High-tech features to ease the operator’s workload and achieve as clean a sweep as possible are available with Pro versions of the latest Massey Ferguson twin-rotor grass rakes.

First introduced on MF’s four-rotor machines, Pro features on the second-generation RK centre-delivery rakes have isobus electronics providing added control functions, as well as some automation via GPS.

For example, section control – automatically lifting and lowering the rotors individually or simultaneously – aims to ensure that rotors pass over swaths rather than dislodging them, especially at angled headlands.

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Speed-dependent rotor height control is another; called flexHigh, this lowers the tines as ground speed increases, in part to compensate for the tines being bent back by a high-yield crop when operating fast in the field.

It then raises the tine height at slow speeds to ensure a consistent distance between the ground and tine tip, resulting in a clean sweep with minimal soil contamination.

A further aid is the new MyMemory option, which enables operators to save key settings – rotor height, rotor spacing and swath width – before closing and folding the machine into its transport configuration.

The saved settings can then be recalled and activated after entering the next field on the job list.

Width options

There are four new sizes, starting with the RK 762 TRC at £29,36. This has a pair of 3.3m diameter, 12-arm rotors spanning working widths adjustable in four positions from 6.9m to 7.6m.

Next up, the RK 862 TRC priced £34,236 uses 3.6m rotors to cover 7.6m to 8.6m raking widths, and is available to Pro specification at £39,353.

Growers wanting to move up a size are catered for by the RK 922 TRC, which spans 8m to 9.2m with its 3.8m rotors, and is priced £40,472 in base form and £45,590 with the Pro package.

Pro features are standard on the range-topping RK 1002 TRC, which uses 15-arm, 4.1m rotors to gather grass from across 8.8m to 10m into a 1.4m to 2.6m wide swath, and is priced at £50,127.