Grimme has launched what it describes as its “biggest ever self-propelled potato harvester.”
With no less than 530 horsepower at its disposal (courtesy of a Mercedes engine), the four-row Ventor 4150 comes with a spacious 15-ton hopper.
According to Grimme, the crucial element of this machine is the integration of the existing “SE principle” into this new harvester. The SE separation system is currently used on the company’s one- and two-row trailed harveseters.
The SE system consists of special, multi-level conveying, lifting and sieving webs. It also incorporates a “wide-meshed” de-vining web and an inspection platform (enabling a “clean” crop to be harvested, without even the need for a haulm topper up front).
The system has not yet been fitted to Grimme’s four-row harvesters, due to “technological barriers,” but the company anticipates it will be in the future.
In the case of the new self-propelled Ventor, Grimme has effectively combined two twin-row SE systems to form a new four-row harvester. The whole rig still manages to fold within a 11.5-foot “road” width for transport.
Up front, the Ventor 4150 has no wheels ahead of the intake unit. This, the company says, reduces crop compaction and damage. It enables digging “straight away,” even when opening a new field.
Further back on the machine, the Speedtronic system automatically adjusts the speed of the separating system, lightening the operator’s workload. After passing through the separators, potatoes can be inspected by up to three people on the inspection platform. The remaining crop then passes through, eventually ending up in the bunker.
The four-wheel-steer machine features a “crab steering” mode, enabling each wheel to travel on “fresh” ground during each run, thereby minimizing rutting. Floatation tires are standard.
With a claimed inner turning circle of 20 feet, Grimme says the Ventor is more maneuverable than any tractor/trailed harvester combination.
The Ventor sports a new digital ProCam video surveillance system consisting of two “high-quality, wide-lens” cameras, as well as a “high-resolution” monitor with a split-screen function.
Despite the size of the machine, says Grimme, ProCam gives the driver an “unobscured, 360-degree view, with practically no blind spots.”
The Ventor 4150 will be available for the 2018 growing season.
Contact Grimme at www.grimme.com.
Source: AgriLand