A sleeker-looking pea combine available with more digital technology has rolled out of the Fakenham, Norfolk, factory of Oxbo, the Dutch-US specialist in vegetable crop harvesting.

The new GP6300, available in four- and six-wheel guises, is about a tonne lighter than the GP1189 at a still hefty 26.3t for the six-wheeler. This is partly thanks to the switch to a smaller volume engine.

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Mounted at the very back of the machine, Scania’s 9.3-litre DC09 diesel pumps out 400hp at its peak, which is 8% down on the previous model’s 435hp from a 12.7-litre DC13.

More favourable power and torque characteristics make up for the apparent loss, say Oxbo engineers, while better fuel economy results in a trimmed fuel tank carrying a less weighty 875 litres, down 5% from 925 litres.

Traction

Tyres are now of equal size all round, namely Alliance 710/60 R30s when the previous machine had Trelleborg 710/70 R60 rubber occupying the four lead rims, paired with smaller diameter BKT 710/50 R26.5 tyres at the back.

Traction control and auto levelling – fore-and-aft as well as side-to-side – help keep the harvester on the move in tricky conditions and the podding and cleaning systems on an even keel across or up and down sloping ground.

While these are the most obvious changes, Oxbo says all chassis and internal components have been reassessed and uprated where necessary to build in greater durability and make servicing and maintenance easier.

Performance gains have been targeted by widening the in-feed and upper cleaning section for increased crop flow, while larger screen sizing has increased late-stage cleaning capacity.

On the digital tech front, Oxbo’s own suite of tools – including YieldTracker, FleetCommand, FieldCommand and DirectSteer – can be complemented by Trimble guidance and John Deere’s JDLink data management system.