Vege harvesting by remote!

While self-propelled mechanical harvesters continue to make inroads, most Dutch growers continue to cut cabbages and cauliflowers by hand.

These are centred around placing the cut vegetables on lateral conveyors and a packing platform carried behind a tractor.

Typically operating at creep speeds as slow as 130m/hour, most growers use an extended cable behind the tractor to operate it remotely.

Van der Werf has taken the format a stage further and ditched the cable with a dedicated remote-control unit. Recently shown on a Case IH Maxxum 115 at a local machinery show, the conversion has been on offer for many years and the dealer reckons to have sold in excess of 100 systems, all over Holland – mainly to cauliflower growers.

Activating the system is said to be easy, with only three steps. After the tractor is started and set at idle, the operator engages the creeper gears and turns on the remote unit, which connects to an on-board receiver.

The remote can be programmed to only start the tractor and reverse it. However, most growers opt for a six-function configuration including stop, forward, gear changes or down and steering to the left or right. The remote system is only used when crossing a field, so headland turns are carried out by the operator.

The dealer notes that the Case IH Maxxum is the most popular tractor for the conversion but has also installed the kit on several New Holland and Steyr tractors.

The easiest conversion is for tractors with a mechanical transmission, with the dealer noting that CVT transmissions are very difficult to automate.

Depending on the tractor and the number of functions required, the cost of the conversion is typically around $7,000 to $8,500.