Driving impression: The Claas RU600 maize header works across rows, at varying row widths and with the four large rotating discs swallowing two crop rows apiece. In total, it munches through eight rows in a single pass. profi had the opportunity to test the 6m wide design at the end of last year’s forage season
When Claas introduced its six row RU450 in 1996, it was clear that the firm would need something bigger – and soon. In short, Claas needed an eight-row response to its big rival, Kemper.
That response came at the end of last year in the shape of the RU600, albeit still only in pre-production format. Sadly, however, here in the UK we’re unlikely to see the four rotor header on sale before 2001.
Still, no harm in taking a peek at what’s in store when the RU flagship does finally make it across the Channel.
So, how does the new boy differfrom Claas’s current rotary offering, the 4.5m wide three-rotor/four-row RU450? Well, much of the theory is shared. As on the 450, the 600’s rotors each feed two rows of maize into the auger, the stalks caught between the rotors’ top discs and the cutting discs that counter-rotate underneath. Claas claims that it is this counter rotating action, in combination with a throttle valve, that allows engagement of the header’s belt drive system while the engine is revving at full speed.
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