It is not often something new comes along in the world of mowing, but Kuhn has managed to do just that with the GMD15030. This fully-mounted machine has a working width of 14.5m using four 3.1m, seven-disc beds at the rear and paired with either a 3.1m wide GMD plain or FC-F conditioner front mower (the latter allowing the grass to be placed in a narrower swath, so it is less likely to be driven over).
The 3.8t rear unit folds to a 3.0m wide, sub-4.0m tall package. To do this it uses the housing of the gearbox between the two outer units to form a 180-degree hinge. The two mowers are also synchronised rather than being offset so there is no additional overlap. A ram between the two beds limits the amount of movement when in-work from -4.0˚ to +6.0˚.
The left and right wings have hydraulic breakback and there are friction clutches on either side to protect the driveline. Power requirement is said to be in the region of 230hp and at 15km/hr it would be possible to drop 20ha/hr less the mowing time lost to headland turns. A price has not yet been announced.
With the outer sections folding back on themselves the overall on-road width is 3.0m.
The gearbox forms the pivot point for the two mowers.
This ram controls the mower movement in work for contour following. The two mowers are synchronised, so the overlap is no different than on the other discs.
But the GMD 15030 was not the only mower news at the Kuhn press conference. The French machinery maker is also offering an auger based merger on a new butterfly mower, the GMD 9530RV which is aimed at bulky forage crops up to 2.0m tall.
Tucked in behind each mower is a 500mm diameter auger that operates at up to 900rpm, directing the crop to the centre where is can create a 1.60m to 2.20m wide row. The hydraulic sideshift of up to 50cm on each mower is partly used to set the swath size. The augers are primarily protected by a cam clutch, with a shear bolt as the last line of defence against a foreign object. The augers themselves have replaceable wear edges made of Hardox steel.
The GMD 9530RV’s auger merger can be paired with a non-conditioner or conditioner front mower.
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