jack up the rear of a tractor. There are no real designated jacking points on a tractor like you would see on a car. And there's too much guesswork with setting up ordinary jacks."

A conventional bottle jack can be precarious enough and the wheels also need to be chocked to stop the tractor rolling and toppling off the jack. "It can be hard to position a jack correctly and with confidence under a tractor. Ideally, anything being jacked needs to be jacked at its outermost point," he said.

"The large nature of modern tractors' rear wheels and ancillary equipment bolted onto the rear axle housing can make this difficult, or impossible to jack at the outermost positions."

Trakjak is simpler and is safer. Reverse the tractor over the Trakjak, hook the lift arms into the brackets and pins provided then raise the tractor's lift arms, using leverage to lift the rear of the tractor off the ground. Only level concrete or similarly hard surface is required for safe operation.

Then, two stands at the rear are lowered to the ground to allow the weight to be taken off the lift arms. The Trakjak also has solid rubber wheels which allows any four-wheel-drive tractor to be driven limited distances and, again, only on suitable terrain. This means the rear wheels can be safely left at one location and the tractor driven to another, for instance to fit row crops or to a wash bay.

The ability to wash a tractor without its rear wheels is important as he pointed out. "Tractor transmissions and hydraulic systems have become very sophisticated. Being able to wash down the transmission before changing hydraulic and transmission filters greatly reduces contamination risks at servicing."

He said the system is adaptable to nearly any tractor as the two settings on two elements of the Trakjak are able to to cater for all tractors. These settings are on the pivot bar and on the lift arms, while rear stand heights are adjustable to suit whatever the user requires.

At around 350kg in weight, it is solidly constructed and is proof load tested for 12-tonnes. Price of the Trakjak is €2400, plus VAT (see it at www.trakjak.ie).