After its first showing at the 1996 Smithfield show, the Grimme GZ1700 harvester range received enough attention over the following year to generate over 80 sales for the 1997 season. Few companies could have hoped for a more promising start for a new product, but that is not to say it all went well for the GZ range in its debut year. James de Havilland reports
If you want to buy an original UK specification 1997 Grimme GZ1700 two-row harvester, you will be disappointed. None exist. All the 80 or so machines that were sold that year were collected from customers by Grimme UK and modified to near 1998 specifications. And if you think this was a case of dealing with a few technical hitches you would be wrong.
The 1997 potato and root crop lifting season was tough and wet, and highlighted a number of weaknesses in the original design of the GZ models. Although not every GZ harvester suffered, the problems that did arise were enough for Grimme UK to take its drastic ‘rebuild them all and get it right’ action.
The modifications made to the original are too numerous to list. Suffice to say they ranged from relocating the rear axle right through to fitting stronger supports to the main web gearbox. Grimme listened to customers and simply got on with the job of getting the machines right.
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