Landpower’s New Claas Disco 8700 Mighty Mower Keeps Harvesters Running Full Tilt
Farmers are sure to improve their harvesting capacity while maximising labour and fuel efficiency with the New Claas Disco 8700 from Landpower
The desire to put more grass in front of his grass-hungry harvesters saw Manawatu contractor Daljeet Singh invest in a self-propelled mower with a working width of 8.5 metres from Landpower.
Daljeet, who runs Feilding-based Rural Contractors, bought the Claas Disco 8700 mower last year to boost the mowing capacity of his operation.
The Claas Disco 8700 is distributed by Landpower New Zealnd and is a self-propelled mower comprising three separate mower units mounted to the front of a power plant like a Claas Jag harvester. Its enormous mowing capacity means it is ideal for farmers and contractors who need to cover big areas in the shortest possible time
Daljeet ran his 8700 on the front of a Claas Jag 850 and used it alongside four Claas Disco 8500 mowers to mow around 2800 hectares of grass silage in the 2005/06 season.
He was very impressed with the mower's reliability and its ability to provide exceptional mowing performance while reducing labour, time and fuel costs.
"The Jag 850 has plenty of power to drive the mower and so its very fuel efficient," he says.
"We averaged around six hectares an hour, but on good smooth contour it could comfortably get up to 10 hectares an hour. It can mow as much as two five-metre mowers and so it effectively saves us one tractor and one driver."
The 8700 is easily detached from the harvester, allowing the Jag 850 to be recommissioned into harvesting if required.
"What we normally do is send all our mowers out in the morning for three to four hours, then the guys come back and jump into the harvesters. With all our mowers working we can mow a total of about 100 hectares in that time."
Daljeet says the 8700 is a great machine to operate because the driver is sitting behind and above the mower units, "so you have excellent visibility over the whole mower. And because it is front-mounted and attached to the steering system of a harvester, you are less likely to mow over areas you have already mown at the headlands."
This type of efficiency is very important to contractors who have to mow large areas as quickly as possible to keep their harvesters and staff operating at maximum capacity.
"Contracting is a very weather-dependent business, so when the weather is right you want to be able to cover as much ground as you can," says Daljeet.
He says the 2005/06 season was a challenging one for contractors in his region, making harvesting capacity even more crucial. "We had a lot of rain in December and January, which held us up a bit, but we still managed to get through about 3500ha. That was an extra 500ha than we did in the previous year."
Daljeet believes mowers like the 8700 are likely to become increasingly popular as contractors strive to improve their harvesting capacity while maximising labour and fuel efficiency.
"We've definitely come a long way since the days of the single three-metre mower," he says.
Claas Disco mowers are distributed by Landpower New Zealand.
18-Sep-2006