Improving efficiency, increasing outputs and reducing costs – it’s a trifecta of targets every farmer or contractor strives to reach.
The RT series of continuous mergers from ROC uses its innovative raking system to do all three, as well as protect fragile crops from damage during the harvest process.
New Zealand’s distributor of the Italian-manufactured ROC range, Webbline Agriculture Ltd, has already put an RT 1000 – with an operating width of 10m – to work here as a demonstration model, which generated significant interest right around the country.
The company has now brought in two larger RT 1150 models with a working width of 11.5m, one of which has been snapped up and has already gone to work.
It’s an indication that there’s a sector of the NZ agriculture market open to using revolutionary systems in order to boost productivity, says Webbline’s ROC Product Specialist, Winston Smith.
“The RT 1000 was really well received every time we put it to work, with a number of operators really interested in what it could do” he says. “We’re expecting more contractors to pick up on the concept as they replace existing equipment, which is why we’ve brought more of these ROC machines in.”
The main difference between a continuous merger and a traditional rake is during the pick-up. While rotary rakes ‘drag’ the crop horizontally along the ground, the ROC merger has a vertical pick-up which lifts the crop and deposits it on a conveyor before being deposited out either side of the rake. This, combined with ROC’s innovative tine design, results in a much cleaner crop with a significantly-reduced amount of contaminant transferred to the swath, as well as picking up any of the crop that may be left in wheel tracks or holes. This is product that is often left behind by traditional rotary rakes.
With its wide pick-up, it can create a broad row during each single pass, but can then deposit the crop from the second turn right alongside the existing row, effectively building one large row in a much wider pattern than a swather rake can manage. In the interests of efficiency, this allows the harvester to make fewer passes in every paddock, reducing time, fuel usage, wear and tear on components, and improving productivity.
Should an entire row need to be moved, the ROC merger is easily capable of handling the quantity of the crop to be shifted with no loss of volume.
Both the speed of the pick-up, and the speed and direction of the conveyor can also be changed to suit different conditions.
Each side section of the merger runs on a set of four modulating tandem wheels that can be adjusted to sit the height of the cut, while the centre section runs on a hydraulic rear axle lifting system that can be raised to 1m for road travel, to clear large rows or for turning at the headlands.
For operating in reduced spaces, the RT series can also operate with either – or both – side sections of the merger in the raised position, or even with the separate sections of the conveyor running in opposite directions.
For more information on the ROC series of continuous mergers, contact Winston Smith on 021 220 1097, or view more here.
