Practical test: It’s reckoned that short-chopped straw mixes easily and takes up animal waste very effectively. If you’d like your livestock or poultry operation literally to draw the short straw (or would like to offer it to your customers) then Claas’s 49-knife FineCut big baler system could fit the crop-packaging bill
Back in 2006 Claas came up with the 1.2m x 1.0m chamber Quadrant 3400. Two years later it produced the smaller Quadrant 3200, whose 1.2m x 0.7m chamber was a hit. Since then it’s gone on to launch the Fine Cut (FC) version, able to slice material down to 20mm. This field test explores that system plus the current baler’s revisions.
Starting at the front — where else? — you’ll find the Claas Power Feeding System, or PFS. This kicks off with a 2.1m pick-up carrying four rows of cam-controlled tines.
While this pick-up breaks no width records it certainly stands out on performance, never giving us cause for complaint about the way it clears crop. That’s quite an achievement, because we were working in damp silage grass, hay and brittle straw at speeds up to 25km/hr. The pick-up’s accumulator based hydraulic suspension set-up deserves a mention at this point, at least from an operating standpoint. Be sure to not leave its s/a spool in float position after lowering
For more up-to-date farming news click here and subscribe now to profi and save
