New Holland forage harvester range overhaul
New Holland has completely renewed its forage harvester range for 2013. Out go the existing FR9040, FR9050, FR9060, FR9080 and FR9090 models and in their place come the FR450, FR500, FR600, FR700 and FR850. All are made at New Holland’s forager, baler and combine plant at Zedelgem in Belgium.
Engines range from the 450hp 8.7-litre unit on the FR450 to the truly massive 824hp 20.1-litre powerplant that propels the top-of-the-range FR850. The two smallest models get SCR to meet engine emissions regs.
There’s 100% mechanical 4wd as standard for working in extreme conditions, a Power Cruise system that automatically adapts engine and ground speed according to load, and a double-drive system that adds a second hydrostatic drive to allow more power to be transmitted to the header.
Main changes on the foragers are a new chopper body – said to improve uniformity and throughput of grass – and an easier system for changing from grass to maize settings.
Meanwhile a new blower is designed to generate 40% more airflow to speed crop from the cutterhead to the processor and reduce the chance of crop accumulating in the chopper body.
Other improvements include better access to the cab, big side panels for good servicing access and a protective seal around the feed roller to prevent crop debris building up.
New Holland forage harvester range | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Max power (hp) | Engine capacity (litres) | Cutterhead diameter (mm) | Cutterhead width (mm) | Price |
| FR450 | 450 | 8.7 | 710 | 900 | £211,117 |
| FR500 | 520 | 12.9 | 710 | 900 | £233,787 |
| FR600 | 600 | 12.9 | 710 | 900 | £254,170 |
| FR700 | 685 | 18.1 | 710 | 900 | £272,693 |
| FR850 | 850 | 20.1 | 710 | 900 | £310,837 |
| All machines have 710/75 R34 tyres, apart from the FR850 which is full maize-spec machine on 710/75 R42 tyres. | |||||
The new 300FP grass pick-up header comes in 3m and 3.8m versions, with a new full-length adjustable roller wind guard to keep swaths flowing smoothly. Pick-up speed has been improved, thanks to a supplementary tine bar, and there’s a new pickup rear support wheel to keep the header height uniform in boggy fields.
The two-position Variflow system enables operators to alter the location of the blower according to the crop being harvested. In grass mode the blower sits 60% closer to the cutterhead, which cuts power requirement by 40hp. Changing from one to the other apparently takes less than two minutes and doesn’t require tools.
There’s also a range of options for those cutting non-standard crops, including a fine-cut biomass drum and coppice header.
New Holland’s Intellifill auto-spout guidance system, first announced in 2009, will be available for the 2013 season at a price of £6,000. It uses a 3D camera mounted under the spout to look into the trailer and automatically swivel the spout so that grass is directed uniformly across the length of the trailer.
It can also “remember” the dimensions of up to three trailers, says the company, and can accurately fill a trailer from a distance of 20m.
Fully integrated GPS yield mapping is also on offer to contractors (who buy a high proportion of self-propelled foragers) so that they can provide customers with accurate reports of yields across the field.
Visitors to Cereals back in June got a sneak preview of NH’s new BigBaler range, but this was the first time they’ve been seen working.
The BigBaler 1290 is the largest of the four models available and produces a 120x90cm bale. Capacity is up 20% compared to its predecessor (the BB9080), says the company and bales are 5% denser, thanks to a 14% increase in plunger speed that has allowed faster ground speeds. Prices are still to be announced.
Meanwhile the latest range of New Holland balers and bale wrappers, the first fruit of a recent tie-up with Norwegian maker Orkel, were first seen earlier this month at the Livestock 2012 event at the NEC. However this was the first chance to see them in action.
The roll baler 125 Combi (pictured) is one of a range of three high-spec machines mainly aimed at contractors. It produces a 125cm diameter bale, comes with twin axles as standard and can dispense both net-wrap and plastic film. Specifications are suitably beefy.
