News from CLAAS - Swivelling lower links for negotiating bends during mowing

CLAAS and Hans Sauter GmbH have jointly developed a hydraulically swivelling front lower links system for use with mounted front and rear mower combinations. This significantly reduces or even completely eliminates strip of grass being left when negotiating bends and mowing on slopes. Eliminating this problem makes a significant contribution to higher forage quality, especially on tractors with wider tyres and a wide track width.

Hydraulically shiftable rear mower units have already been commercially available for several years. These units can be used, among other functions, to react to changes in the cutting width when negotiating bends and mowing on slopes. Hydraulic lower link stabilisers can also be used in a similar way to easily adapt to bends and slopes. In some cases, however, the strip of grass left by the front mower unit when negotiating bends is partially crushed by the wheels of the tractor before being mown by the rear mower units. This results in part of the strip remaining pressed down and uncut with more dirt getting into the forage.

With the new hydraulically swivelling lower links, however, the front mower unit is actively swivelled inwards on bends. This completely eliminates unwanted strips and overlaps depending on the steering angle, and also reduces the risk of the front swath being run over. The offset can be compensated for when mowing on slopes by swivelling the lower links.

The hydraulically swivelling lower links simply slot into the standard lower link holders, which also enables retrofitting without major space restrictions. The kit does not require any structural changes to the front mower, which means that both new and older mower units of all types are suitable for operation with the retrofitting kit. The lower link kits are specially pre-fitted to the respective CLAAS mower unit and the tractor used by Hans Sauter GmbH.
The swivelling range on both sides is max. 30 cm. A double-action spool valve is required to control the swivelling linkage. The swivelling lower links are secured by a locking block for on-road transport. They can be folded upwards and fixed in place like normal lower links when they are not needed.

The swivelling hitch is available in limited supply for 2020 and full supply in 2021. The CLAAS dealer network is responsible for ordering and installation.