Combines: all that's new from New Holland

The Italian trademark played a leading role in Hanover with the manufacturer's new features in the sector of harvesting. The Verifeed™ grain header has been perfected and is now available in widths of up to 12.50 meters. The new header was designed for maize and comes in flip-up six to eight row versions and a rigid 12 row head. The new Dual Stream concept has been applied to the Verifeed™ header to boost overall capacity by up to 15%, while reducing fuel consumption by up to 15%. Also new, beginning in the 2013/2014 season, the flagship CX7000 and the CX8000 combine harvesters can be fitted with tracked drive as a factory fit option

New Holland took a number of new products for their combine harvesters to Agritechnica. Among the innovations welcomed by visitors attending the Hanover exhibition was the Verifeed™ grain header perfected and now available in versions of up to the widths of 12.50 meters based on an extremely robust welded frame design. The adjustment range for the blade in longitudinal direction is 575 mm and adjustment is performed electrohydraulically from the cab. This means that the header can be adjusted perfectly to suit all harvesting conditions and is easily adapted to use with optional separating knives for rapeseed threshing. The working width of 12.50 meters was a genuine challenge, and not just for the chassis and the overall design. This working width also constitutes a challenge for knives, auger, reels and their drive units.
The header is driven by two drive shafts. A wobble box on each end of the head provides power to the dual sickles. Two robust knife drives with torsion dampers, one on the left and one on the right, both driven by belts with an automatic tensioning fixture, move the harvester knives, which have a slight overlap at midpoint. The two piece auger is supported in the center with a bearing. To ensure a continuous feed and excellent visibility of the header, New Holland design engineers chose to use a single piece reel that is driven hydraulically and the speed is controlled automatically. This new grain header will became available with the close of Agritechnica 2013 and will be offered on the CR9090 with Dynamic Feed Roll™ which will make it one of the world's most powerful units for grain harvesting operations. New Holland also launched a completely redesigned combine maize header which significantly enhances gathering and feeding performance for faster, more productive harvesting. Available in five, six and eight row flip-up versions and a 12 row rigid version, all headers can be fitted with the award-winning Cornrower system. Hedley Cooper, Head of Harvester Product Management, said, "These headers have been completely redesigned following customer input and have undergone rigorous field testing to ensure they deliver outstanding harvesting efficiency. They have been designed to match the productivity and capacity of New Holland's flagship CR and CX Elevation combine ranges and also produce outstanding results when mounted on the CX5000 & CX6000 and TC5000 ranges." Roto-moulded row hoods are built completely in plastic using sophisticated roto-moulding techniques. This means that during aggressive harvesting they always return to their original shape. Manufactured using polyethylene, they effectively absorb the impact of falling ears and retain them, reducing bounce-out losses. Furthermore, their grooved design directs loose kernels to the feeder and the replaceable wear strips extend their operating lifespan. The powered auger divider has been relocated to the outside of the side shields which reduces losses in standing maize, as all stalks are safely gathered and do not fall over the edge. These maize headers are available in both rigid and flip-up configurations. The twelve row rigid header features 70/75cm row spacing and is ideal for intensive maize operations. The flip-up five, six and eight row variants have been designed for transport intensive businesses which need to minimize productivity-impacting transport time. When folded, all flip-up headers comply with the stringent 3.5 meter transport width restriction. All header points and dividers fold up effortlessly using gas struts for easy access for routine checks, servicing and cleaning. Moreover, the side shields are supported by gas struts and feature a latch which keeps them securely in position for increased safety. The Dual Stream system, when fitted to high capacity or Varifeed™ headers, can boost overall capacity by up to 15%, whilst reducing fuel consumption by up to 15%.
A new Holland release said, "This system delivers higher capacity harvesting while lowering fuel consumption. It will also play a key role in the conservation agriculture pillar of the Clean Energy Leader strategy, as it actively improves soil-structure and assists no-till farming practices."
The Dual Stream system is fitted directly onto 7.62 and 9.14 high capacity and Varifeed™ headers. The standard header continues to cut the upper section of the crop, and the second bank of self-sharpening knives are set at normal stubble height to cut the intermediate 'double stubble' section. This chopped material is then uniformly spread across the entire cutting width of even the largest headers.
Field tests have shown that Dual Stream technology can improve overall combine capacity because only the top section of the crop enters the combine so there is less straw and material other than grain for the cleaning and threshing systems to process for enhanced overall efficiency. Moreover, as less material enters the combine, larger headers can be used and harvesting speeds can be increased. This results in reduced harvesting time, so more crop is harvested at optimal ripeness and labor costs are also lower. In yet another new development, the company's conventional flagship combine harvesters, the CX7000 and the CX8000, can be equipped with a tracked drivetrain as a factory fit option beginning with the new 2013/2014 season. The New Holland 'Triangle Concept' tracked drivetrain consists of hydropneumatically sprung rollers, a drive roller and two raised tensioning rollers to ensure optimum ride comfort.
Long drive belts and less sharply pronounced rubber belt redirection guarantee greater overall durability. Less ground pressure and better ground adaptation are achieved with the patented double-joint mountings on the hydropneumatically suspended idler rollers. For the CR8000 models, a 'SmartTrax™ unit with Terraglide™' tracked chassis measuring 725 mm in width delivers a machine transport width of precisely 3.49 meters. To reduce weight, the rollers are made of aluminum and given a polyurethane coating.