John Deere has been busy readying its line-up of self-propelled forage harvesters for next year, with power increases throughout the range and an engine swap at the top of the 9000 series.
In addition to the revamped harvesters there is also a new high capacity pick-up and additional software by which farm managers can communicate with operators in the field.
8000 series harvesters
The smaller 8100, 8200 and 8300 models are the first to benefit from additional power. The 8100 harvester with its 9L engine now delivers a maximum power of 431hp and replaces the current 8200.
For 2023, the 8200 forage harvester is equipped with the larger 13.5L engine which increases its output by 34hp to 465hp, while the new 8300 is blessed with a maximum output of 505hp, instead of the previous 490hp.
9000 series harvesters
The big news with the top end 9700 model is that John Deere has dropped the 755hp, 24L Liebherr unit and has replaced it with its own, smaller, 18L JD18X engine which has been opened up to give 825hp.
Should it be wondered as to why the company has used a smaller engine in a bigger harvester, the answer is that Deere’s own unit does not require adblue.
The 18L John Deere engine also introduces HarvestMotion Plus, which provides increased torque increase and more power at low engine speeds, according to the company.
The discharge chute on the 9000 machines has also been redesigned to provide better flow characteristics and improved throughput.
Beefed up pick-up
Kemper GmbH, a name more normally associated with Claas, has developed a new 30R Grass Pick-up with a working width of 2.7m for the larger John Deere harvesters.
This model is equipped with an 80cm diameter auger, deep 20cm auger flights and six tine bars with 6.5mm tines pick-up.
The new R-series pick-ups are designed for high throughput and feature a chainless drive and heavy-duty wear parts that are claimed to reduce maintenance costs.
A further addition is available to the software suit. Called Autosetup, it allows workflows to be set up, planned and monitored in a single online portal.
The pre-planned work schedules automatically appear on the Gen 4 display when the machine enters the designated field. This gives the driver direct access to the correct lanes, work settings and field boundaries.