Claas upgrades its big balers
Claas has made improvements to its Quadrant and 3200 and 3300 big balers. Both models now get a wider 2.35m pick-up with a Power Feeding System (PFS) auger and a double roller crop press.
The PFS auger is said to accelerate and even out the crop flow, which increases throughput. Combining that with the double roller crop press is claimed to give a clean crop feed, even with very wide swaths and at high speeds.
The pick-up cam track and cam rollers from the Jaguar forage harvesters is now fitted to both balers. At the same time the torques of the pick-up cut-out clutch and rotor coupling have been raised by 20% and are said to give increased throughput even under difficult harvest conditions.
Both machines also incorporate a new spiral rotor with 52 dual tines, which transports the crop more efficiently and quickly to the pre-chamber.
Both models also get a drawer that can be extended on both sides, offering handy access to the blades for maintenance and blade changes. The blades are arranged in four groups, each of which can be selected easily with a lever and hydraulically pivoted out.
Both balers also feature a drop-floor in the cutting chamber, which is lowered automatically if the unit is overloaded. This enables the driver to remove blockages at the baler intake simply by reducing the pto speed from the driver’s seat; he can then continue baling without interruption or problems.
The Quadrant 3300 also gets the novel pre-chamber, originally introduced on its 3200 sibling. This pre-chamber is said to increase bale density by holding the material and pre-compressing it ahead of the main chamber.
The operator has the option of three settings. For heavy or large swaths, the packer tines can move the material straight into the main chamber without holding it. In lighter crops, using the other two settings, the operator can delay the time that it is held and packed in the pre-chamber before entering the main chamber.
Both the 2200 and 3200 machines also get a new fan from the Lexion combine, which is said to provide 150% more air volume to keep the knotters clean at all times.