German company Kalverkamp is looking to give the gantry a new lease of life with an autonomous and electrically-powered 6.0m-24.0m version that can be used for all tasks, including cultivating, drilling, spraying and harvesting. It is the only innovation award gold medal winner at the forthcoming Agritechnica.
Called Nexat (Next generation agricultural technology), the 270-degree rotating cab is more for process monitoring and allows the vehicle to be driven manually on the road.
Hydrogen power is planned for the future, but for now the vehicle is fitted with a pair of 545hp (400kW) diesel engines with generators. Electricity created by the generators powers the four rubber tracks, which rotate through 90 degrees for transport.
The Nexat fitted with a 70m Dammann sprayer.
With the NexCo combine harvester module fitted, the vehicle is claimed to achieve throughputs of 130-200tph. The concept uses a 5.8m-long dual axial rotor mounted transverse to the direction of travel. Cutting width is 14.0m.
Väderstad is also involved with the project. The Swedish manufacturer will offer its machines as modules for the Nexat.
The 36.0m³ grain tank will be plenty large enough for most fields allowing the contents to be unloaded on headlands. Unloading at 600l/sec, the process takes around one minute.
