First Head Separator Combine

First head separator combine COMBINES Miscellaneous 10-5-24 You've never seen anything like this header-separator combine that's the first ever to be fitted with a separator cylinder right on the header for preliminary cleaning before grain enters the main rotary cleaning cylinder. The new Laverda combine, built by Fiat in Italy, is the hottest new farm machine in Europe this summer. A few early production models are already in use on farms there. Operating speeds and cleaning capacity are boosted by the new design. The up-front 8¢-ft. long cleaning separator mounts on the feederhouse directly behind the cutterbar. Most of the straw is removed by the cylinder and dropped in a windrow along the left side of the header. John King, a Hesston Corp. representative (Hesston handles Fiat tractors in the U.S.) says the combine is especially suited to tall crops with lots of straw that must be cut low to the ground because of lodging. "It gets rid of the straw first and lays it in a good windrow alongside the combine. This new-style combine makes it much easier to bale straw," says King. The hydrostatically-controlled, up-front separator automatically adjusts to varying ground conditions. Electronic monitoring systems automatically monitor every aspect of the machine, adjusting for amount of grain, ground speed, grain loss and so on. The up-front separator cleans grain pneumatically. An "accelerator" throws grain, uniformly distributed by two contra-rotating screws, against a current of air. On slopes,deflectors inside the combine are swivelled automatically by a pendulum to evenly distribute the grain load on sieves. The combine will be produced in four sizes ranging in cutting width from 14.5 to 22.5 ft. The largest model may be the most expensive European combine to date at about $150,000. King told FARM SHOW that no decision has been made yet as to whether Hesston will market Fiat's new Laverda combine in the U.S. "It's safe to say it won't be on the North American market in the near future," he says. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Giuseppe Lorezi, Fiat, Corso Serrucci 112, 10138 Torino Italy.

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