Tier 4 final | Getting emissions down adds to the price, but manufacturers are sweetening the pot in 2014
DENVER, Colo. — Changes for Case IH’s 2014 machinery lineup go beyond meeting Tier 4 requirements for all equipment with 75 horsepower or more.
During its dealer meetings in Denver last month, Case IH released two new combine draper headers. The units share the new centrally driven platform with CNH sister New Holland (For coverage of that model see the Aug. 15 Western Producer).
Kelly Kravig of Case IH’s harvest equipment division, said the new headers, a straight cut version, the 3152 and the flex header, 3162, are available in widths of 25 feet for the fixed version and 30 feet for the flexing unit. At the top end, both headers reach 45 feet.
Moving away from end-mounted knife drives allowed the company to narrow the crop dividers at the ends, resulting in less crop loss and reduced weight.
The headers have a built in plug-free system at startup that first runs the centre, feederhouse feeding belt, then the table canvases follow after a short delay. This gives the combine a chance to clear the material and get up to speed under reduced threshing load.
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The flex header has a settable amount of deflection, up to six inches, three up and three down.
Aimed at the lentil, chickpea, pea and soybean producer who is also seeking a high capacity cereal header, Kravig said the flex header was identified by producers as a tool that could be improved upon.
“We made a lot refinements to the draper design. There are some very good products out there in the marketplace. We listened to producers and did a lot of field testing before we built these (drapers),” he said of the Burlington, Iowa, built machines.
A slow speed transport kit has been added as an option, allowing the combine operator the ability to unfold a set of wheels for the header and drop it while seated in the cab.
“In a matter of a few minutes the combine can be ready to tow its own header to the next field,” said Kravig.
Case IH has updates on its WD3 swather for 2014.
The units offer factory installed auto guidance with the AFS Pro 700 controller. Windrowing machines with hydraulic rear steering can be a challenge to drive, especially for less experienced operators.
Zack Hetterick of Case Livestock Equipment said an improved steering system has fewer pivot points and linkages, reducing the tendency to over and under steering effects.
Caster wheels are set at a nine degree angle to take advantage of improved weight transfer and balance on the machine, even with heavy swathing headers.
“Much improved control in transport is one of the biggest benefits … and it has meant (transport speed of) up to 24 miles per hour,” he said.
A new draper header, a 40 foot DH3 unit uses separate hydraulic circuits for the knife and the canvases, allowing producers more control over the crop’s flow and better cutting performance in heavy stands.
“Better formed windrows when cutting in uneven terrain or when conditions aren’t perfect. And we all know that with larger farm sizes, conditions aren’t always going to be just right on every field,” he said.
A new, bigger round baler was also rolled out in Denver. The 565 baler has 20 percent more capacity than its predecessor. A new overshot feeder means better flow of material between pickup and chamber and more even feeding for better bale uniformity.
As the crop is coming up from the ground in the pickup a new windguard and five bar comb aid in getting to that new overshot feeder. Rubber mounted teeth will last five times longer than the previous designs, said Hetterick.
Heavier belt options have also been introduced on the new machine, which are designed to improve belt tracking. Both endless and laced are available on the BR565.
A pair of new Patriot sprayers has been added to the self-propelled lineup at Case IH. Earlier this year, the company released a new smaller machine, the 2240.
Last month they added a pair of mid-sized units, the 3240 and the 3340.
The Tier 4 final compliant 250 and 285 horsepower machines keep the 800 and 1,000 U.S. gallon tank sizes that the 3230 and 3330 models they will replace have. The main change is the higher horsepower.
The upsized 1,200 gallon, 325 h.p. 4430 remains a Tier 4A machine for the time being.
The new sprayers also get the option of a new AIM Command Pro system, that keeps rate and pressure constant over a range of speeds, as the AIM Command does, but has the ability to shut down individual nozzles, rather than whole boom sections. The AIM Command Pro also has turn compensation built in.
It manages rates of application that vary as the machine turns or pivots at a boom end.
Mark Burns of Case IH said producers can look forward to better spray applications due to fewer overlaps and misses as well as savings that come with more accurate application of pesticides and fertilizer.
In the tractor realm, Case IH has staked out its high horsepower turf with a 682 peak h.p., 620 nominal, track or tire Steiger. Sporting a 12.9 litre, Tier 4 final, selective catalytic reduction only engine, the new lineup expands to include a 500 h.p. Rowtrac, narrow track version of the Quadtrac.
Case IH will rely only on the addition of diesel exhaust fluid and efficient engines to get its emissions in line.
A 540 h.p. version of the Quadtrac has been added.
Mitch Kaiser of Case IH said the big Rowtrac is already on the wish lists of several southern Alberta farms.
“It is what they were asking us for up there. They want to use it to pull the air seeder and then do in-crop spraying with their large pull-type sprayers. In the fall, it will pull the big grain carts,” he said.
The Steigers get the option of a 113 gallon per minute hydraulic system, aimed at broad acre, small grains producers that use air seeders.
Also new for 2014 is an improved multifunction handle that has new fuel efficiency control on a thumb wheel. That wheel also provides the operator the ability to tweak the ground speed on the fly, similar to automotive cruise control. The buttons on the handle have been made larger, softer and now have backlighting for working at night.
The cab has also been changed with optional perforated leather seating that has its own flow through fan system.
The high horsepower, front-wheel assist Magnum tractors are Tier 4 final compliant and, as prices are increased for the new machines to cover the cost of the engine refinements, they get more horsepower and the chance of the CVT transmission on all models, including the new 380 h.p. version, on which it is the only transmission.
