XtraBlatt Issue 02-2019

INFORMATION 1 2 Without

INFORMATION 1 2 Without this system, every blade would have to be detached separately and then sharpened, or a set of blades replaced by a set of other blades – a strategy with enormous time and cost penalties. Working with the forage wagon always operational with sharp blades ensures a clean cutting action – with substantial input savings. The wear of the knife set depends on the harvesting conditions. Basically, though, blades should be replaced when the wavy edge starts to disappear. It’s unavoidable that foreign objects, particularly stones, find their way over the pick-up into the machine. An inbuilt knife protection system prevents damage by foreign objects, allowing each knife to swing out of the cutting area when there’s a danger of contact with a stone or similar, letting the object move on without a blockage forming and, once it clears the knife area, letting the blade swing smoothly back into working position. Over the season, dirt can build-up and hinder this action with the result that a knife may be damaged, or completely destroyed in the worst situation. This has to be avoided at all costs, so it’s important that any dirt on the knife protection system is removed and the joints well lubricated. 1 Is the knife gap just right for an efficient scissor action? This should be checked before season start. 2 Lubrication is essential for low-friction functionality with every machine – forage wagons too! Pre-season, every aspect should be carefully inspected. Look over the condition of wheel bolts and tyres as well. And don’t forget tyre pressures. The wrong pressure here leads to rapid wear and damage developing. All that adds up to expensive downtime during harvest. Not for nothing are there sayings such as: “grease eases when machinery freezes”. Cutting back on lubrication is a false economy. Lubrication is essential, ensuring low-friction functionality in every machine – and this applies to forage wagons too. Recommended here is to work around the machine exactly following the lubrication plan, which should be on hand. Additionally, oil changes should be carried out at the end of every season. The contamination in the oil is then eliminated and the new oil ensures optimum lubrication and minimum wear. AS SMOOTH AS OIL To ensure safety on the road, monitoring brakes, lighting system and running gear, is an important task as part of the immediate pre-season check, as well as during the harvest campaign too. Start with venting the brake system, cleaning filters and inspecting hose connections, cables and plugs. To complete the pre-season check, all machinery functions should be tested before the machine goes into the field. Is it running quietly or is an aspect not quite right? Is there a failure alarm or other problem? This check swiftly spots any damage in the sensor or actuator system, avoiding expensive breakdowns in the field. « 22

EASYCUT F 320 M / F 320 / F360 M PUSH & PULL Among the new presentations at Agritechnica 2019 by the forage specialist Krone are three new front-mounted mowers EasyCut F 320 M, F 320 and F 360 M. The implements work without conditioner, both in push and pull variants. Their working widths are between 3.14 m and 3.60 m, transport width is 3 m (F 320 and F 320 M) or 3.44 m (F 360 M). A common characteristic of the three models is the new design with tensioned protection skirts as well as wide-opening front protection panel permitting, e.g., easy access to the cutterbar for knife replacement. The mowers are also substantially lighter, allowing better following of ground contours. All three new models feature the proven Krone SmartCut cutterbar. The outward-turning divergent discs are now closer together, giving more overlapping of individual knife paths. This means the mower can work without leaving stripes, even in thinner crops. Additionally, the new implements feature the innovative SafeCut solution. Distance between both swathing drums is 145 cm ensuring compact swath formation so avoiding even heavy crops of forage being run-over by the tractor. The new mowers come optionally with hydraulic operation of protection skirts, a camera system or two-colour LED position lamps. « VARIPACK V 165 XC PLUS / V 190 XC PLUS PURE BELT BALE FORMING A world premier has recently been celebrated by the new VariPack round baler model series from Krone. Especially designed for baling dry material such as straw, hay and haylage are the models VariPack V 165 XC Plus (bale size 0.80 to 1.65 m) and V 190 XC Plus (0.80 to 1.90 m). In the bale chamber are four 275 mm wide flat belts, guaranteeing a high-density packing action. Bale density and soft core consistency can be comfortably adjusted from the tractor seat via monitor. A highlight with the new models is the rapid bale ejection. In less than 5 seconds the tailgate is opened and closed. Additionally, ease of operation is enhanced via automatic functions: the net wrapping is automatically started; also automatically controlled is the opening and closing of the tailgate. Standard equipment with the new balers is a high-capacity rotor with 26 integral blades; blade gap is 42 mm or 84 mm (2 options), the knives can be rapidly altered to suit the harvested material. The balers are offered with net wrapping as standard (twine optional); also standard is a chute for net roll refills with which the net can be loaded simply, rapidly and without great effort. Threading the net through to the bale chamber is taken care of automatically via hydraulic swing without a net feed roller. « 23