A few weeks ago, a rumour arose that Krone was testing a reverse drive forage harvester. Wanting to know if the rumours were true, we called the machinery maker based at Spelle.
After promising not to reveal any of the technical details we soon found ourselves on-route to go see the prototype machine in action and we have to say we were impressed.
Suitable for use on tractors such as the Claas Xerion 5000 or Fendt Vario 1050, Krone says the prototype machine has to be at least as good as the comparable Big X 480 in terms of output, fuel consumption and chop quality. The drum-based chopping unit comes from the Big X and the test machine can be coupled to the firm’s six- to 10-row maize headers, grass pick-up and the direct cut wholecrop unit. As with the Big X self-propelleds the header and feed rollers are hydraulically driven.
On our visit the prototype chopper was using an eight-row EasyCollect maize header. This combination weighs 6.0-7.0t and is attached to the reverse drive tractor’s rear linkage.
Although the prototype is performing well, Krone says it is still at the beginning of the development project for the mounted harvester. The big question, is there enough demand for a reverse drive harvester and to gauge reaction Krone wants to hear your thoughts by emailing them – abh-entwicklung@krone.de
