Progressive development of the Puma four-row self-propelled potato harvester has reached its peak, says manufacturer AVR Machinery.

The latest version, it says, packs more power, runs on larger tyres with increased steering angles, and has 20% more cleaning area for greater daily output.

The crop bunker on the fifth-generation machine is also revised to quickly discharge a bigger load, and the haulm and cleaning mechanisms have been fine-tuned to further reduce potentially spud-bruising crop drops.

See also: How potato growers are saving costs with combi planters

First up, more power: now 551hp, so 82hp or 17% up on the previous version, together with a substantially upgraded hydraulic system.

The out-front haulm topper gets a 40% power increase to deal more effectively with tough or abundant foliage, and more power is available to the sieving webs, which are now individually reversible for maximum control flexibility.

Crop cleaning surface area has been increased in total by some 20%, with AVR’s Varioweb combination of pintle belt (now 10% longer) and spiral roller continuing to play a key role with its ability to expose none or as many rollers as necessary for prevailing conditions.

Angle adjustment from the cab is a new feature for tweaking on the move or compensating for uphill and downhill inclines.

More capacity

Crop bunker volume is increased by 25% or up to 10t, and by raising the structure on parallel linkage by 40cm it empties faster. 

Also, the new design’s elevator can unload across four unharvested rows, which should be handy when opening up.

Connecting redesigned haulm rollers to the nose roller of the following sieving web reduces drop height, and roller position can be carried out from the side of the machine or from the cab – as can the full-width haulm guide rakes.

Operators monitoring digger unit loading get a better view, now that this assembly has been moved a little further forward.

And the ACC digging unit is now attached to the chassis using quick couplings, an arrangement that allows front-end swaps – to lift onions, for example – in less than half an hour, says AVR.

Apart from fitting larger rear tyres – tracks are also available – front- and rear-axle steering angles have been increased by 5deg and 4deg, respectively, to further improve manoeuvrability of the 15m-long, 28.5t machine.

Operators, meanwhile, get to enjoy the roomier Claas X11 cab with its further improved panoramic visibility and adjustable sun blinds for all windows, enhanced LED work lights, front, rear and side wipers, and two-zone auto-climate air conditioning.

All remote camera feeds – up to 18 of them – are now shown on one large display, and AVR Connect telematics provide minute-by-minute data recording and machine monitoring with remote diagnostics.