Caring for delicate crops
Kuhn has launched two mower-conditioners for use in delicate crops like lucerne or alfalfa, where leaf loss can be a major problem if conditioning is done by traditional flail type designs.
Features cited were the machine’s ability to precisely regulate and spread a range of fertilisers.
The 50.1 uses patented technologies such as coaxial distribution adjustment (CDA) and electronic mass control (EMC) for regulating and weighing the product: CDA uses a pivoting hopper and contoured outlets to ensure constant flow and the drop point of the product onto the spreading discs; EMC measures load on the spreader discs, and adjusts their speed individually to remain constant.
The machine can hold 3000-4000L and spread from 18 to 50m width depending on material, and the unique feature of its hydraulically driven spreader discs – maintaining their target speed irrespective of tractor engine revs.
The unit has two weigh cells that display the amount of material spread and the weight of fertiliser remaining in the hopper.
Other features include on-the-move adjustment of application rates, and adjustment of spread patterns catering for borders or irregular field shapes.
The machine is extremely flexible with minimum spread rates as low as 3kg/ha and up to 500kg/minute at speeds of up to 16.5km/h.
Control is via an ISOBUS system that can perform variable rate applications when used with a GPS system. – Mark Daniel
