Windrower final piece in Grimme three-bed system
Windrower final piece in Grimme three-bed system
By Andy Collings
GRIMME would claim to have now completed its three-bed potato system, after the introduction a three-bed windrower and three-bed topper.
The firms armoury in this division already includes three-bed bedformers, tillers, destoners and planters.
Using the same chassis as the Grimme three-bed destoner, the RL6000 windrower is designed to lift potatoes from beds either side of the central bed and deposit them on to the as yet unharvested central bed.
A two-row harvester, self-propelled or trailed, is used to harvest the remaining bed and pick up the windrowed potatoes in one pass.
"It is a way of realising the full harvesting potential of a modern high capacity harvester," says Michael Alsop, managing director of Grimme UK. "The harvester, particularly in light crops, would normally have to be driven too fast to achieve this."
Features of the pto powered RL6000 include hydraulically driven rear wheels, independent depth control for each 1.7m wide windrower and use of a twin web/Multi-Sep lifting and cleaning system. An RS roller separator can be specified to replace the Multi-Sep unit.
For transport the 6m wide harvester folds hydraulically to create a width of 3m. Price of the RL6000 has yet to be announced.
Grimmes three-bed topper unit comprises three pto-powered units – the central one is mounted on a tractors front linkage.
Employing flails, Grimme has tried to improve crop pulverisation by placing adjustable shear plates at the front of the unit.
An interesting option is for the rear section of each of the toppers to be fitted with haulm deflecting hoods which not only help to keep chopped haulm off the actual potato plants but provides a space for a spray nozzle to be fitted and enable a desiccating chemical to be applied to the remaining plant top. Chemical is stored in a 500-litre tank.
"This system allows a reduced volume of chemical to be used," says Mr Alsop. "We have plans to increase the number of spray nozzles from the current single nozzle to as many as three to ensure the whole of the remaining plant receives a coating of desiccant."
In company trials, the topper unit was used to apply 1 litre/ha of Reglone to a green crop of Dell. This was followed two weeks later by a further conventional sprayer application of 1 litre/ha. The crop was lifted after two weeks.
On a crop of Cara a full rate of 3 litres/ha of Harvest was applied using the topper with the crop lifted within five weeks.
Power requirement for the three-bed topper is a minimum of 110hp. Production, says Grimme, will start early next year with prices likely to be about £30,000. *