Photo: Krone
The Krone Big X 1180 is the flagship of the company’s forager fleet. Equipped with a 24-litre 850kW Liebherr V12 engine, it is the most powerful forage harvester currently available.
The extra power produces greater throughput and drives larger, 305mm-diameter conditioning rollers, which in turn increase the size and speed of the friction surface area.
The special rollers rotate at different speeds and the differential can vary from 30% to 50%, while teeth slanted at an angle provide a unique shearing effect.
The OptiMax 305 roller conditioner ensures exceptional crop intake and treatment, even when the chopping length is longer than usual.
Servicing and cleaning have been improved. The new roller conditioner rests in massive,
easy-to-service bearings, extending service life, and the temperature of the bearings is displayed on the screen in the cab to ensure reliable and safe operation. In addition, large service openings simplify cleaning.
The conditioner rollers are mounted in very large spring assemblies that allow the rollers to exert a consistently high pressure on the crop, resulting in intensive kernel and fibre treatment
Advanced features
Easyload, the automatic filling system from Krone, features camera-based 3D image analysis technology that enables convenient filling of trailers running alongside the harvester.
The system allows the operator to select various filling strategies, such as ‘front to rear’, and monitor all machine functions.
In future, the system will control auto filling into trailers following the harvester, necessary when opening up the land. This feature is undergoing trials and will be available soon. A retrofit version will also be available.
Moisture and nutrient meter
An optional Dynamica Generale AgriNIR online sensor supplies accurate data on the crop’s moisture and nutrient levels.
It also supplies crop information including dry matter, starch, crude protein, crude ash, crude fat, acid detergence fibres and neutral detergence fibres. This is stored on the Krone terminal, where it can be processed.
Joe Spencer is the mechanisation editor of Farmer’s Weekly.
