John Deere is showing its new top of the range 7950 self-propelled forage harvester for the first time at the 2010 Dairy Event & Livestock Show, as well as new models from the 5M Series tractor range, which are also making their show debut, and the 2010 round baler range.
John Deere’s 7050i Series foragers with HarvestLab dry matter sensing and AutoLOC (Automatic Length Of Cut) allow fast, accurate and automatic adjustment of chop length, which increases fuel efficiency as well as delivering optimum silage quality.
All models can also be equipped with an engine/speed management system which, when linked to the Pro Drive transmission, provides additional fuel savings.
A choice of three modes enables the operator to simply tune the SPFH, at the press of a button, for maximum harvesting efficiency.
According to independent tests by DLG and profi in Germany, this system can result in fuel savings of up to 14.7 litres/ha – with the result that the grass crop can be harvested using as little as 0.7 litres of fuel/tonne, which is over 30 per cent less than other machines tested.
Taking crop readings 17 times per second, HarvestLab has also been independently verified by DLG to provide +/-2 per cent accuracy.
Using the forager’s AutoLOC transmission linked to the HarvestLab system, the operator can set dry matter and chop length information on the in-cab GreenStar 2600 touch screen display prior to work, according to end user requirements.
As the forage dry matter within a field varies due to differences in soil, seed varieties and other external factors such as trees on the headlands, AutoLOC automatically adjusts the chop length in 1mm increments based on the preset values, to produce the optimum feed quality from the harvested crop.
