Thursday, 13 October 2016 13:18

Extreme proof of toughness

Written by  Mark Daniel
Claas Max Cut cutter-bar. Claas Max Cut cutter-bar.

After six years experience using the technology, Canterbury agricultural contractor Martin Bruce (M.A. Bruce Ltd, Darfield) vouches for the durability and reliability of the new Claas Max Cut cutter-bar.

Commercially released in New Zealand in 2015, Max Cut has an award-winning one-piece, wave-shaped design that protects the knives and ensures maximum overlap for optimal cutting quality, efficiency and durability.

Compared to the previous P-Cut cutter-bar, the cutting disc modules are set further forward, creating an enlarged cutting area; they have wear inserts with differing geometries, optimised as each pair of blades passes each other.

The cutter-bar has high torsional flexibility achieved by a special bolting process that matches the strength of welded seams, and the drive train is designed to be run from 850rpm, reducing fuel consumption by up to 20%.

Extra-wide skids guide dirt and foreign material backwards and guarantee a clean finish, minimising wear and protecting pasture cover.

MA Bruce Ltd contracts throughout central Canterbury, operating Claas harvesters and triple mower combinations; the firm was invited to participate in Max Cut pre-launch trials in 2009-10.

Based on the results of two season’s trialling, Bruce went on to buy its first Disco 9200 with the new bars in 2012-13, followed by a second unit; each rig averages around 2000ha per season.

Bruce comments, “Although they are starting to show a bit of wear and tear, they’re still pretty tidy machines for their age and I’d have no hesitation in running them for another couple of years.”

Max Cut uses the Claas existing ‘active float’ hydraulic suspension, Safety Link safety module and quick blade change system. In the event of a collision, the module shears at a pre-determined breaking point; and the mowers also have a ‘break back’ safety system that allows the mower to pivot backwards and upwards if an obstacle is encountered.

“The country we work in is rough on our gear and hitting things is a regular occurrence,” Bruce says.

“Auto-swathing allows us to avoid having to use rakes, which can bring foreign objects into the swath, but over time we’ve hit irrigation anchors, posts and rocks but have never broken a Max Cut bar on the rear mowers.”

Bruce notes that though the Safety Links do not activate very often, the working conditions and terrain have the machines getting through 2000 blades a year; these are changed in around 30 seconds with a simple lever tool that releases the spring plate under the disc.

www.harvestcentre.co.nz 

More like this

New design Claas tractors set for Fieldays debut

Well known for its dominance in the harvesting arena, Claas has channelled its engineering excellence and a deep knowledge of the ag industry with the Fieldays release of the 2025 facelift Claas Arion 600C Evolution and Claas Night Edition Arion 660 tractors.

Landpower win global award

Christchurch-headquartered Landpower and its Claas Harvest Centre dealerships has taken out the Global After Sales Excellence award in Germany, during the annual Claas after sales meeting at the end of January.

Optimisation specialists to help customers

January to March is the heart of New Zealand’s ‘golden’ harvest, but also the time of the year when Landpower and Claas Harvest Centre welcomes two optimisation specialists from Germany to support Claas combine customers in the cab of their machine.

Featured

Big return on a small investment

Managing director of Woolover Ltd, David Brown, has put a lot of effort into verifying what seems intuitive, that keeping newborn stock's core temperature stable pays dividends by helping them realise their full genetic potential.

Editorial: Sensible move

OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.

National

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Cuddling cows

OPINION: Years of floods and low food prices have driven a dairy farm in England's northeast to stop milking its…

Bikinis in cowshed

OPINION: An animal activist organisation is calling for an investigation into the use of dairy cows in sexuallly explicit content…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter