Krone is pushing the boundaries of four-rotor grass rake performance with the new Swadro TC 1570, which provides a step up in output from the 13.7m TC 1370 with up to 14% extra working width.

The newcomer follows the established Krone multi-rotor rake layout of mounting the leading pair of grass-gathering tine rotors on forward-angled arms in a V-shaped format and running on support wheels.

Straight pto shafts transmit drive direct from the central gearbox to bevel gearboxes on the rotor assemblies, each of which are supported by a contour-following four- or six-wheel undercarriage.

Krone Swadro TC 1570 four-rotor rake © Krone

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Variable swath width

The front rotors run about 25% faster than those at the rear, with a view to ensuring optimum crop flow and neatly formed swaths.

The swaths can be laid from 1.4m to 2.9m wide to suit balers, silage wagons or forage choppers by adjusting the distance between the rear rotors.

In-cab remote control and automated functions ease the operator’s workload – for example, rotor height is adjusted hydraulically under electric control either one rotor at a time or all at once, and two height settings can be recorded for later recall.

Cylinder end-of-stroke damping ensures rotors are lowered gently to the ground after each headland turn, and the combination of trailing gimbal rotor suspension and multi-wheel undercarriage aims to keep the tines faithfully following surface contours with minimal risk of scouring.

Maximum rotor lift height can be set to just clear headland swaths so they return to work as quickly as possible, and there is adjustable rear rotor lowering control to match working speeds and swath spacing, based on either time or distance.

With GPS guidance available, section control can be used to lift and lower the rotors automatically.

For transport, being able to lower the chassis means there is no need to remove or fold down any of the five tine arms on each rotor to keep within the 4m height limit.