With recent developments of a small diameter flexible ground following pick-up and other innovations, we are now able to make wide pick-ups that follow contours and handles all types of silage crops.
With the pick-ups in front of the wheels, not driving on the crop results in a less aggressive setting of the pick up. Not dragging the crop across the surface like a rotary rake, reduces the amount of dirt and thus lower ash contents in the fodder.
Over the last 30 years rotary rakes have become the standard for raking silage that has been cut and spread for field drying. In a limited scale mergers (Bandschwader) have been used to handle sensitive crops like alfalfa, however using large diameter rigid pick-ups, these machines have never been able to handle all different grass conditions well.
With recent developments of a small diameter flexible ground following pick-up, the rules have changed. Because of the combination of different innovations we are now able to make wide pick-ups that follow contours and will handle all types of grasses (spring high sugar, summer dry low volume and autumn high protein high moisture crops). The Merger combines these characteristics in a unique package.
Not driving on the crop first means the machine does not need to pick the forage out of a wheel track which results in a general less aggressive setting and a lower ash contents in the fodder. As a result the dairy farmer will see an improved milk yield, while feeding cleaner fodder (which has a significant lower ash content) and a better overall financial performance of his farm. The financial relation between ash content and financial benefit is proven in several studies.
The operator will have better visibility on the job which will result in better adjustments, less fatigue hence a better and safer operation.
Through clever use of the wide contour following pick-ups the Merger can make uniform windrows at 6, 11.5, 22 or even 30 meters spacing, tailoring to every yield and every type of harvester (chopper, loader wagon or baler).
Being able to present the harvester, especially forage harvesters with the right size windrow and the right amount of crop will dramatically improve field efficiency of the harvesting chain reducing operational cost, fuel usage and wear.
Reducing the amount of foreign objects in the crop will reduce wear on components in choppers and loader wagons/balers. In addition this type of merger will enable a higher speed while merging the crop, resulting in a more timely and cost effective operation.
Where conventional rakes often span a length of over 12 meters on the road, the Merger folds down to a neat 7,5 meters length, within 3 meters width and 4 meters height, making it an efficient and safe machine on the road, moving efficiently between fields.
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