Profile: KUHN grass machinery

When KUHN looks at new designs or product improvements, the vision starts at the end – the grass and forage quality created through the process of using KUHN machines

The goal is to produce premium feed that achieves higher production outcomes on farm for the lowest possible cost. That proposition is at the forefront of the KUHN engineering process, which goes beyond what the machine does to how the machine is used.

KUHN New Zealand product specialists share their knowledge and expertise on how to achieve the best from their machines through sales team product training and customer product demonstrations.

“The team gets the gear out to show what it can do, especially how each piece of equipment in the forage production process works together,” says Andrew Johnson, KUHN New Zealand brand manager.

Harvesting at the right time, particularly for silage, maintains the full value of forage plant sugars, proteins, minerals, and
dry matter.

Mowers

KUHN has listened to farmers and designed solutions that achieve the best forage quality from the first steps. Bevelled knives ensure a high-quality, even cut, while oval-shaped discs and a compact streamlined cutter bar profile reduce soil and crop residue from building up. A converging disc rotation avoids the double cutting that degrades forage. Perfect ground contouring, optimal suspension, and precise ground-pressure adjustments give stability for optimised working speeds and easy swath clearing.

Gyrotedders

“The aim of tedding is simple – preserve the energy and quality of the forage and limit weather-related risks by accelerating drying,” says Andrew.

KUHN Gryrotedders ensure the forage is fully turned and well aerated, thanks to a large pitch angle that improves the average drying speed and increases the DM per hour percentage.

Nothing has been overlooked in the design of KUHN Gyrotedders. Two asymmetrical tines ensure clean, even pick up and rotation of the forage with a smaller rotor and the large pitch angle allowing great ground adaptation.

Operators will also appreciate Tine Deflec as standard, which prevents dry and ligneous crop from wrapping around the tines. Machines can be used for several hundred hours before the tines need replacing.

Gyrorakes

Clean raking equals clean forage and uniform windrows, which are a must for optimum pick up. KUHN Gyrorakes are designed with hyper-tangential tine arms that push the crop towards the outside of the rotors to get the best windrow formation. Tine arms are angled forward until the point they deliver the forage on the windrow, and the tines themselves are raised at the very last moment.

Clean raking results from gentle handling of the crop and minimal ground contact regardless of crop density. Shorter distances between tine passages lower the risk of forage being left unraked, even at higher speeds.

Balers, wrappers, and baler wrapper combination machines

The need to preserve a valuable crop once it’s harvested is a basic farming requirement. Production outcomes rely on this being done in a way that maximises the quality of the forage.

Whatever KUHN baler, wrapper, or baler wrapper is used, a perfect bale of high-density, high-quality forage comes out at the end. Perfect bales do more than look good in the stack.

Research* on the KUHN film binding technology offered on its combination baler wrappers has shown increased fermentation and reduced DM losses because less oxygen is enclosed in the bale. Forage retains more nutritional value for when it’s fed out later in the year. Other benefits include bales that hold their form and are easy to stack, as well as fast and efficient film removal at feed-out time.

Silage crops, hay, and wrapped silage are the most efficient feed for the herd, provided it’s high-quality forage that has been well preserved. KUHN is committed to developing technology and engineering solutions that maximise output and preserve feed energy values and nutrient content.

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