The Big Mll with a mowing width of 9.7m and a 12 litre Daimler Chrysler engine develops 354hp for work rates of up to ha/h. The Big MII offers high-performance four-wheel drive with direct drive by means of hydraulic radial piston wheel motors for powerful performance in all ground conditions. The turbo-charged inter-cooled engine complies with all future EU emission standards and engine cooling is maintained by a ‘CleanFix’ reversing blower which operates automatically every 10 minutes, or as often as the driver wants, to eliminate radiator dust and debris.
The Big MII has also been designed with the road in mind. The two outer mowers can be raised in seconds from the cab, leaving a width of 3m. A top speed of 40 km/h can be comfortably achieved on the road by ‘fast switching’ from the working speed of 0-17 km/h to the 0-40 km/h road range. The ‘automotive driving mode’ sets the power demand keeping the revs below 1750rpm offering much lower fuel consumption and reduced cab noise.
To minimise sword damage and provide consistent performance on slopes, the Big MII has a 60/40 front/rear weight distribution and special wide radial tyres. The height adjustable hydro-pneumatically sprung front axle provides stable and comfortable handling and more ground clearance to cope with bid headland swaths.
The 9.7m wide cutting width consists of three mowers with the front mower based on an Easy Cut 32CV is 3.14m wide and has a push suspension system, offering an increased lift-out height and smoother travel from the spring-relief set-up, even on undulating land. The outer 3.5m wide mowers, which overlap with the central mower to ensure a clean cut on turns and headlands are equipped with eight mowing discs, driven centrally by the sturdy one-piece V-shaped mower bed with big diameter, slow running spur gears, offering maintenance-free performance with no loss of oil or torsional strength. Should replacement blades be required, they can be changed in a matter of minutes with the quick release system. The full width conditioner rotors behind each mower bed are fitted with free-swinging C-flails and an infinitely adjustable chequer plate, designed to bruise the grass and speed up the drying process. As an option the front mower can be steered for cutting on hillsides and in tight corners.
Operator comfort has been a key factor in the design; the new air-conditioned cab has been ergonomically designed to offer high visibility, a comfortable seat and driving position with adjustable steering wheel. The majority of operating functions can be accessed by the easy-to-use joystick and console with adjustable information centre – all integrated into the armrest. Passenger seat and cool box are also part of the standard package.
The optional Big Swath System gathers the crop to a width of 1.8m for collection by the forager or baler direct behind the mower making it ideal for whole crop.
The EasyCut 8000CV mower conditioner and its stable mate the plain mower version, EasyCut 9000 with working widths of 7.8 and 8.7m respectively are designed for situations where either output requirements are not as high or where speed between jobs can be slower than with the Big MII.
Based on the same mowing beds and conditioner systems as found on the Big MII, both front and back triple mower combinations have a front mower from the Easy Cut 32 range which is 3.14m wide and has a push suspension system, offering an increased lift-out height and smoother travel from the spring-relief set-up, even on undulating land with the EasyCut 8000CV offering the 32CV with its free-swinging steel V-flail conditioner tines to dramatically reduce drying times.
The simple rear-carrying frame supports the wing mowers via the unique Krone ‘Centre of balance’ suspension system. This offers light, even ground pressure over the full mower bed without the need for complicated hydraulic suspension systems and with a simple input gearbox splitting the drive to either mower this makes the all-up weight of the rear mounted mowers possible from only 1500kg and thus can be pulled with tractors from only 160hp. One-sided mowing is possible in short work by lifting either side mower up into the turn position.
In addition to the EasyCut 8000 CV, the EasyCut 8000 CVQB has the cross-conveyor system fitted from the trailed EasyCut 3200/3210 range allowing all three swaths to be laid into one for immediate collection or just one side only. When bringing just one side in with the conveyor two swaths on 3m centres are left and thus two passes of the mower in this formation leaves 15.6m of cut grass spread over reasonable width to allow for wilt but can then be collected in one pass with a Swadro 1250 four rotor 12.5m wide rake thus yet further increasing the capacity of the following forage harvester.