Irish company Keltec Engineering’s latest front-mounted mower can be steered from the tractor cab to eliminate uncut strips of grass when turning in field corners.
This is believed to be the only standard mower on the market that can be steered from the tractor. Earlier this year Claas and Sauter launched a steerable front linkage while Valtra has also previously shown a similar concept.
On the Keltec, the mower can be manually steered through an arc of approximately 16 degrees using a double-acting hydraulic ram.
To do this the firm has had to redesign the mower suspension linkage to allow lateral movement between the tractor and mower.
The seven disc mower bed is sourced from Italian company Comer. This is the same unit that is utilised in the 3.00m KM300 rear-mounted and trailed mower conditioner as well as the KM600B rear butterfly.
The new 1.4t steerable front mower will be offered alongside the fixed front mower.
Keltec initially developed an auger based grouper for fitting other makes of mowers before introducing its first rear mounted model at the FTMTA show in 2015. The trailed model was added the following year and the rear butterfly in 2018. Keltec says the auger based merger can save up to a tonne in weight, putting less stress on the rear of the tractor.
Founded in 1988, Keltec Engineering is based in Killmallock, Co Limerick and is best known for its self-loading bale trailer and bale slicer.
