Machine launch: Pottinger Impress 185VC Pro baler wrapper
Pottinger's new Impress 185VC Pro baler wrapper
Klaus and Heinz Pottinger, managing directors of Pottinger.
Pottinger Disc Mower Cutterbar assembly line.
High speed punching machine with automatic steel feeder, which cuts 24/7.
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Pottinger's new Impress 185VC Pro baler wrapper
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Klaus and Heinz Pottinger, managing directors of Pottinger.
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Pottinger Disc Mower Cutterbar assembly line.
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High speed punching machine with automatic steel feeder, which cuts 24/7.
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The recent launch of the Pottinger Impress 185VC Pro baler wrapper saw an eager press jostling for prime spots and crowds surging around the machine to capture the action.
The biannual Pottinger International Day is held at the Austrian Grieskirchen home plant, followed by live machine demonstrations on nearby farmland. More than 800 people descend on surrounding villages, packing the hotels; it has become a major draw card for those with an interest in the world of agriculture. It's also an opportunity to see some of the latest developments and technology being undertaken by Pottinger, recognised as a world leader.
If the generosity Pottinger showed us is anything to go by, they injected a large amount of money into the region's hospitality businesses. The day was run like a well-oiled machine, including a separate morning programme for the media.
The press conference was held at the Schreiberhuber farm, which was equipped with a conference facility built in the old converted housing barn.
The farm has been in the Schreiberhuber family since 1299 (bearing in mind Abel Tasman discovered New Zealand in 1642). Klaus and Heinz Pottinger addressed 70 journalists from around the world: this was also the first Pottinger day since their father, KR Heinz Pottinger, passed away in his 90th year on 24 July, 2014.
I was relatively excited and a little nervous about this if I'm honest. This meant I had to pretend to be a real journalist for the day, not just a cow cocky turned scribe.
Two things I learned from the day? Firstly, journalists generally don't like each other and secondly, press conferences really are what they seem on television (people asking questions which have usually already been answered and lots of flash photography).
Nevertheless during the field presentation I got to be in my very first 'media scrum' around the new baler wrapper (more on this soon), which I have to admit was a rush. But being bigger than the average bear definitely helped in my 'take no prisoners approach' to the task at hand.
Anyway, enough of the press conference: what about the products? There were plenty of highlights, including the new combination baler which was exclusively released for us.
AEROSEM 1002
So for me there were two machines that really stood out, the first being the new AEROSEM 1002 seed drill which can drill maize and grass seed with the use of Pottinger's Precision Combi Seeding (PCS) and Intelligent Distributor System (IDS) technology, both of which have won silver medals at the most recent Agritechnica event.
The PCS system allows a wide variety of seeds to be sown (although not fodder or sugar beet just yet) in a standard pneumatic seed drill. The drill is fitted with up to 10 individual seed elements for row spacing (working width of 4m) of 37.5cm or 75cm, so five row maize planter at 30-inch spacing.
One benefit is fertiliser can be applied between the seed rows so the middle row will be the seed and then fert in the coulters either side to eliminate the risk of seed burn.
Intelligent Distributor System (IDS) is a fancy term for the distributor head; however it's a unique system that guarantees a consistent seed drop (without bounce) in each row.
It's only available with the electrical metering drive, which is controlled by the POWER CONTROL in-cab monitor or ISOBUS. The distributor head offers different track widths, auto row shut-off and half width switching to either the left or right or every second or third row.
The seed hopper itself is mounted above the packer roller on the harrow or tillage machine for better weight distribution and has a volume of 1250-litres. This can be bolstered by another 400-litre extension if need-be, giving a total capacity of 600kg of fert and 400kg of maize seed in one hopper rather than individual boxes. This is definitely a big advantage over many precision planters.
The machine is also equipped with a hydraulic fan which will run at 4000 rpm with just 25-litres of oil. The metering system enables seed material to be drilled at between 1.5kg and 340kg, at driving speeds of up to 12km/h.
The metering system can either be mechanical in the form of a land wheel, or by GPS electric drive rather than radar which is considered more consistent.
Curious, I asked about our patchy signal down here in New Zealand – wouldn't radar be more reliable? According to Pottinger, if the signal is completely lost the computer will go to a default setting (for example, 10km/hr) until the signal is retrieved. This should still ensure consistent sowing, albeit potentially not at the precise rate.
Calibration is also a quick and easy process. A calibration pan on rails is inserted from the left-hand side of the machine. For the mechanical version this is done using a hand crank, while for the DGPS (electronic) version this is done simply by pressing a button on the monitor once seed type is selected.
The drill is currently available in working widths of 3m, 3.5m and 4m only in fixed format at this stage, although the natural progression is to make this a folding machine like the Terrasem folding seeders currently included in the line-up.
IMPRESS Variable Chamber Balers
The new Impress series balers were revealed in Pottinger's new testing facility in front of 800 dealers, contractors and journalists. They created quite a stir: so much so that you could have easily been mistaken for thinking people only came to see this machine.
The Pottinger team didn't go into too much detail with the machine – and it wasn't sitting around long enough to have a really good look (although we did sneak off from the factory tour the day before to have a quick squiz) – but it has taken a total of six years of development to get it to this stage and has some interesting features which are not seen on any other machines on the market.
Some detailed observations I can reveal
The 32-knife chopping system is mounted above the pickup, so in essence the grass goes over the rotor and through the knife bank, rather than under the rotor through the knives and into the chamber.
Why try and re-invent the wheel? Well it is said to have the crop coming into the chamber in the same direction as the belts which is supposed to help crop flow and significantly reduce blockages.
The 32 knives are reversible which saves time as you can remove the entire bank on a galley system at chest height, sharpen both sides at once and then simply flip them over when one side becomes blunt. According to Pottinger, the number of knives in the bank means chop length will be up to 20 percent shorter than its nearest competitor.
The Variable chamber model Impress 155 and 185 VC PRO that were on show at the Pottinger day are equipped with three large endless belts which can produce 1.25m-1.8m bales.
The pick-up uses a cam track with crop flow into the rotor via two small augers mounted one on top of the other on both sides of the pick-up, then over the rotor. This suggests it takes less power to drive the pick-up than a conventional rotor.
The transfer table cradles the bale from the chamber, slides back to the wrapper and then the whole cradle lifts to dump the bale onto the wrapping table, rather than a series of transfers.
The wrapper has twin satellite arms which are mounted underneath the table itself. Film storage is 12 rolls – six down either side of the machine – and are uncovered.
Agritechnica 2015 will be the official launch of the machine, with it unlikely to be on sale in New Zealand before the 2016 season.
The verdict
The more in-depth you look at the Pottinger machines, the more you realise they are often filled with off-the-wall ideas that actually work.
They may not work first time but with the comprehensive testing and the company's R&D facility onsite, the Pottinger team follows an idea through if they are confident it will provide the customer with a good machine which performs better than their competitors.
The Impress baler is a prime example of this attitude to engineering. Why reverse the rotor and place the knives above when this is the exact opposite to everyone else? There's no denying they are easier to access and being reversible is a great concept.
Will it be successful? Only time will tell. But early signs are certainly positive.
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