Biso Schrattenecker has developed a header that suits (nearly) all harvesting conditions, with its Crop Ranger model incorporating a number of sophisticated technical details. To find out more, profi tucked this intriguing header into a crop of winter wheat – back in the summer of 2001

Surely a combine header is a combine header – is a combine header. Gathering reel, slicing knife, feeding auger. Nothing more. As usual, it’s not quite that simple. There are three headers that are genuinely quite distinct and very different from the remainder of the cutterbar clan. Namely the big MF Powerflow (04/98), the Claas Vario (02/98), and the third of the trio, the Biso Crop Ranger operated here.

To kick off, we list a selection of the Biso’s most prominent features:

■ The moving cutterbar is built from a strong stainless steel. All adjustment functions are operated by its own self-contained hydraulic system, which enables the cutterbar to slide forwards steplessly – up to 70cm.

■ A roller track limits downward movement of the main reel arms on either side. This prevents the reel tines from fouling with the knife as the cutterbar moves forwards.

■ Reel tine angle setting is adjusted electrically from the cab.

■ Manual tine adjustment allows the header to be used for cutting sunflowers, with the thick tine bars acting as crop feed intake paddles.

■ The patented hydraulic reel drive is integrated within the reel’s main tube, which prevents crops from wrapping around the header.

■ Hydraulic rapeseed knives are permanently mounted on the end of the header.

They are easily hinged up or down, into or out of their working positions. Taking this latter point, conversion from cereal to rapeseed work is straightforward. Simply remove the dividers and guards from the side knives, lift these knives up into their working position, slide the cutterbar forward. And that’s about it – unless, of course, auger and tine positioning also need a tweak. The reality is that header conversion does not come very much quicker.

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