Growers needing to reconfigure their harvester to handle different vegetable crops will find it an easier job on the latest version of Grimme’s two-row, self-propelled Varitron.

Standardising the design of front-end equipment couplings means it should be quicker to swap intake components when setting up for different harvesting conditions and crops – potatoes, carrots or windrowed onions, for example.

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

Elsewhere on the latest Varitron, a new spiral roller is offered for the MultiSep roller separator.

It makes use of a different material for greater wear resistance and a spiral profile almost twice as deep as the previous design for increased separation performance.

Crop lifting component swaps are said to be quicker and easier © Grimme

Grimme also reckons the availability of a double separator setup, together with a fine haulm elevator, is unique for a machine of this size.

The clod/crop separating section has two separator units as standard, comprising either a pair of MultiSep units (pairs of spiral and smaller plain rollers across the crop flow direction) or a MultiSep unit in combination with an RS roller separator, which features multiple spiral rollers inline with the crop flow.

The latter, which tends to be an aggressive cleaning-and-separating device, can be avoided when necessary by bringing the gentler TwinSep plain rollers into play.

Claas cab

In common with several other self-propelled harvester manufacturers, Grimme has adopted the Claas X11 cab for the Varitron.

There is extra leg room, clearer visibility all round, LED work lights and a two-zone climate control air conditioning system for the operator, who perches on a swivelling leather seat.

All machine functions are controlled and monitored through a CCI 1200 terminal with Grimme’s own digital interface.

Two additional cameras eliminating blind spots at the rear of the machine take the SmartView video system to a total of 13 visual monitoring feeds in and around the harvester.

An integrated crop yield measuring and mapping system is also available.

These updates apply to all versions of the Varitron.

The 270 in all-wheel or Terra Trac form has a tracked unit on the left side and features a 7t bunker and wide unloading elevator for non-stop lifting.

The 220 comes in Terra Trac form only with a 2t buffer bunker and elevator suited to unloading into boxes.