[Equipment] Bringing in the harvest

This year’s Nampo saw the introduction of new harvesting equipment designed for both large farms and small-scale operators.

[Equipment] Bringing in the harvest
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1. Challenger 520C Harvester 
Powered by an AGCO Sisu Power 8,4-litre engine rated at 234kW, the Challenger 520C has a fourspeed hydrostatic transmission. The Advanced Harvesting System rotor performs four major functions- feeding, threshing, separation and discharge – all via a single rotor, improving the quality of the harvested crop, reducing losses and lowering operating costs, without the augers, drives, gears and discharge rotors of conventional combines.

2. Case IH WD 1203
This self-propelled windrower is powered by a 4,5-litre turbocharged and intercooled fourcylinder engine rated at 94kW. The deluxe cab models have dualspeed hydrostatic transmission and achieve a road speed of 26,5km/h. Of particular interest to South African operators is the radiator screen cleaning system. A rotary vacuum wand cleans the entire screen, removing dust and debris to ensure efficient engine cooling, vital in dusty local conditions.

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3. BP Implements 175 Combine BP 
The basic 175 can be fitted with a singlerow, a 2 x 0,9m row, or a 1,5m dry bean or sunflower header. The lightweight but sturdy construction makes it ideal for South African conditions. Capacity: up to 4t/h at speeds from 4km/h to 8km/h with a tractor of 35kW to 60kW, depending on field conditions.

4. Honey Bee Grain Beltheader
This 11m grain belt straight-cut header manufactured by the Honey Bee Company of Frontier, Canada, is designed to move the crop smoothly to the feeder housing, greatly improving harvesting efficiency. Cutter height is claimed to be the lowest in the industry and the header has excellent flotation and ground-hugging ability.

READ MORE: Nampo harevst Day gallery

Lateral and vertical leaf spring suspension allows the header to float independently of the combine’s OEM accumulator flotation system. The 1 067mm wide ‘Raptor’ drapers are made of heavy-duty, long-lasting rubberised polyester with fibreglass reinforced slats and tie-bar connectors to guarantee a long life.

5. Standen Pearson QM Potato Harvester
Eqstra Holdings has added the British-built Standen Pearson potato equipment to its agricultural portfolio. The Quality Master (QM) potato harvester is simple, and easy to operate and maintain. It is shorter than many other similar machines and therefore highly manoeuvrable. Weighing only about 3,5t, it can be handled by tractors as small as 50kW. The simple but highly effective Galaxy star cleaning system uses less power than axial rollers and delivers high-quality, damagefree produce suitable for processors and supermarkets.

6. Agromaster two-row double-sieve potato harvester
Two sieves driven by the tractor PTO separate the potatoes from the soil and leave them on the surface of the ground. The segmented harvesting blade penetrates as deep as 250mm.

Omnia’s plot combine
Omnia’s research and development division has imported the Wintersteiger AG test plot combine from Austria as part of its research programme. The modular system makes it suitable for all harvesting conditions and the dimensions and low weight ensure easy transportation.

The combine has a multifunction lever for all driving and harvesting functions and power steering and a hydrostatic drive train. The wide range of bagging and sampling methods, in addition to the automatic weighing system with moisture measurement, can be adjusted to suit requirements.

New Holland shows off ‘the works’
At Nampo, the 558mm rotors used in the New Holland CR9080 and 9090 combines were configured with all the available options. The model was also equipped with the latest innovation – the dynamic feed roll and stone-protection system. New Holland invented the Twin Rotor concept more than 35 years ago and has been refining the technology ever since to offer farmers combines with increasing capacity and improved grain and straw quality.

The rotor vanes can be adjusted to either accelerate or slow down the crop flow, regulating the time available to thresh and separate the grain. To accommodate a variety of crops, it is easy to change concaves and separation grates. Options range from very fine wire for small grains to round bar concaves for maize and soya beans.

The opened-up display of the CR rotor (above) demonstrates the flexibility of the concept. The Twin Rotors can be customised by changing the rasp bars, agitation pins and separating wedges for excellent threshing and separation, whatever the conditions in the crop.