UK sugar beet growers looking to reduce production costs should consider opting for a new tractor driven trailed harvester from Grimme called the Rootster.

Originally designed to lift forage crops it has been successfully upgraded on the continent to lift sugar beet and will be available in the UK later this year.

French grower Bernard Lemoine from Vassimont et Chepelaine in the Champagne area farms in one of the most productive areas of France and has always preferred to lift his own beet rather than rely on a contractor. Previously, he used a Saïga six row trailed machine with a front mounted flail topper, and a trailed lifter loader TE4.

He changed these machines for a new Grimme Rootster trailed harvester with bunker and hydraulic drawbar ahead of the 2008 season.

“The bunker provides essential holding capacity for this type of trailed machine,” explains Mr Lemoine. “This allows me to harvest field openings easily and to cover about 200m before needing to empty into a trailer. Also, the Oppel wheels work level to the ground, reducing the risk of taking up soil with the beet,” he says. “Hydraulically-driven Oppel wheels and two roller arrangements provide a very efficient cleaning system. Output depends on harvesting conditions though, and in the dry our forward speed is about 7km/hour, compared to a respectable 6km/hour in the wet.”

Initially, the Rootster was based on a six row topper with a trailed lifter loader, the topper originally being of American design but later replaced by a front-mounted arrangement based on the Maxtron. The flail topper forces the green leaves via steel deflector sheets to fall behind the scalpers between the beet rows. Centrally adjustable pressure scalpers are guided while thickness is automatically adjusted.

A circular filling elevator transfers the sugar beet into a 4t bunker, before unloading into a trailer via a 1m wide elevator that can be up to 4m long. In France, the cost of a Rootster is between €85,000 and €127,000.