The TOP 842 C centre-swath rake claims to offer high output and the best ground tracking over a working width of 7.7 to 8.4 metres. Pöttinger has upgraded this rake with a new guide bar feature.
The new glide bar is available as an option instead of jockey wheels to track the ground close to the tines over the whole surface. Flowtast glides effortlessly over wet and peaty soils even with deep marks and holes.
Pöttinger presented the innovative glide at last year’s Agritechnica. This spring, the new kit proved it met expectations in the field. Pöttinger has been focussing on the production of clean forage. During development, the Austrian-based company paid special attention to situations where a wheeled chassis reaches its limits.
This is the case, for example, on wet, peaty soils with deep wheel marks, and when working with whole crop forage in fields where the sward does not provide full surface cover, or even in areas that have been damaged by cattle tracks. If the wheels sink in, the tines inevitably scrape the ground and the forage becomes contaminated.
How it works
With Flowtast, the rake claims to glide smoothly over problem areas in the field. The large area of contact improves load-bearing capacity on wet, peaty soils. A hydraulic cylinder alleviates the weight of the TOP 842 C rotor unit. This results in a low pressure on the ground of approx. 200 kg. This claims to protect the soil and the glide bar. Repair work and downtime are claimed to be minimized thanks to the reduced wear and lower stress on the frame of the rake.
The Pöttinger engineers tested various materials and selected a special plastic (PE 1000) for this application. This synthetic material possesses an enormous resistance to wear and abrasion. Each glide bar consists of five individually exchangeable 15 mm thick plates. To provide perfect ground tracking and tine guidance, the glide bar is installed close to the tines. It tracks the ground along the full raking length of the tine arc. The sickle shape bar also offers the best gliding properties during sideways movements.
The proven Multitast jockey wheel system can be fitted as an option for additional ground tracking excellence when using the Flowtast glide bar.
