Bigger foragers need bigger tools – Kemper, Claas and Krone are all showing 16-row 12m-wide maize headers at Agritechnica 2025.
The Krone unit is on a special one-off full black version of the Big X 1180, signed by Bernard Krone. The German company confirms that the 14-row XCollect will be out next year and on sale from 2027, but we are unlikely to see the 16-row version until the next generation of wide-bodied Big X is released. They won’t say when this could be.
The big thing is figuring out the folding and getting this down to 3.0m while ensuring good visibility out through the front of the forage harvester when the header is folded.
It is 10 years since Kemper stunned Agritechnica visitors with a 20-row maize header study model. A lot of ideas from this are incorporated in the 16-row 4120 Pro concept on the stand at this year’s show. This includes shearbolt protection for the two outer wings to allow them to break back should they hit an obstruction.
A couple of test units chopped around 1,000ha this year, but Kemper says it is too early to talk about when it might be available. More work and feedback from the market is needed to see if contractors want such a wide header, is the message, although should the market want it then Kemper can deliver.
Soon to join the already announced Orbis 9000 (12-row) and 10500 (14-row) versions for the 1000 Series Claas Jaguars, three sensors on the Orbis 12000 (12m/16 rows) detect uneven ground and automatically adjust the header to the pre-selected working height.
As with the 10500, two actively controlled stabiliser wheels ensure precise ground tracking and the header folds to a transport width of 3.3m. A handful of units will be built for next year and production will start in 2027.
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