The new Krone Big M500 mower conditioner is a true high-capacity machine achieving work rates of up to 20ha/hr.
Seen as a prototype at Agritechnica 2007, the Big M500 has been through extensive field testing during 2008 and 2009.
The Big M500 impresses by its 13.20m work width, which is gained from the 5.3m front mower and two 4.4m side units, enabling work rates of indeed up to 20ha/hr. The drive power to the individual mowers flows via driveshafts and gearboxes. The split front mower folds into two vertical wings to reduce transport width to 3.2m (900/60 R32 tyres).
Big M500 is powered by a 520hp longitudinal engine, which sends its power to the four hydrostat-driven wheel motors, a system that is shared with Big M400. This design in combination with four-wheel steering makes Big M500 extremely agile on the headland and in small fields, opening up awkward and small plots easily and quickly.
As another benefit, Big M500 features the Krone Big Swath System, which provides the flexibility of wide spreading and forming one single swath. Each mower is controlled separately at the touch of a button, which opens (wide spreading) or closes (merging two swaths into one) the auger hoods hydraulically. At the same time, the system swathes material from two 13.2m work widths to a width of approximately 15.0m to avoid rapid wilting after the second or third cut, for example.
Like Big M400, Big M500 does not allow the crop to drop to the ground before it is swathed, ensuring clean fodder – a major benefit when cutting wet autumn crops. Besides, user experience shows that direct swathing leads to a substantial reduction of harvest costs as it eliminates the swathing pass. At the same time, it reduces crop fragmentation significantly in leafy crops like lucerne.
