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Kuhn’s new twin-rotor rake uniquely also features a 1.8m central pick-up assembly.
With the huge German Agritechnica Event scheduled to take place in Hanover in November, the next few months will undoubtedly see a host of manufacturers teasing us with some of their latest innovations.
One of the first to show one of their latest ideas, Kuhn has released details of its GA 8131CL, an 8.0 metre, twin-rotor rake, that uniquely also features a 1.8m central pick-up assembly.
Over the last decade or so, twin-rotor rakes or swathers have become the “go to” for delivering large windrows to feed the increasing appetites of self-propelled foragers and round or square balers. Typically bringing the two outside rows of crop onto the central row, outputs can be increased, but the negative is a central move that sits on wetter ground and is flattened by the moved material.
Kuhn’s solution started as far back as 2016, with an idea to get more air into the crop, with several solutions considered, including a rotor that was eventually dismissed as it moved material to one side.
The patented idea sees a 1.8m wide pick up mounted on the main frame ahead of the twin rotors that lifts and aerates the central swath that is not worked by the rotors. Part of the standard specification of the rake, the 480mm diameter unit is hydraulically powered, with rotational speed controlled by a restrictor valve. Lifted and lowered automatically during headland turns, the swather has a minimum power requirement of around 60hp.
In other Kuhn news, the company will also premiere an autonomous solution for arable farms, running on rubber tracks, called Karl. Part of the company’s €400m spent on R&D over the last decade, the project began around six years ago, with four generations of prototypes being evaluated. The company stresses that Karl is not a tractor, rather a concept born from the ‘tools’ the implement manufacturer produces.
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With the biannual Italian EIMA machinery Expo less than a month away, Case IH has taken out a Technical Evolution award for the Advanced Vehicle Suspension system available on its Optum 360–440 series tractors.
The Advanced Vehicle Suspension system, available on Optum 360, 390, and 440 models, responds to changing conditions, automatically adjusting how the suspension reacts to absorbs shocks and controlling vehicle movement.
In operation, sensors monitor the vibrations transmitted from the tractor chassis to the operator cabin, allowing the system to adjust suspension damping in real time. The control system incorporates key priorities, such as comfort at lower speeds and stability as speed increases, while also reacting to factors such as lower tyre pressures, where the tyres absorb more of the initial shock.
Case IH said as suspension requirements change throughout the working day, as tractors move between the paddock and road transport, the system manages suspension response in the background as tasks, speeds and conditions change, leaving the operator without the need to make manual adjustments.
Richard Hollins, Optum series tractors global product manager, said: “Pioneering technology must earn its place in the working day. Farmers and contractors will judge an investment by what it delivers, including manageable ownership costs, dependable up-time and the versatility to tackle different jobs. With AVS, we are putting intelligent control to work for comfort and stability, without giving the operator another setting to manage.”
Organised by FederUnacoma, the Italian Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers Federation, the contest has been part of EIMA since 1986, with the Technical Evolution distinction awarded to products that introduce original improvements to solutions already manufactured or patented.
www.caseih.com
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