Driving impression: For the 1994 harvest season, Claas developed a new generation of self-propelled forage harvesters. With engine power outputs up to 481hp DIN and a 75cm wide chopping cylinder, the Jaguar 860 and 880 promised a new level of performance. profi subjected a pre-production Jaguar 880 to a practical test
Astylish new range of powerful self-propelled forage harvesters – the Jaguar 820, 840, 860 and 880 models – have replaced the established 600 series from Claas. The larger two models, the 860 and 880, were introduced in 1994 followed by the smaller machines, the 820 (230kW/313hp) and 840 (269kW/363hp), in 1995. With its new models, Claas wanted to establish a new performance category beyond the previous flagship, the Jaguar 695 SL Mega, and improve ease of maintenance and conversion of the machines to different harvesting tasks.
The 860 and 880 have the same engine – the V-8 cylinder OM 442 LA from Mercedes – but different power outputs. In the Jaguar 880, the engine delivers 354kW/481hp, whereas in the Jaguar 860 this is reduced to 305kW/415hp.
The appearance of the new Jaguar is striking. But changes are not limited to the outward design since many of the principle mechanical components have been altered substantially.
In the compression and chopping assembly two upper and two lower pre-compression rollers feed the crop into the chopping cylinder and, as before, the first lower roller is equipped with a metal detector. Throughput on the previous Jaguar 695 was ultimately limited by the width of the feed intake so, to make full use of the increased engine power, Claas has widened the compression and chopping assembly on the new Jaguar range to 75cm.
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