Krone forager news: Check out these updates

As we look ahead to Agritechnica 2017 – Europe’s and possibly the world’s biggest showcase for farm machinery innovations – the big German manufacturers, such as Krone, are gearing up for the exhibition.

Lest we forget territories outside of Europe, check out the striking livery on this Krone BiG X forager (below) – stationed in Platteville, Wisconsin (USA). It appears that the likes of Fendt are not the only manufacturers to embrace special ‘black’ editions.

This picture was tweeted by Krone America – in a bid to energise fans of the brand and prospective owners alike. Not only was the machine wearing a new coat of paint; it was “rocking” its black livery.

Krone America in Platteville, Wisconsin rocking the black BiG X! pic.twitter.com/OR8kBxW07v
— Krone America (@KroneAmerica) September 16, 2017

In other Krone forager news, the company’s latest variable-width EasyCollect maize head can now also be adapted to fit third-party forage harvesters – i.e. machines from other manufacturers.

This, apparently, is Krone’s response to the “strong demand” for the EasyCollect in the broader forage harvester market. The reason for this, claims Krone, is the “better quality chop” that can result from an EasyCollect head.

“A lot of customers are delighted with how reliable and smooth-running the EasyCollect is and the fact that it also works really well in downed crops,” said Wolfgang Jung, Krone Managing Director Service and Parts.

What’s more, we have also managed to significantly minimise wear and tear and therefore reduce operating costs as well.

The principle of the continuously-running collector works as follows: The maize stalks are grouped and guided past fixed blades, cut off and fed lengthwise into the feed-rollers and chopper. The lengthwise entry is said to improve chopping precision and reduce the proportion of over-lengths.

With collector speed adjustment included as standard, Krone claims that “consistent transfer of the maize plants into the feed-rollers is assured in all conditions and with all cut lengths”.

Another supposed benefit of the EasyCollect head is that – thanks to its collector principle – Krone has been able to reduce the number of different components and drives, compared to a “conventional” maize head. The benefit, says the company, is lower power input.

Depending on the type of forage harvester, the EasyCollect can be equipped with optional active ground contour following and an automatic steering system.

The variable-width EasyCollect head is available in working widths of 4.5m, 6m, 7.5m and 9m (six, eight, 10 and 12 rows).

In other recent forager news, Krone took the wraps off its new generation of forage harvesters – in advance of this year’s Agritechnica show in Germany. Amongst the updates is a new eye-catching cab lift system.