Italian manufacturer MTS Sandei has developed what they are calling a game-changing machine that can harvest up to 110t of tomatoes an hour.
Grown for processing, outdoor tomatoes have become a big crop in Italy, with increasing numbers of growers and contractors looking for higher capacity harvesters to work quicker, optimise fuel consumption and reduce labour costs.
Powered by a Volvo Stage V engine offering 340hp, the THR1000 was first previewed at last November’s Italian Eima show in Bologna. The company’s new tomato harvesting flagship lifts two rows at a time, with the patented technique increasing capacity to around 110t/hr.
Twelve point two metres long, 4.2 metres wide and tipping the scales at 20 tonnes, the machine needs the wider operating width to help it deal with the increased crop volumes.
The first versions of the machine are currently operating in the paddock, offering significant capacity increases over the existing THR850S, which offers 90 tonnes per hour capacity.
Credited with inventing the first self-propelled tomato harvester in 1967, the MTS company took over the Sandei trademark in 2008 from well known harvester manufacturer FMC.
