Many further developments to be presented by GRIMME at the Potato Europe

At this years PotatoEurope from September 13 - 14, 2017 in Emmeloord, NL, GRIMME will present several practical improvements for potato technology.

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The family company will for the first time present the new generation of the VARITRON 470 Platinum - a 435 HP powerful potato harvester on rubber tracks with standard 7 tonne NonstopBunker.

One of the main priorities is to further improve the drivers comfort. The new ErgoDrive operating concept for an easy and intuitive operation and quick control of all functions. Individual and field specific settings can be stored and retrieved conveniently by the operator.

Further more a focus was given to improvements in the whole process of digging. An optimised suspension of the axle, the displacement of the fuel tank and the use of light, stable plastic bars in the webs lead to a significantly improved weight distribution of the machine. Increased soil protection and a higher riding stability, even with full bunkers, are the result. In order to use large, soil protecting wheels 380/90 R46 instead of 270/95 R54, a telescopic front axle is available as an option.

The attachment and the deflections of all main webs have been comprehensively optimized, as well as the extracting rollers of the roller separator. This leads to a higher stability and an improved result of trash separation. The integrated stone protection system protects the entire share frame and reduces service times significantly, in case of contact with obstacles/stones in the ground. The ringlevator has a capacity of up to 200 tonnes per hour. This is about 30% more than comparable harvesters. Despite its high performance, the redesign of the elevator leads to a very gentle distribution of the crop in the pockets and a reduced impact on the crop resulting from transfer-speed. OptiBags, which are available as an option, can be used for a further increase of cleaning performance and potato protection.

The high variability of separators is unique in the market of potato harvesters. Beside the fine haulm elevator, GRIMME offers a Roller Separator or a MultiSep and is the only manufacturer that offers a VarioRS, a double MultiSep or even the combination of a Roller Separator and VarioRS or MultiSep.

Field demonstrations will be done with a trailed 2-row bunker harvester type SV 260 with an integrated Vario-RS and MultiSep and a 5.5 tonnes NonstopBunker.

In addition, the trailed three-row elevator harvester GT 300 will be presented. The GT 300 is able to dig 3 rows instead of 2. Thus harvesting capacity is increased by 50 %. Compared to the standard 2-row procedure, fewer passes improve soil protection, reduce labour time and save fuel.

For the first time, the new potato field loader, called CleanLoader, will be presented at PotatoEurope. The machine separates the vast majority of trash while in the field. For the independent in-field use of the CleanLoader it is equipped with an economical 40 kW, 4 cylinder diesel engine of HATZ/Germany (fuel consumption app. 70 l per 12 hours working day). Thus an external, separate power supply is not required. The field loader is ready to use or to move to the next field in less than 15 minutes. At the front is the proven Receiving Hopper from the RH 24-60 Combi with a volume of 19 m³, followed by two roller modules and a large inspection platform. The first of the two roller modules provides an intensive soil cleaning, while the second one can be used selectively as an additional soil cleaning unit or as a crop fractioning.

Gentle hedgehog webs transfer the crop onto the 120 wide cart elevator. The OptiBags web for additional cleaning effect is available for the cart elevator as an option. The swivelling range of 25 degree to the l/h- or r/h side (6.5 meter) require that the lorry has only to move ones for a complete trailer filling. With a 7.3 meter overloading length even small ditches are not a problem. The maximum unloading height is 6.5 m and the elevator is able to dip deepa into the transport lorry. The CleanLoader has a performance of up to 120 t/h. So a full lorry is loaded in only 15 minutes.

For the first time, GRIMME presents four potato planters at PotatoEurope: a 2-row version with fertiliser box, a 4-row cup planter, a 4-row belt planter and an 8-row foldable cup planter, called GL 860 Compacta. A 4-row rotary tiller, type GF 400 with high-performance gearbox as well as the 2-row trailed potato harvester SE 260 with NonstopBunker will also be shown.