Designed from scratch
WHAT Krone calls "the listening forage" harvester, will revolutionise maize and grass forage conservation, claims the manufacturer.
"After listening to what contractors wanted, we designed a harvester from scratch to suit their requirements without the need to modify an existing model," says Wilhelm Voss, Krones managing director.
The result is the Big X self-propelled forager, powered by engine options which deliver between 605hp and 780hp, road speeds of up to 40km/hour and maize headers capable of harvesting 12 rows at a time.
The Big X is unique in offering up to 12-row maize harvesting – making it capable of work outputs reaching 180t/hour. Equipped with a grass pick-up it can achieve work rates of about 110t/hour," claims Mr Voss.
Uniform weight distribution is a key characteristic in the new design which locates the crop feed and compression rollers and chopping cylinder between the machines front wheels. That is made possible because the harvesters front wheels are driven by individual Poclain hydraulic motors, rather than a bulky mechanical transmission, he explains.
Fitted with the maize header, weight distribution is helped by its lightweight construction including the use of aluminium connecting sections which form the basis of the contra-rotating crop gathering system. Three rows of double gathering fingers, which operate against a fixed bottom knife and the use of only two gearboxes on a 12-row header, help keep weight to a minimum.
Price of a 780hp Big X will be about £202,000 and for the 12-row maize header, £54,000. *
Bix X details
l Models: V8 V12 V12
l Engine hp: 605 700 780
l Transmission: Hydrostatic
l Max road 40 40 40 speed (kph):
l Feed rollers: 6 6 6
l Cylinder 800 800 800 width (mm):
l Cylinder 660 660 660 diameter (mm):
l Transport 3.3 3.3 3.3 width (m):
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