Elho does not mess about with the driveline for its Cobra trailed chopper, it goes straight from the tractor to chopping cylinder, only taking a minor detour through a powerband belt. Then there is the pick-up which relies on a modified version of its crop conditioner. We were certainly intrigued after seeing it at Agritechnica so decided to find out some more details
Finnish firm Elho, always good for some off-the-wall thinking, has already brought us the Scorpio stone collector and front/rear tractor mounted Twin grass swather. It didn’t disappoint at Agritechnica last year when it showed the trailed Cobra 7710T forage harvester.
Designed for 250-400hp tractors, the result is very impressive, but before discussing the technical details the initial question concerns the reason for its development? Well, the growing season in Finland, and other Nordic countries for that matter, is too short for maize silage and livestock farmer focus is squarely with grass.
The investment in a dedicated self-propelled forage harvester for the relatively short season is a hefty one, and many contractors favour trailed machines of which there are now relatively slim pickings. While CNH Industrial owned Kongskilde is still making trailed harvesters, AGCO has now ceased manufacturing the Lely/Mengele Storm/SH40 while Pöttinger has also pulled the Mex from its price list although there are some units still floating about in dealer stock.
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