More than any of its other notable attributes, it was the attractive design of the Fendt IDEAL combine harvester that made this machine stand out from the other candidates from 106 countries, persuading the international panel of experts to award it a platinum prize in the A’Design Award competition’s category for agriculture, horticulture and fisheries.
The award was presented at a gala evening at the Teatro Sociale in Como, Italy, recently.
According to a statement released by Fendt and its parent company, AGCO, the combine harvester had been designed entirely from scratch.
“With the Fendt IDEAL, the challenge was to work with a global, intercontinental team to meet the needs of different customers and harvesting conditions.
“The threshing mechanism and cleaning system came from the Danish firm Randers, the TrackRide from Jackson, US, and all the electronics were developed in Marktoberdorf, Bavaria [in Germany],” said the statement.
The IDEAL Combine
Farmers and contractors from around the world were asked which combine requirements they would choose if they had to design the ideal harvesting machine.
It was the culmination of this customer input, the experience of its developers, and the opportunity the company had to test the Fendt IDEAL all year round in different regions under the harshest operating conditions “that make the Fendt IDEAL the most modern and innovative combine on the market”.
The Platinum A’Design Award “confirms what we already knew, that this machine design has an important role to play in the development of new machines,” said Roland Schmidt, vice-president, Fendt marketing.
He was also quoted as saying the Fendt IDEAL was a “unique combination of innovation in technology and design” and, with the colour graphite as a design feature, the machine had a particularly high recognition value within the industry.
New threshing system
The power output of the Fendt IDEAL 7, 8 and 9 models ranges from 336kW to 483kW. The IDEAL 7 has an AGCO Power engine, while the 8 and 9 feature two different MAN engines.
The innovative threshing system is designed to provide the most efficient output and cleanest results for every type of crop and under all conditions.
According to Fendt, the IDEAL stands out from other combines due to its outstanding Single (IDEAL 7) and Dual Helix (IDEAL 8 and 9) processor, which provides the highest output and best threshing quality with gentle crop handling and low energy consumption.
The Helix processor offers the user a combination of maximum output, best grain quality and low energy consumption with optimal straw quality. To make it simpler for farmers to achieve these results, the machine is fitted with the IDEALharvest system. This automatically adjusts to a farmer’s pre-selected harvest strategy, thus achieving the best threshing results.
Using the system, the driver can quickly and easily select from three key harvesting strategies: minimise breakages, minimise grain loss or optimise grain purity.
The system also enables the driver to use the slider to prioritise throughput performance.
In addition, rotor and fan speed, top and bottom sieve openings and forward speed are continually optimised to suit the selected strategy.