New Holland Agriculture, working with its supplier Kemper, has developed an eight-row maize header with the Stalkbuster.
Described as a simple but effective solution to eliminate the corn borer at harvest, the Stalkbuster’s flails smash stubble into small pieces down to the ground. This action destroys the overwintering habitat for the corn borer, which has become a serious issue in many maize growing regions causing sigificant yield reductions.
Integrated into the base frame of the rotary header, the Stalkbuster comprises a swinging gearbox with integrated ratchet clutch that swings the flails to break up the stubble before it can be flattened by the wheels of the self-propelled harvester.
The design of the swinging gearbox ensures optimum ground following and a pneumatic pressure system provides for additional soft tracking of ground contours. If the forager needs to reverse, the Stalkbuster units are automatically lifted when the drive lever is actioned, preventing damage.
An Agritechnica gold medal winner at the last show two years ago, the Stalkbuster’s power consumption is a claimed low 4hp per row. A further advantage of smashing the stubble to ground level is that there are no bulky harvest residues for following tillage operations.
