TransFarmer - an innovative harvest performer

Gentle logistics for sensitive agricultural goods

Advertisement

At the Agritechnica 2017, Fliegl Trailer is presenting a semi-trailer which is a completely new development. The TransFarmer is a three-axle with a box body made of abrasion-resistant quality aluminium. With its lightweight steel chassis, it takes an innovative place in Fliegl’s sustainable Greenlight Series. A unique selling point is the left side wall on the body: this can be lowered hydraulically by 7600mm. This reduces the drop height when harvesting potatoes, carrots, onions, cucumbers etc., crops have a soft landing, which minimises damage and rejects. So the Transfarmer is helping to meet the high quality standards of food-processing firms. For measured unloading, the two-wing rear door of the tipper (on swivel bearings with rubber seal and two grain hatches) can be raised steplessly.

In designing the TransFarmers Fliegl Trailer collaborated with the harvesting technology manufacturer Horsch. The trailer frame has mountings for the Horsch Trailer Lift - a type of dolly with caterpillar drive, which raises the vehicle hydraulically for use in the field and moves it over the land with low ground pressure. The Trailer Lift arms can be locked separately, so that the trailer can also be coupled and uncoupled in the normal way.

All of the know-how from Fliegl’s tipper trailer range has been poured into the TransFarmer:

• The curved frame front lowers the empty weight of the trailer and increases payload. It also brings a boost for stability, as the vertical forces are optimally bundled and transferred to the fifth-wheel coupling plate. On the underside of the curved chassis, there is a steel guide which is arched slightly upwards, simplifying the hitching process and preventing damage. The rounded shape also makes manoeuvring easier since, with no corner areas, there is more room for the tractor to move.

• The tapered body shape represents lower life cycle costs and environmentally conscious transport. The tapered shape reduces air drag and rolling resistance and is one of the features that won it the European Transport Prize for sustainability.

• Special air deflectors optimise the aerodynamics. The diaphragm back wall significantly reduces air turbulence at the rear.

The new Fliegl TransFarmer weighs about 5895 kg empty, and the (technical) payload is about 33105 kg. The body is about 2150 mm high and holds about 48 m³. The body floor is 6 mm thick throughout, and the inclined front wall with outside cylinder mounting is 5 mm. The side walls are precisely welded with 30 mm hollow section profiles, and the upper beam structure prevents bulk material from falling off. The structural rigidity has been certified to EN 12642 standard. The equipment includes a roll-up tarpaulin, hydraulic parking jacks and an automatic lift axle (first axle), with forced lowering and traction assist. As standard, Fliegl measures all axles by laser individually and exactly - for lower tyre wear and lower fuel consumption. The Transfarmer is delivered with EG 2007/46 type approval.

With its variable body side wall and the advantages of the caterpillar drive, Fliegl’s TransFarmer sets a new standard for harvest logistics. It increases earnings quality, makes the time-consuming and technology-intensive transloading at the field edge unnecessary, shortens the turnaround times, requires less manpower, and lowers the energy requirement. Between the harvests, it can act as a fully-fledged tipper trailer for a variety of year-round operating tasks such as transporting pellets or wood chips. In 2017, a dozen Transfarmers successfully completed their pilot phase in North-German agrilogistics.