AGRICULTURAL MACHINES - Field Gigants in Action | Full Documentary

they're increasingly powerful and are becoming ever larger agricultural machines no matter what is being cultivated or harvested on fields and no matter where their size has long since become one of the crucial factors in determining whether people have enough to eat each year the global industry produces agricultural machinery worth around 110 billion euros the european manufacturers alone are responsible for one quarter of production graveswald in mecklenburg for palman germany frank zayfeld is working with a horsepower case quad track he's cultivating a 20 hectare field with his crawler tractor and he makes no secret of his fascination for the vehicle it's great you're driving something big and powerful you're proud to drive something like this i've been driving tractors all my life and now a really big one as a little boy when i wasn't on the farm my mother only had to hear a tractor and she knew exactly where i was the caterpillar tractor is packed full of high-tech equipment it weighs a total of 25 metric tons and can pull even the heaviest farming implements with ease its four crawler track units prevent the colossus from sinking into muddy ground enabling it to cope with any terrain [Music] it's a bit bumpy because of the tracks it doesn't drive so well then but on the field where there's lots of holes soft spots and ruts it's as smooth as silk you don't notice a thing on paved roads it's a bit bumpy but otherwise it's wonderful to drive there are vast areas of arable land in mecklenburg forepoman this particularly fertile region is also referred to as germany's breadbasket with fields of unimaginable size it's where agas service for poman operates this agricultural contractor has 25 employees and cultivates thousands of hectares of land on behalf of one single owner carsten stegelmann is the company's managing director he's underway in his car to make preparations for harvesting he has a special piece of equipment in the trunk an rtk base station rtk stands for real-time kinematic [Music] like the navigation system in a car this piece of equipment is satellite based the data that is received is transferred to the combine harvester's cab using gps technology ensuring that the field is harvested precisely down to the last centimeter [Music] that's a gps correction signal in the background it's corrected here by the combine harvester's precise working width the driver can switch to automatic and when the vehicle is steering automatically during threshing he can take care of other things such as threshing settings and so on above all it's the size of the fields that makes using the gigantic combine harvesters necessary these models are also fitted with crawler track units mercedes-benz engines have an output of horsepower their headers are 12 meters wide this means that one combine harvester can harvest 55 to 60 metric tons per hour the company has a whole 22 to 25 days time to harvest all of the land belonging to one single large-scale agricultural operation with four of these gigantic combine harvesters 2 000 hectares roughly the same size as 2 800 soccer fields to manage that the combine harvesters are sometimes in operation day and night during the harvesting season the combine harvester has already undergone the whole range of innovation it already has most of this agriculture 4.0 in it because it steers by itself it can measure yields down to the last square meter it can use yield maps and choose its own power output that's called cruise pilots that means it drives optimally the combine harvester can basically determine its own operating speed depending on its throughput this combine harvester can already do all of that today and in the future the combine harvester will also be able to adjust itself that means it saves its rotor speed it will basically optimize all of that so that the driver can concentrate purely on controlling and driving the vehicle the driver has long since become more of a manager for the machine and is responsible for ensuring that its performance is as high as possible an automatic cruise pilot system helps him do just that it ensures that the combine harvester constantly operates at its performance limits and harvests the maximum area semi-crawler track units have become the norm on the fields infopoman each of these combine harvesters has a curb weight of 16.2 metric tons the special track units make sure that the giant harvesters do not sink too deeply into the soil and therefore offer the fields maximum protection thanks to this technology the high gross weight of the combine harvesters is distributed much better over the machine's axles the advantage of the crawler track units is that they can carry the heavy weight better because the headers are big and wide and if therefore become very heavy there's no tire that can carry this weight the combine harvesters tank has a capacity of thirteen thousand five hundred liters and as fast as the wheat is harvested it's transported away from the fields each year twenty thousand metric tons are hauled by a gas service for pollen alone nine large tractors each with 400 horsepower are used to get the job done each of them chalks up around 1 000 operating hours a year their high horsepower is important to quickly tow the heavy grain trailers to the farm's on-site grain store or to the ship waiting in rostock port ninety percent of the wheat from fort palman are exported often this is a race against time because harvesting and delivery have to be completed very quickly to be able to keep up with the quality on the world market bad weather is the local farmer's worst enemy did not make number four in macomb we have the disadvantage that our harvesting season is a bit later than in central germany naturally that increases the risk of rain and this is why there's a constant demand for increasingly bigger machines so that we can deliver even faster in this short harvesting period so and that means everything has to be spot on when harvesting begins the team heads out but not the whole team unfortunately one of the combine harvesters has broken down the employees are working hard to repair it they're pushed for time because rain has been forecast for this evening and the harvest has to be brought in dry ultra modern technology doesn't always mean that it functions all the time yesterday we discovered that the variator on top was completely loose in the shaft the thrust washer has gone the bearing was broken that means the shaft is worn so we've had to replace the entire bearing as well as the variator and the shaft we've had to repair everything again and service it and it's difficult of course right now in the final phase of harvesting when we really have to get a move on but we'll get it done it's just dumb because you have the weather to contend with too but we'll do it the outlook is good the team worked through the night and got everything prepared there's a big parts warehouse there a logistics center for this product i picked the replacement part up there and drove back here so that we can reinstall it and get the machine back on the field again it's very important for us that we can get replacement parts quickly and can then fit them ourselves or in conjunction with the dealer so we can make sure that the machine is always operational two hours later the harvester is back on the field again the race against the impending reign appears to have been won but then another problem crops up for yen's mullah this is the last thing he needs there's something wrong with the header [Music] a cutter has broken off making it difficult to collect the grain but the harvester driver has the right tool on board what exactly happened well i could see that the wheat was getting stuck at the front in the header and then it no longer bites into it properly each malfunction during harvesting is immediately reported to managing director carsten stegelmann but he can already see that his employee has the situation under control even small things can have major impacts on the high-tech machines i think it says the cutting technology is set so that it overlaps that means that each cutter has a specific function here and is used to cut off each stalk geared to the vehicle speed if one is missing it creates congestion then everything is pushed forward it isn't cut off properly and the cutter has to be replaced it's also big contractors like kasten stegelmann that make their way to hanover every two years this is where the world's leading trade fair for agricultural machinery takes place it's attended by almost half a million visitors looking for ideas for future purchases a new generation of combine harvesters is attracting particular attention in hanover this model is one of the most powerful combine harvesters in the world and has a 13.8 meter header precision and efficiency are the buzzwords used to market this gigantic harvester around the globe with its 790 horsepower truck engine from man it can harvest up to 44 metric tons of cereals in just one hour the high performance combine harvester storage tanks can hold up to eighteen thousand liters of grain klausheva is part of the development team and is very proud of his work but where can this technology which comes with a price tag of around one million euros be operated and who are the massive combine harvesters it's customers by large farms or big contracting companies that have to harvest large areas these are large scale operations in the north in the east that cultivate several thousand hectares and run very professional crop production operations they want to harvest large areas as efficiently as possible in a short space of time with very few staff in order to feed us all with our breakfast roll in the morning and a glass of beer in the evening this new generation of combine harvesters which is being launched with 13 models contains around 54 000 parts it's a technical highlight because these agricultural machines are fitted with numerous digital components making them particularly efficient it harvests 25 more efficiently than its predecessor this means that the new combine harvester can thresh one metric ton of grain in less than a minute using the energy from just one liter of diesel this translates into enough grain to produce over 1 million bread rolls within a single hour first and foremost this is made possible by the extreme width of the header at almost 14 meters have the limits of what is feasible now been reached that reminds me of my father 40 years ago he said man at 5.10 meters they can't get any bigger and now we've reached 13.8 meters 12 meters has already become normal yes it's the biggest harvester in the world right now but there'll be further developments over the next 20 years and we'll see even bigger and more powerful machines what are called terratrak crawler track systems were already available for the new top model's predecessor this drive system is based on tracks rather than tires and is now also widespread in corn harvesting the rubber tracks distribute the ever increasing weight of the machines better and reduce ground pressure this results in longer operating times even under difficult conditions and lowers fuel consumption however freight forwarders like joachim ferenkota have difficulty loading these powerful harvesters with 180 trucks his company is specialized in transporting large agricultural machines if only it weren't for the dimensions the machines have to be transported to the dealers throughout europe this is becoming increasingly difficult because the enormous harvesters are often extra wide and are also higher than the legal limits permit the company therefore uses special semi-trailers that can be lowered right down to the ground this is what enables these giants to be transported on the road the machine is already around four meters high due to its design so it has to get down as low as possible that means we now have about four or five centimeters of ground clearance later the driver will raise the machine a little so that he has a ground clearance of around 10 centimeters and then he'll drive so that we don't exceed around the 4 meter 20 mark at the top depending on what it says in the permit but the dimensions are by no means the only problem the permissible gross vehicle weight of 40 metric tons can't be exceeded either weeks with full equipment this combine harvester has a curb weight of 25 metric tons and 25 metric tons means the tractor unit and semi-trailer can't weigh any more than 15 metric tons and that's a real challenge so you have to save weight wherever you can aluminium wheels and special technology such as a steered rear axle that's actuated electronically rather than mechanically naturally the tractor unit has to be particularly light so of course you always have to think about the driver in terms of comfort if i use a narrow cab the driver might have a space problem but i need every kilogram here is kilo performance efficiency and also safety requirements are crucial when buying new tractors overall tractors are among the best selling vehicles on the agricultural market even the 400 horsepower mark has long since been surpassed roughly 30 000 new tractors are sold each year in germany with sales of around 180 000 new vehicles throughout europe above all german and french companies are noticeably willing to invest german manufacturers like this machine factory in the emsland region are particularly benefiting from the shift to increasingly bigger and more powerful agricultural machines thanks to high quality and innovations the company has transformed from a small blacksmith shop into a global supplier agricultural technology made in germany occupies a leading position in virtually all sectors and the manufacturers are constantly coming up with new products that attract international attention such as this high-speed baler which has actually won a prize for its design [Music] this forage harvester is the best seller it has an output of up to 1156 horsepower and is used for harvesting corn on every continent the flagship model is now one of the most powerful agricultural machines in the world and is even in action in china brazil and chile so it's a real top seller agricultural machinery has been changing at an increasingly faster pace for some years the number of farming operations is constantly declining while the remaining farms are cultivating increasingly larger areas but only powerful machines are able to harvest these in the tight time frames that are available effectiveness is the magic formula for ensuring survival many farmers are turning to contracting companies because the expensive technology is proving to be cost effective for fewer and fewer farms they then carry out the sewing and field work there are around three thousand such companies in germany like fergadin in the minsterland region american tractors with an output of between 240 and 300 horsepower are in action here these each cost a minimum of 180 000 euros and also a latest generation corn chopper with 900 horsepower this forage harvester which costs around half a million euros and is working for a biogas company is called bad bull half a million euros is a lot of money for a single harvesting machine the machines have to be in operation for a long time to pay for themselves each failure costs money the machine laughing our machines run for several years 10 to 15 years and we're constantly replacing them of course the big machines are packed full of technology and electronics and of course all that has to be paid for unfortunately for the contractor without these expensive investments we wouldn't be around any longer if we didn't invest in this technology [Music] productivity was the deciding factor for this major purchase the more horsepower a forage harvester has the higher its throughput meaning the amount that it can harvest with its seven and a half meter wide header the chopper can manage around 300 metric tons of corn in one hour at full load it consumes around 200 liters of diesel per hour or 150 liters per hour when driven more gently ultimately though the owner is most concerned with the machine's performance i've been driving forage harvesters for about 35 years now the horsepower is always important when you're harvesting corn and the number of rows or the width of the header of course and if the header is wider you need more horsepower simply because of the mass that has to be chopped [Music] here corn is used to produce biogas so the cereal is not fed to livestock but is instead used to generate energy the fermentation process undergone by the chopped plant subsequently produces combustible gas that is particularly suitable for generating heat for the contractor this order means using six employees the vehicle fleet alone is worth several million euros the corn is still standing but within a short space of time only an empty field will be left behind the powerful computers on board of the choppers document the quality of the harvest down to the last detail and immediately evaluate the recorded data and of course the digital technology also supplies all of the other data needed for invoicing and for monitoring the vehicle fleet one click and all of the information is available regardless of the farmer's current location nowadays as soon as a field has been harvested the machine transmits the relevant data such as the number of hectares tonnage and content everything that the end customer the farmer is interested in to a cloud where our customer the contractor in this case can access it he can print it out and process it and that represents [Music] the construction of an increasing number of biogas plants for generating energy has triggered a real corn boom according to the german corn committee there are currently 9500 of these plants this has led to record sales of corn choppers the manufacturers of harvesting machines have also experienced a boost in sales the star on the corn fields is the big x forage harvester powered by an man v12 engine with a displacement of 24 liters and 1078 horsepower the first machine to break through the 1000 horsepower threshold business with biogas plants in particular has led to increases in the size of the technology required for this and not only the tractors have become bigger with volumes of up to 300 metric tons of corn per hour it's above all the choppers that have grown in size contractors that fail to invest according to their customers needs quickly find themselves losing out the technique the technology is also demanded by our customers they say we're facing new challenges are you going to go along with us or are you going to hang back and so far in recent years or over the past 40 years as long as the company has been in business we've always dared to move forward and we've come to the conclusion that it's always been the right step for us that we've always invested in new technology so if a corn chopper doesn't pack the right punch it's doubtful whether a farmer who has become an energy entrepreneur will remain a customer an extreme risk for any contractor at six hundred thousand hectares lower saxony is now germany's second biggest corn growing state after bavaria throughout the country around 2.6 million hectares are dedicated to corn that amounts to 21 percent of germany's arable land in the 1950s it was only 50 000 hectares now one in three corn plants is no longer consumed by humans or livestock but is instead transformed into energy in biogas plants the triumphant advance of corn on german fields has speeded up agricultural industrialization and triggered a real scramble among vehicle manufacturers to come up with increasingly larger and more powerful technology family how do you grow when you look at the sizes today it's hard to imagine what things were like in the past we started harvesting corn back in the 70s at the time we had a tractor with 35 horsepower and we used a two-row corn chopper that was hitched to a tractor the corn trailers that we had were converted grain trainers that we had to tip by hand in bavaria here contractor martin drescher is thinking about buying a new forage harvester in this region corn is often used as a fodder plant for feeding dairy cattle that means different corn varieties because the corn is then easier for the livestock to digest machine demonstrations have long since become a sales tool for the manufacturers and where better to do that than on the field the jaguar 950 with around 600 horsepower is being presented it's one of the top selling choppers in the world but why is this harvester called jaguar might the feline predator's name have something to do with the engine no there's no jaguar engine in it the machine has a mercedes engine for anything over 700 horsepower we fit man engines but up to 625 horsepower we use mercedes engines the name jaguar is used because it's become established at class and the choppers have been called jaguar for decades knows that the chopper is top quality but first of all he sets off for an extensive test drive on the field this high-tech machine also costs around half a million euros the demonstrator vehicle has everything on board that a contractor could possibly want including autopilot and gps technology the driver sits in a kind of command center the multifunction handle is his best friend the 13 metric ton chopper's gigantic fuel tank can hold over 1 000 liters of diesel a 300 liter auxiliary tank is also available if needed more than enough for hours of work naturally the jaguar forager also complies with the latest emission standards because they use truck engines adblue has also long since found its way into choppers but which criteria does a company use as the basis for buying technology like buying a car there's several brands whether you're talking about audi mercedes or bmw we have class and there's other manufacturers too we've been working together with class for a long time and we're very satisfied also because of the workshop the whole service including replacement parts supply of course operating reliability is also important particularly for our customers that means it's also important that the machines constantly function well and the whole concept fits the demonstration vehicle is slowly put through its paces at the same time it has to be made sure that chopping itself is running properly today however no purchase decision is made by the contractor something that is by no means unusual for an investment of this magnitude [Music] back to foiphoman where the fields have to be prepared for sowing rapeseed immediately after harvesting the 600 horsepower case quad track one of only five in germany is once again in operation it's hauling a gigantic cultivator which is used to loosen the soil this gives us various options for cultivating the soil firstly down to a depth of around 10 centimeters and then deep of course in the range down to 30 centimeters this is done to properly loosen the soil and get it ready for sowing so that we can sow rapeseed which is what we're doing right now with a dead weight of 25 metric tons the extreme tractor pulls the 8 meter wide deep cultivator behind it as if it were dragging a toy tractor driver frank zieffeld is clearly enjoying his work off the field the tractor vehicle can do almost 40 kilometers per hour but what's important is what the tracks can do on the field the crawler track units enable us to use very big implements without harming the soil and also to achieve a productivity of around three to seven hectares per hour even bigger machines are being used more than anything else to increase yields in agriculture but they also pose risks because the technology is often unwieldy due to its sheer size starting with the tractors if the tractors have a maximum speed of 40 kilometers per hour they can even be driven by 16 year olds with a tractor permit no matter how heavy or how large the attachment implements or the tractor itself are the result is an unusually high number of young tractor drivers involved in accidents the cause of this is their lack of experience because not even a practical driving permit test is officially required to drive the tractors but since harvesting often falls in the vacation period many farms are forced to rely on such inexperienced drivers it's a really difficult business of course we're totally dependent on the weather and to find the right people in the right place is very difficult they're often on the telephone day and night and you have to try to get every able body that you can become a potential accident risk is lurking in the dark tractors not only travel at relatively high speeds but also usually in convoys and they need a lot of room many car drivers underestimate these hazards particularly when overtaking the large machines pose an additional risk due to their sharp edged and pointed headers this is why the law states that they have to be either folded up or transported on trailers when driving on the road this crash test shows how quickly a combine harvester can become a deadly obstacle and how powerless other road users are against these working machines a motorcycle rider impacts laterally against the tire at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour his chance of surviving is slim in the second crash test a head-on collision with the mowing unit is simulated this collision with a motorcycle rider would certainly prove fatal even when the header has been removed frontal collisions with car drivers are always a deadly hazard harvesting machines are not designed for use on roads let's return to the size of modern harvesting technology and the question of what else is being attempted to achieve even greater efficiency as the tractors are constantly having to pull heavier loads the trailers have also grown in size they have long since reached dimensions that are in no way comparable with earlier models however the legally specified weight classes still have to be adhered to which is why even trucks are now being used but because there are limits to the tonnage lightweight parts are particularly important however the harvest is also being transported over increasingly long distances trucks are therefore being used ever more frequently in harvest logistics often contractors already have trucks anyway and that's why they're increasingly being used for transport with half pipes not only for delivering slurry but also for transporting signage etc and we're also noticing a slight trend in germany but there are also other countries in europe where driving a truck on the field is also significantly more established in farming [Music] extra wide machines are jurgen schmatz's speciality the 51 year old truck driver comes from berlin and is an expert in transporting agricultural machinery this time he's loading at the manufacturer in spele lower saxony everyone in the plant knows jurgen schwazza he's been transporting the machines from the emsland region to dealers across europe for the past 15 years this time he has to take a round baler and a silage trailer to a customer in austria for jurgen a particular passion for agriculture is perfectly normal just like absolute perfection in load securing he carefully secures each part with straps chains blocks or wedges because the weight of the cargo doesn't change the fact that the machines could suddenly start to move during braking everything has to be done precisely so that the expensive freight reaches its destination unscathed [Music] there's no comparison to driving a refrigerated or curtain semi-trailer because you have different dimensions and a different cargo every day you have to load differently every day and you have to do a lot of work in your head in this area it's not just a case of opening the curtain or refrigerated semi-trailer door pallets in pallets out close the door and off you go that's not possible here so this is a very specialized area where we need and i have to save professionals as drivers for jurgen schwazza large machines mean big challenges and above all a lot of kilometers he covers around 120 000 of them a year as a customer group the farming community is still something very special for him according to jurgen these are very relaxed people who are genuinely pleased to see the truck and its load a hectic pace is therefore a very poor companion when transporting the expensive technology the reason being that the load is extra wide and particular care on the road is therefore absolutely crucial and of course the cargo can also work itself loose over hundreds of kilometers despite being carefully secured therefore the driver also uses his regular stops for inspections [Music] yeah to make sure that the straps are taut and that the load is still fixed in place and is not now lying loose in the cargo bed because the straps have stretched and come loose and you also have a responsibility towards the customer and other road users because if this machine starts to slip and falls down while jurgen schwarzer's truck is not a heavy-haul vehicle and is only conspicuous on the road due to its excess width the freight nevertheless compels the driver to pay particular attention things can happen all too quickly especially in extreme weather conditions [Music] it has started to snow time to find a rest stop many truckers carry on regardless [Music] although his permitted driving time isn't up yet schwatzer decides to take a break as a precaution he makes his decision based on the size and value of the machines [Music] out here i can decide everything on my own i have to decide for myself only i can say whether i can go on or not because my schedule or back in the office can't say you have to drive if the road is iced over that doesn't work i'm responsible for the freight for the other road users for my life for the vehicle basically for everything nobody can tell me and nobody can order me to continue driving when i myself can say that it's irresponsible so then i just park the vehicle and wait until the roads have been cleared or the road conditions enable me to continue the journey safely by the funk ports are also very important for delivering the gigantic harvesting machines the blg logistics port in bremerhoffen actually has a separate department that is specialized in this everything that the manufacturers want to present and sell in large volumes on the european market arrives at the high and heavy terminal and that includes everything needed to make harvesting faster and more effective starting with normal and gigantic agricultural tractors with crawler tracks of course but also ultra modern crop sprayers that look like gigantic ants and are leaving the ship for the mainland the port is a hub from here the machines are transported to the dealers by truck and against the enormous carrier ships even the oversized harvesting technology appears comparatively small and delicate the employees who work in two shifts undergo special training to enable them to drive the machines off the vessel [Music] we have a special team of 160 people who are only trained for high and heavy loads we send our instructor to the respective manufacturers who then trains our staff here internally used heavy machinery also needs to be sold just like on the car market there are huge stocks of used agricultural machines they go under the hammer at auctions these machines are usually returned vehicles from leasing and rental agreements they include tractors for which even experienced dealers have been unable to find a buyer or vehicles that are being sold because of financial emergencies even decommissioned snow cats are on offer [Music] jurgen schwatzer is heading off to one of these auctions today the treasure that he has on board is an old massey ferguson with its output of 272 horsepower the tractor was a sensation around 20 years ago schwatza doesn't think much of the old tractor its condition and high number of operating hours are critical i don't know whether a farmer will go for this the seat's broken twelve thousand hours no farmer's gonna buy this because he knows very well two to three thousand hours the thing's completely over the hill and then i might have to pay 25 000 for it no way that would be like throwing your money out of the window so no way i wouldn't do it but buying a used large tractor in an age of leasing contracts and tough competition between financial service providers and manufacturers banks only makes sense if no costly repairs crop up afterwards so auctions like this always involve an element of risk but when prices are low the used vehicle's high horsepower is a particularly interesting aspect the customers come from all over the world and purchase according to the rule of bought as seen as the landfill the farmers are certainly looking for the big machines the new ones are so expensive that a lot of farmers just can't afford them but the used ones are much more within the farmers reach of course they dream about them they want them and the crux of the matter is that we offer them [Music] jurgen schwazza deals with large harvesting machines nearly every day he too has a farming background and therefore loves transporting the giant harvesters on his truck [Music] sitting up there on your own and looking out over that long hood and actually driving a massive vehicle that weighs 10 metric tons is really enjoyable and that's how it feels when you're sitting in a thing like this and thinking who else drives a tractor like this apart from a farmer or someone like that state-of-the-art agricultural technology is helping to feed the world's growing population another reason why the machines are becoming increasingly larger and above all more intelligent the fact that they can drive and harvest fully automatically at the same time is fascinating this specialist company also manufactures gigantic harvesters packed full of high-tech equipment the company from dama in lower saxony is the undisputed global leader in potato harvesting technology because demand for potatoes is growing around the globe interest in self-propelled harvesters is on the increase the ventor model is regarded as a revolution in harvesting technology it has twice as many separators for sieving and conveying potatoes on board as its predecessors it's driven by a 530 horsepower truck engine and is 15 meters long when empty the 000 euro harvester weighs 30 metric tons the four row field leviathan which resembles a transformer can hold 15 metric tons of potatoes that makes it one of the biggest potato harvesters in the world but performance isn't all that matters the harvester separators carefully sort out stones and residues from the sensitive potato tubers so that the technology doesn't take up too much space on the road its separators can be folded in and out so on the field this vehicle is twice as wide as on the road we've pretty much reached the end in terms of dimensions because we're coming to the limits of what's possible on the road particularly in western europe we're stuck with three metres wide and four meters high these machines simply mustn't and can't become any bigger the rexor is another giant harvester this machine was developed for harvesting beets chicory and celery ac it is what is called a multi and combination harvester that is actually suitable for harvesting various crops special cutting technology ensures that the whole beet is gently removed from the ground without its foliage the rexer can harvest six rows simultaneously and has a capacity of 30 metric tons in its bunker above all its enormous productivity is so far unsurpassed it's 25 higher than the predecessor model the driver is relieved of all manual tasks incredible but thanks to its modern technology the machine can complete all of the harvesting work virtually on its own [Music] an articulated joint ensures that the gigantic harvesting machine remains agile despite its empty weight of 34 metric tons and its length of 15.6 meters its beating heart is a 653 horsepower truck engine for a global product like the rexor this is part of the sales [Music] as the strategy element of our machine the engine is a very important component we sell the machines on the global market in 120 different countries and of course not only in areas where there are major cities and metropolises but also in rural areas so it's extremely important that we have the capability to be able to service this 650 horsepower engine and that's pretty much guaranteed worldwide with mercedes with mtu because they're part of the truck industry and have the engines replacement parts and service capabilities all over the world another manufacturer from bavaria also builds multi-row machines for harvesting sugar beet but the tiger 6s model has a bit more horsepower this enables the powerful beet harvester to cope with any field a volvo engine with a displacement of 16 liters offers up to 796 horsepower its maximum torque 3650 newton meters an innovative chassis has been developed specifically for the flagship this reduces the machine's roll by about 65 percent with increased daily outputs and reduced operating costs the company is hoping to establish the tiger on beat fields around the globe so that the driver also feels right at home work was additionally done on the cabin equipment while there's still some way to go before the beet harvester resembles a spaceship the spacey computerized workplace shows how far digitalization has progressed each phase of harvesting is seamlessly documented for the client for quality control networked cameras on the cabin roof supply images of the beet crop before and after harvesting remote diagnosis enables service technicians to access the machine control system and help the driver in the event of problems we're entering a new era in our sector with this machine because it's completely networked this machine has integrated telematics it has a sim card that's connected to our online portal this acts as the basis for networking the machine and the online portal where and where our service department can help our drivers and customers in the future but this technology also comes at a price around 600 000 euros an amount that many customers can only invest if the tiger is in operation virtually around the clock no problem because this machine even turns night into day with its special power led lighting the mood among the manufacturers is good this is particularly due to increasing interest in high quality foodstuffs that are needed to feed even more people worldwide grain production is already unable to keep pace with consumption highly effective harvesting technology is helping farmers to increase their productivity

Channel: WELT Documentary

Views: 1,924,132

Keywords: full documentary, full documentaries, hd documentary, free documentary, welt documentary, welt documentaries, full length documentaries, documentary film, top documentaries, reports, factual film, AGRICULTURAL MACHINES, agriculture, agriculture machine, field, field gigants, fendt, Harvester, combine, combine harvester, farmer, farmers machines, farming, tractor, farm, husbandry, agribusiness, claas, claas lexion, harvester, harvesting, krone harvester, corn chopper, Agricultural technology

Id: r3QQ6dm64xg

Length: 49min 2sec (2942 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 24 2020