Kleine is latest firm to offer self-propelled cleaner-loader

Goodbye to beet loading shovels? German beet harvester manufacturer Franz Kleine is the latest company to offer a self-propelled cleaner-loader on the British market, with plans to introduce it for the 2010 season.

“We are currently arranging talks with the sugar sector in England and, after its launch at this year’s Agritechnica, will be testing our new RL 350V cleaner-loader on East Anglian farms next season,” announced sales manager Alfred Kassmann.

“This is a self-propelled machine that can load 30t of harvested beet into field-side trucks within four minutes – and make a good job of cleaning the roots at the same time.”

Fuel consumption for such an operation averages just 2.12 litres diesel, according to Mr Kassmann.

The RL 350V has a 10m pick-up which folds to 3m for road travel at maximum 20 mph. Loading height is up to 6m over a distance of 13.5m with 15m side reach optional. “We’ve seen that loading beet trucks from the field in Britain is usually with telescopic loader and shovel and therefore very slow and damaging to the soil with the beet not being cleaned in the process,” added Mr Kassmann. “We want to change all this with our new 325hp loader-cleaner.”