Only really sharp knives can guarantee optimum chopping quality, lower power consumption and increase output. A conventional sharpening process takes quite a long time, but Pöttinger offers the Autocut system – an automatic knife sharpening system that’s fully integrated into the company’s Jumbo and Jumbo Combiline loader wagons.
Launched at Agritechnica 2009, it has proved so successful that it’s now ordered on every second Jumbo to leave the factory – and is now also available on Torro loader wagons.
The sharpness of the knives deteriorates continuously during intensive operation. Conventional methods involve removing the knives from the loader wagon so that they can be sharpened in the workshop. That’s why this complicated knife change normally only takes place once daily, which means the power requirement goes up by 15 to 20 per cent during the day. The increase in diesel consumption increases in direct proportion.
Autocut is the solution: fully automatic sharpening on the Pöttinger loader wagon guarantees the knives are always sharp during operation. Power requirement, and therefore fuel consumption, are about 10 per cent lower as a result. Time spent on maintenance is greatly reduced (by about 45 minutes/day), because automatic sharpening can take place during a break and the driver doesn’t need to clean and grind the knives after a long working day.
The advantage for the contractor is obvious; sharpened knives are ready for each customer’s job and the driver gets top marks for chopping quality and efficiency. As far as safety is concerned, Autocut wins two-fold: the driver is protected against injury because the system is completely automatic; and flying sparks are reduced to a minimum.
The knife bank folds back automatically and the driver starts the sharpening process from the side of the wagon. The pressure applied to the sharpening disc as it moves back-and-forth along the full length of the knife blade can be adjusted to the level of wear.
The number of sharpening sequences and the sharpening of individual knife groups can be set individually. The sharpening process for 45 knives takes about four minutes.
For more information visit: www.poettinger.at.
