Here comes the BaleTrain - raking, baling in one pass
We've all heard of road trains, soul train and gravy trains, but German machinery manufacturer Krone has come up with a novel word for the agricultural sector.
For that reason, in 2021, contractor Simon Broom added a new Krone Swadro TC 1370 centre-delivery rake to his fleet. Offering variable working widths from 10.8m to 13.5m, the rake offers the ability to bring together two big rows from his triple mower, to feed the forage harvester or round and square balers.
“Having run a Krone Swadro 1400 for four seasons, it did a great job, so we were happy to buy another Krone rake,” says Broom.
The new 1370 features several improvements over the previous model, including larger transport and jockey wheel tyres and an improved hydraulic suspension system on the rotors.
From October each year, SW Broom Contracting October focuses centres around making baleage and bulk clamp silage. Operating triple mowers with groupers, the set-up can bring together grass from 9.1 metres into one swath.
“In the early part of the season, we tend to leave the grass spread out across the full mower width faster wilting, but later in the season, particularly if a nor’wester is on the way, we use the groupers to bring in the grass from the outside mower. If we travel in both directions, the rake can grab two swaths from the mower and move 18m of grass into a single swath,” says Broom.
Given that there is a plethora of pivot irrigators is North Canterbury, pivot ruts are a hazard of the job. Broom says the improved hydraulic suspension system of the new 1370 floats over the pivot ruts. By comparison, the older Swadro uses springs on the two front rotors, while the new unit has hydraulic accumulators, with adjustment to vary the degree of float, that when combined with the wider jockey tyres, is said to travel better over pivot ruts.
“When we hit peak season, we chop until we drop with the forage harvester, so raking is not the ‘boy’s job’ with us because it is critical to the whole operation,” notes Broom.
“Pulling in the grouped rows together is not an easy job, but the new Swadro 1370 has stood up to the task without any problems.”
Normally pulled by a 220hp John Deere 7930, not for power, but the ability to deal with a heavy machine, particularly on hill work, the Swadro 1370 is ISOBUS capable and can be controlled by the tractor’s own screen.
Broom prefers to run it with its own screen, because it offers him the flexibility of using other tractors from the fleet if the 7930 is busy.
“Krone rakes just look bigger and stronger than other rakes,” he says.
“We purchased the new machine because our old one did such a good job and, in its first season, we haven’t any downtime, although the old machine is in good condition and will stay as a backup.”
