ContractorChristophKirst provides his viewonwhole
crop silageandhow itmust behandled.
Contractingwith the FR
C
hristoph Kirst owns
andmanages his
own contracting
company, Agrar-Service
Kirst in Kempfeld/
Hunsrück, Germany.
The company has three
permanent employees, and
up to 10 seasonal workers.
Their scope of work
includes harvesting and
collecting grass, maize and
whole-crop silage.
The company has been
operating NewHolland
machinery extensively
through the years, and
Christoph himself is an
expert inwhole-crop
silage.
“Whole-crop silage is in
ever greater demand,” he
says. “In upland areas like
Hunsrück, there have been
just two reasonably good
maize silage harvests in five
years and threewith poor
With up to 824 horsepower, the FR range of self-propelled forage harvesters
is capable of extreme performance.
The Power Cruise™ II system automatically adapts engine and ground speed to load
for fuel savings of up to 15 per cent. The unique, patented VariFlow™ system allows
the chopper to be changed from corn to grass (or back) by one person without tools
in less than two minutes.
Top chop quality is assured by a number of innovations. The ActiveLoc
TM
technology
uses moisture sensors in combination with pre-set chop length parameters to
control the length of the chop depending on moisture content. The clamp density
increases, and silage quality is improved for a better nutritional profile.
The award winning 3D camera based IntelliFill
TM
system automatically detects trailer
edge and monitors filling. This means the operator can concentrate on harvesting.
And the system takes care of the trailer.
Another plus for efficiency is the new, remote controlled concave door for easy
access, cleaning and unplugging. The door is activated through the IntelliView
TM
IV
monitor and only when cutterhead and engine have been shut off.
FR: the top harvester
yields. Cereal yields, on the
other hand, are secure and
consistent. Top chopping
quality is very important.
It’s even better with the
FR700 becausemajor
aspects of themachine
have been redesigned.”
Whatwere
your specific
requirements?
“Here in Hunsrück and in
theWest German uplands
we have different growing
conditions for cereals than
inmany regions of Europe.
And triticale is not grown
everywhere either,” states
Christoph. “Wewere
pleased to see that the
bosses themselves came
from Italy to see first-hand
what was happening on
site.”
Favourite features
of themachine?
“The direct cut header is
solidly built, as we have
come to expect fromNew
Holland. The new chopper
also scores with the sturdy
hydraulic drive for front-
mounted attachments.
Transmission is right and
the attachments can be
quickly changed.”Whole-
crop silage is harvested
quickly with aworking
width of 6m at approx.
6km/h. Output is three
hectares an hour.
“The performance of the
FR700 is good and appeals
to customers.”
Christophworks with grass
using a 13.5-metre four-
wheel swath rake, thereby
producing very even
swaths, feedingmaterial
very efficiently into the
chopper and delivering
excellent quality in the silo.
And because he has also
beenmowing there with
conditioner, the chopper
is able to go about 2km/h
faster through the looser
windrows than on other
surfaces that have been
mownwithout conditioner
and are raked by the
farmers themselves. Some
farmers still want to go
6.5-7metres widewith
their side swath rakes.
Clear differences can
therefore be noted here,
such as lower output when
chopping.
And Christoph is also
satisfiedwith the cost
of operation: “Wewere
able to get very good
output in every situation.
Consumption is totally
within the green area.”
WhyNewHolland?
“In 1998 – at the previous
company in the same
place – we started
working with the 300
hp (221kW) FX300 and
were always very happy
with the quality,” says
Christoph. “The machine
had always worked
well over 12 years.
Customers were always
very satisfied with the
chopping quality. Many
other brands not achieving
such good quality were
doing the rounds in
the neighbourhood.
The farmers saw this in
the milk yields of their
animals in the cowshed.
The message then
spread that the yellow
choppers produce top
quality. Switching from
FX to FR9060 with a
grain processor produced
another enormous boost,
particularly in whole-
crop silage, because
the grain was crushed
and conditioned more
efficiently. The biogas
plant operators noticed
this immediately in
the gas output in the
fermenter. And the two
new biogas plants then
also immediately became
our customers, as did a
few large dairy farms, so
that the second chopper is
now also well utilised.”
“Farmers are amazed at how
agile the new FR700 is”.
