Claas: New Lexion raises the output standard

Claas may have set a world record by harvesting 675.84t of wheat in eight hours with it’s flagshipLexion 770 TerraTrac working in Lincolnshire last year, but the company’s Lexion line-up for 2013 includes the new Lexion 780 that’s capable of outputs about 10-12 per cent higher than the current range leader. At the same time, the output potential of the rest of the Hybrid Lexion 700 and straw-walker Lexion 600 Series combines has also been increased.
Central to the changes to the Lexion combine range for 2013 is the use of new, more powerful, Stage IIIB compliant engines. At the same time, Claas has also looked at achieving greater overall efficiency and has developed a new dynamic cooling package for the Lexion 780/770/760 models, which apart from enhancing engine performance also has a reduced power requirement.
All Lexion 700 and Lexion 600 series combines now feature Stage IIIB emissions compliant engines that have been specifically chosen by Claas on account of their performance benefits. As a result, while all the engines meet the latest emissions standards, they also offer greater power output, ranging from 305hp for the new Lexion 620 to 598hp for the new top-of-the-range Lexion 780. The engine characteristics have also been optimised so that this power is achieved at a lower rated speed of just 1900rpm, resulting in reduced fuel consumption.
In looking for the optimum engine, Claas has fitted the two most powerful Lexion 780 and 770 models with a Mercedes-Benz unit that uses selective catalytic reduction technology and AdBlue. The remainder of the Lexion 700 series and all Lexion 600 models are powered by Caterpillar engines that use exhaust gas recirculation technology.
In order to accommodate the increased power output from the higher-powered Stage IIIB engines, Claas has developed a completely new cooling package, dynamic cooling, that is fitted to the Lexion 780, 770 and 760 models. The remainder of the new Lexion 700 series and all Lexion 600 models use the existing upright planar cooling and dust extraction system fitted to current Lexion 700 models.
The new dynamic cooling package features a variable fan drive that provides cooling on demand, so only ever provides the cooling output that is actually required by the machine. As a result, power requirement is reduced by about 15hp and up to 20hp on higher-powered Lexion models.
The dynamic cooling package incorporates a charge-air pressure cooler, hydraulic fluid cooler and engine radiator. The cooler package, complete with the variable fan and a 1.60m diameter filter, lie horizontally behind the engine in order to achieve a larger surface area.
At the same time the air ducting system has also undergone significant development. In operation, air is drawn into the radiator from above and then forced downwards towards the engine, and sideways and down towards a new louvre system. This helps create a curtain of air to actively prevent dust rising, which not only ensures that clean air is being continuously drawn into the engine, but that the whole engine bay area is cleaner, so reducing maintenance time.

The new Lexion 780 features a 598hp Mercedes-Benz engine.

All the new Lexion range also feature a constant-pressure, load-sensing hydraulic system that provides a 50 per cent increase in hydraulic reaction time, especially for functions such as Auto-Contour and lateral levelling, which is some 200 per centfaster. With a working pressure of 500 bar and a pump volume of 120 lit/min, less load is placed on the engine, so releasing engine power.
In common with all other Lexion 700 series combines, the new Lexion 780 uses the Claas APS Hybrid system. This combines the benefits of the tangential APS threshing system to increase crop flow and removes the easily threshed grains, leaving the twin Roto Plus rotors to handle the remaining harder to thresh grains.
To provide a greater separation area in order to handle its greater output performance, each of the Roto Plus rotors on the Lexion 780 is fitted with six concaves, all of which are fully adjustable from the cab using Cebis. The remainder of the new Lexion 700 models feature five concaves on each rotor as at present. The rotor speed is also fully adjustable over a range from 450-1,250rpm for maximum separation efficiency, especially in wet conditions or when harvesting green-strawed crops.
To ensure a consistent and plentiful supply of air for more efficient cleaning of the greater crop flow passing through the threshing system, all Lexion 700 series combines are now fitted with the well proven Jet Stream cleaning system.
In order to comfortably accommodate the increased capacity of the new Lexion range, the tank capacity across all machines has been increased. The new Lexion 780 comes with a 12,500-litre capacity tank, and it’s expected that the new Lexion 770 will also use this tank from next year. The Lexion 760, 670 and 660 come with an 11,000 litre tank. All the tanks feature the Hopper Top lids as used on the current Lexion 770.
In line with the higher capacity tanks, the discharge speed on the unloading augers has also been increased and new extra long 8.81m 4XL auger is now available which has a discharge height of 4.98m.
The current Lexion 750 Terra Trac has proven particularly popular with farmers and contractors faced with a lot of road work due to its narrow body width of just 3.30m and the availability of a 40km/hr transmission making this the fastest combine on the road. Due to the design of the new horizontal dynamic cooling system, not only has the new Lexion 750 retained its narrow body width, but it’s now joined by the Lexion 760, which when specified with Terra Tracs will also be available with 40km/hr transmission.
For hillside work, the Lexion 760, 670 and 630 are all available with the Montana self-levelling system, that enables the chassis to compensate for cross slopes up to 17 per cent and longitudinal inclines up to six per cent. These models also feature a new reinforced feeder housing that will allow the larger machines to be used with Vario cutterbars up to 9.0m wide.
To comfortably accommodate their increased capacity and loading, all Lexion 700 series combines are now fitted with reinforced ground drives and the all-wheel-drive system used currently on Jaguar forage harvesters.

The new Lexions use Claas’ third-generation Terra Trac units.

All Lexion 780, 770 and 760 Terra Trac models now use the latest third generation Terra Trac units. These feature independent hydro-pneumatic suspension of the drive wheel and support rollers to further reduce shock loading. The system also incorporates two nitrogen dampers and automatic levelling. As the load is increased on a track unit, for instance when turning or travelling at high road speeds, this is monitored and if necessary more oil is pumped into the suspension on the Trac unit under load in order to accommodate that load and keep the combine level.
As on current models, all the new Lexion range are controlled using the latest CMotion control unit, which along with the large colour Cebis screen is attached to and moves with the operator’s seat.
Specific to all Lexion 700 series and six-straw-walker Lexion 600 models (670/660/650) is the new Cruise Pilot II system. In addition to monitoring the volume of crop entering the combine and engine load, Cruise Pilot II also monitors grain loss to ensure that the required throughput is maintained for greater overall efficiency.
An additional optional new feature on Lexion 700 series models is Cemos Automatic which allows most combine settings to be adjusted automatically while the combine is in work.
All Lexion 700 and 600 series combines are ready for use with the complete range of Claas Easy steering and electronic management tools. The unique Claas Telematics performance monitoring system has proven invaluable in helping assess combine performance and help identify areas where combine efficiency can be further improved.
A complete range of steering options is also available for use with Lexion combines. Using Claas GPS Pilot and automatic steering using an RTK signal either from a mobile Baseline transmitter or a signal from the expanding Claas RTK network, the combine can be steered to an accuracy of up to 2cm. The system also enables the field to be divided into equal sized sections for optimum efficiency and the automatic guidance linked into Cruise Pilot ensures that maximum output can be consistently maintained with minimal operator fatigue, especially over long combining days or in difficult conditions.

For more information visit: www.claas.co.uk.