In the Italian region of Forli-Cesena, harvesting grain can be a character-building experience, with the steep terrain presenting a nerve-wrecking challenge. We visited the region to see a mountaineering Massey in action.
KEEPING IT BRIEF
- The Beta AL4 is Massey Ferguson’s specialist hillside combine.
- The special chassis allows 38% lateral and 35% longitudinal slope compensation.
- Harvester measures 3.95m wide.
It’s the end of July, it’s seven o’clock in the morning and the temperature is already 25˚C. And it’s getting hotter by the hour. We are on the way to a field of durum wheat 50 kilometres east of Bologna. The weather is perfect, so surely there is nothing that can come in the way of a productive day on the combine?
Well, the steep hills of the region mean that farmers can’t use the likes of a big Lexion, Ideal, CR or X9. The rolling countryside in the Forli-Cesena region, halfway between Bologna and Rimini up in the north of the country, is well suited to growing wine and, thanks to the mild climate, it is also ideal for growing fruit and vegetables. But there are also livestock and arable farmers in the area taking on the tough challenge of working the challenging terrain.
Late in the morning we arrive with our host, contractor Pierangelo Biserni. As well as harvesting grain, he also bales straw for the local livestock farmers. His Massey Ferguson 7360 Beta AL4 is just opening a new field, which is only 1.5ha but it has a gradient of 28% — in other words, in a mere 70 metres, it drops down 20 metres!
Even just driving a tractor up the hill is a challenge. If you were to try and cut the corn using a non-levelling combine, you may as well save the diesel and not bother, as the grains would just end up out the back … that is if the five walkers and the rest of the threshing components could keep the crop moving through the machine.
Keeping things on the level
The answer for harvesting crops on such steep ground is the special self-levelling chassis, with AL4 being added to the Beta 7360 model name. This allows the combine to not only climb the hills but also keep its five straw walkers level. Angle sensors on the harvester’s front axle constantly transmit their position to the electronics system that then fine-tunes the hydraulics.
Lateral levelling is taken care of by a pair of hydraulic cylinders on the pivoting front axle. This configuration allows the AL4 to pivot sideways, compensating for gradients of up to 38%. Longitudinal levelling is also achieved with two hydraulic cylinders; these are linked to the rear parallelogram on the back axle. The parallelogram is connected to the machine frame farther to the front and to the swivel bearing on the combine’s rear axle.
The amount of movement on the rear allows the AL4 to compensate for uphill gradients of up to 35% (when the cylinders are fully extended) and downhill gradients of up to 10% (the cylinders are fully retracted). With this set-up, the harvester can simultaneously compensate for both lateral and transverse slopes.
The enormous range of movement is easier to see when the machine is parked on level ground and the rams are fully extended. This allows the Beta AL4 to take on even steeper terrain than Massey’s less extreme Paralevel model, which has a conventional chassis that allows it to stay level on gradients of 20%.
Deceptive safety
We take the passenger seat as Pierangelo opens up the next field. It doesn’t just slope in one direction, so you can’t simply drive around the perimeter of the field, not even with a self-levelling system.
Pierangelo follows the contours of the hillside to help keep the gradient consistent. He always has one eye on two screens that show the current tilt of the combine. Even as a passenger, you still feel safe in the cab, which, as well as the usual modern comforts, also keeps you sitting almost level despite the steep hill.
Looking down at the 5.40m header you get a glimpse of the reality. When the auger is struggling to feed the dry durum wheat (yielding 5.0t/ha ) ‘up’ to the elevator, a discreet beep warns the operator that the chassis has almost reached its end position. We couldn’t completely grasp the steepness of the slope. It was only when we got out of the cab that we realised what the system was capable of achieving. Pierangelo grinned: “Yes, we have to keep a cool head, even at temperatures of 38°C.”
To help maintain as low a centre of gravity as possible, even the lids on the grain tank are kept closed. Likewise, unloading into a trailer while on the move is an absolute no- go for obvious reasons.
The Massey Ferguson’s climbing capabilities are best displayed when driving uphill; its four-wheel drive allows the tyres to cling to the hillside. The AL4 has sturdy and effective disc brakes on both front wheels.
3.95m transport width
So why don’t we see these combines closer to home; after all, we have steep fields, too? The answer is easy: the Beta 7360 AL4 has one obvious drawback — its nearly 4.00m wide, which is necessary for a secure footing but not so good when it comes to navigating public roads.
The Massey Ferguson 7360 AL4 is a real mountaineer and reaches hard-to-access sites. Its athleticism and acrobatics are pretty impressive. Nevertheless, caution remains the best way to harvest safely under these spectacular conditions.
UP AND DOWN, AGAIN AND AGAIN
On the rolling hills in the Forli-Cesena region, you can enjoy a great view in great weather. We spotted this special tracked Fiatagri in the distance preparing the area’s heavy soils for next season’s crop.
With a two-furrow plough, the tracked tractor was only ploughing downhill. Uphill, the 163hp machine has enough on its plate to just pull itself and the small raised plough back to the top.
In the blazing midday heat, a hat is the operator’s only means of keeping cool, with the engine and transmission adding to the heat below the driver’s seat. The operator told us this was his fifth day in the one field, rolling over the heavy clays at about 12in deep.
Tobias Bensing
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