Renewed confidence in sugar beet sees Grimme launch six-row trailed harvester
Grimme has launched a new six-row trailed machine called the Rootster 604 as a viable alternative to a self-propelled machine on farms with a small to medium sugar beet acreage.
Based on technology taken from the potato industry the simplicity of its design, an output of double that of a three row trailed harvester and a price tag of between £120,000 to £130,000, the Rootster is expected to draw growers to the Grimme stand at Cereals 2010 this year.
Rootster’s hydraulic drive is infinitely variable which means it can cope with virtually any working conditions and fits in well with “just-in-time” lifting. In dry conditions forward speed is about 7km/hour, compared to a respectable 6km/hour in the wet.
The flail topper forces the green leaves via steel deflector sheets to fall behind the scalpers between the beet rows. Centrally adjustable pressure scalpers are guided by parallelograms while thickness is automatically adjusted.
Hydraulic powered Oppel lifting wheels ensure that the entire root is lifted out of the ground. From here six fluted rollers ensure gentle cleaning before a transfer web takes the crop to a second set of fluted contra rotating rollers positioned at 900 to the first set to change the direction of travel.
A circular lifting elevator takes the crop into a 4t holding tank, with a final 4m long and 1m wide loading elevator for off-loading into a trailer to the side. Wide wheels on the Rootster also allow late lifting to take place without causing unnecessary compaction that could otherwise hamper establishment of the following crop.
