Our colleagues at Dutch machinery magazine Trekker have been able to catch up with a very special forage harvester workshop where everything is five times smaller.

KEEPING IT BRIEF

  • Martin Limpens builds models on a 1:5 scale.
  • The Jaguar 900 with the butterfly mower has a working width of 1.70m.
  • Kitted out with blades from a robot mower, the model can actually cut a lawn.
Martin Limpens is a maintenance engineer in the chemical industry.


Martin Limpens puts together his impressive fully functioning 1:5 models right from scratch. The machines work in exactly the same way as the originals. But what’s even more striking is that Martin doesn’t use any prefabricated components or plans, just a 1:32 model as a reference point to keep him on track. He only buys in the batteries, electric motors and tyres; all of the other parts are made by himself from aluminium. It’s a very laborious task; he spends hours welding, milling, turning and assembling the components in the garage beside his home. 

Millions of views

The result is impressive: not only do the models have all the functions the originals have, but his creations also look like them in so many details. Martin already has a Claas Jaguar 980 with a petrol engine and functional pick-up and chopping drum, and a Fendt Vario 1050 with Krone Tridem forage wagon on a scale of 1:4. His videos on YouTube have been clicked millions of times.

Raised on an arable farm, Martin’s long-held fascination wasn’t for beet harvesters or combine harvesters but the Claas Jaguar in all its variants. 

Impressive details

The third forage harvester, a Claas Jaguar 990 Terra Trac, is already under construction. Martin Limpens doesn’t use any drawings but relies on a smaller model for reference.

The 1:5 Jaguar was the matching model for the matching Corto mower, originally 8.70m wide but scaled down to a working width of 1.70m. Even though the pictures might not suggest it, this corresponds to twice the width of a smaller ride-on mower. 

While the drive is powered by 24V, a 12V circuit supplies the five electric motors on each of the three mowers. Like the original, lifting and folding are carried out by small cylinders, but this time they are powered pneumatically instead of hydraulically. 

Martin hasn’t counted the hours he spent constructing his models. To him, it is not enough that they can drive, he also wants them to cut and chop grass. 

The Corto 870 butterfly combination has five electric motors on each mower.
The beefy pick-up rams look very much like the real thing, but on the model they are pneumatic instead of hydraulic.
Well thought out, the sensor ensures the folded mowers cannot start.
The homebuilt compressor worked OK, but it needed too much power.
All of the lights work, right down to those on the steps. No shortage of illumination here.

To make this happen, he keeps on tinkering until he is happy with the final result. For example, he replaced the original metal strips on the Corto mower with real blades from a robot mower. For the future, Martin reckons that he may well install the control technology of an autonomous robot mower …  when he gets the time.

“Then the Jaguar could also make itself useful and cut the lawn.” Speaking of the future, Martin is currently building a Jaguar Terra Trac. “And a Claas Jaguar SF80 would appeal to me, too.”

The Jaguar 900 was Martin’s first project, but he only recently finished it.

Matthijs Verhagen

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