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Claas recently rolled out its 300,000th machine.
Patent number 372140 won’t be very important to many, but to one of the world’s largest manufacturers of harvest equipment it was a building block to the future.
The patent for a knotter to bind straw was granted to Claas in 1921, and to this day it remains part of the company logo.
That knotter was used on stationary balers in the early years and became part of the company’s first pick-up baler in 1934. Claas recently its 300,000th machine, a Rollant 454 Uniwrap round baler.
In 1958, Rheinhold, son of founder August Claas, built a factory at Metz, SE France, as the home for Claas forage equipment, particularly balers.
Now 400 employees turn out 5000 balers a year, badged Rollant, Variant and Quadrant. The factory produces 21 different models, sold to 100 countries.
These harvest 25 different crop types: old standards such as wheat, barley and oat straws, cotton in South Africa, peanut haulm for cattle feed in America, flax in Eastern Europe and the likes of miscanthus and reed canary grass in France.
The 300,000th machine will be used for promotional purposes.
Claas has announced the arrival of its new Jaguar 1000 series forage harvesters, taking power delivery beyond 1100hp, aimed at achieving 20% more throughput, better chop quality, greater efficiency and more operator comfort.
With the biennial Agritechnica Event just a few months away, manufacturers are offering sneak peaks at new innovations, with Claas recently highlighting its new Cerex 700 RC round baler.
Well known for its dominance in the harvesting arena, Claas has channelled its engineering excellence and a deep knowledge of the ag industry with the Fieldays release of the 2025 facelift Claas Arion 600C Evolution and Claas Night Edition Arion 660 tractors.
Silage making is both a science and an art, but Claas says it offers onboard technology featured in its Claas Perfect Partners to help farmers make silage more efficiently and effectively.
Claas has recently celebrated the 250,000th CLAAS mower – a Disco 3200 FC – rolling off the production line in Bad Saulgau, south-west Germany.
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