INFORMATION The
INFORMATION The journalists travelled from all over the world. The longest journey had Paul Titus from New Zealand, meriting a special mention by Bernard Krone in his welcoming words. The managing partner presented the current company figures, results that demonstrated company growth, against all present trends. Compared with the previous business year, Krone this year achieved, with 2.1 billion €, a turnover increase of 12 %. Its commercial vehicle sector achieved a turnover of 1.5 bn € (+ 14 %) and the agricultural sector 638 m € (+ 9 %). Bernard Krone said the company’s success is due to the focus on forage machinery. “Over 200 different product types are manufactured in Spelle. In this sector we have the largest portfolio – and that completely without producing tractors of our own”, he explained. This concentration means Krone has been in the position during past years to invest around 150 m € in new projects and locations. “In the next three years here in Germany our aim is an investment of 250 m € in digitisation and automation, as well as in service”, explained Bernard Krone. END-CUSTOMER COW Further figures and facts from the business year 2017/2018 presented Martin Eying, marketing and sales manager. He offered a closer look at the Krone success story. On the one hand, the EU market after the milk crisis had again become stable from around 2017 onwards, resulting in a healthy investment climate. On the other, specialisation in forage harvesting is a core competence. “We are focussed on customer benefits”, explained Martin Eying. To this come the ideas for innovations, the quality of the products as well as a good service. The partners too, that means the dealerships, are essential for company success: “Doing business has to give everyone pleasure”, said Martin Eying. Marketing manager Heinrich Wingels added: “The cow is our end-customer. This is why we keep up to date regularly over the right feeding and adjust our products to ensure this is produced.” This proved an ideal link to the next speaker, the veterinary surgeon André Hüting from the vet practice “an der Güterstrasse” in Hamminkeln. This vet and his colleagues specialise on advising farmers. “Feeding is one of the most important points to consider in ensuring that animals stay healthy”, he said. He identified as fundamental factors the correct time for harvesting forage (e. g. with regard to sugar content), the dry matter content which, with grass, should be 35–38 %, the crude ash content as well as thorough compacting of the harvested material. Rumen malfunction and associated performance penalties, he added, come from wide fluctuations in forage quality. Krone presented the new BiG X 1180 as well as the XCollect corn header during its September press conference. NEW MACHINES AT WORK The theme feed quality was also taken up by Daniel Büter from product marketing in preparing the journalists for the next day’s practical demonstrations. The focus was especially on the chasm between long and short chop, a situation which repeatedly represented challenges, in particular for contractors. For this reason, Krone offers the VariLOC pulley gearbox that manages the balancing act of adjusting chop length by up to 30 mm within five minutes. With the new BiG X 1180 with Liebherr 24.24 l capacity V-12 engine, the most powerful forage harvester in the world, has been developed the perfect machine for the VariLOC system and 24
thus for contractors. With PowerSplit engine management, the engine power output can be manually or automatically and steplessly adjusted to suit working conditions. The harvester has been especially produced for work on farms aiming for a harvesting capacity of 350–400 t/h. New is also the roller design for the OptiMaxx corn conditioner. Thanks to its angled teeth, this delivers a shearing effect. The tooth profile of the OptiMaxx is angled at 5°. The corn conditioner is available with 250 and 305 mm roller diameters. For short chop, 123/144 teeth are available with the OptiMaxx 205, for longer chop 105/123 teeth. With the OptiMaxx 305 there are 150/175 teeth for short, and 125/150 teeth for longer chop. 30 % rpm difference is standard with both corn conditioners. 40 % or 50 % differences are optionally available. with its proven uniform plant material flow capability. With XCollect, the manufacturer followed what the customers asked for – a free cutting action. The AutoScan system enables the degree of corn maturity to be determined, with chop length automatically adjusted accordingly. For road transport, the header can be fitted with fully integrated running gear. Parallel to XCollect, Krone continues to sell the EasyCollect system. The following day, the new BiG X 1180 as well as the XCollect header could be inspected at work in bright sunshine by the journalists in the fields of farmer and farm contractor Timo Wessels in Damsdorf (Brandenburg), whose enterprise we report in detail from page 14 in this XtraBlatt issue. « New in the range is the cutter header XCollect. Available are XCollect 600-3, 750-3 or 900-3 with working widths from 6.0, 7.5 or 9.0 m as well as 8, 10 or 12 rows. The header features a separate driveline for cutting and one for feeding. Cutting is via high-speed discs fitted with sickle blades which have the effect of serrating the stubble tops, thus encouraging rotting action. Feeding is via the collector 25
