Tracked forager

[DieselRob]

Just seen this on YouTube, are there any tracked machines in the uk or is this a special build for someone?

 

[RobFZS]

probably built for maize harvest fo them AD plants

 

[DaveJ]

The one in the video is operated by a Dutch grass/lucerne drying plant. They've been using variations with tyres instead of tracks for many years, long before AD became popular. I'm not 100% sure, but think the conversions are done in house by Claas.

 

[DieselRob]

They certainly look the part with articulated steering and offset crabbing

 

[Niels]

@DaveJ Is spot on. It is owned by grass and lucerne drying plant Hartog Abbekerk. They run two of them and have a long tradition of running wheeled and tracked articulated forage harvesters which are build/designed in house. Claas have agreed to supply the tracks and helped with the arrangement but didn't build the machine. It is a difficult subject for them because the kit really needs to be CE-regulated etc etc lots of rules. These machines don't move on the road which makes it a little easier.

They do harvest a little maize but mainly earn their keep in lucerne and some grass.

One of their first creations from the good old Mengele era! http://pictures.tractorfan.nl/groot/m/mengele/505440-mammut-mengele.jpg

 

[franklin]

Must be some dosh in dried grass then, considering your other blog posts about the price of land and intensivity of bulb and root production.

 

[massey765]

It must be 2012 spec

 

[Niels]

Must be some dosh in dried grass then, considering your other blog posts about the price of land and intensivity of bulb and root production.

Grass not so much. Usually fourth or fifth cuts of grass in the autumn are chopped by drying plants and pelleted as they are difficult to bale or clamp. But i'm not a cow man so don't know the details!

It's lucerne mainly and certainly a good business. The intensive cropping needs a good 2-3 year crop of lucerne. Roots very deep and lovely soil structure after it. Price isn't any different than wheat and you never have to look at it. Only real issue is when you get a wet spring machines destroy the crop and you get bad regrowth. Hence the tracks! The area Hartog operate in is also renowed for it's low lying soils, wet, peat etc.. so can use some floating power.

 

[Philip Watkins]

The french way with lucerne.
http://forum.grostracteurspassion.com/viewtopic.php?f=100&t=5939&start=40