Hesston Improves Windrowers For 2001 Improvements for Hesston Self-Propelled and Pull- Type Windrowers extend through much of the line for 2001, including the new 8550 S SP Disc Windrower (shown), with more horsepower for harvesting heavy, tan gled crops. ATLANTA, Ga. “Not only is Hesston an established leader in the hay and forage in dustry,” said Eric Raby, Hess ton general marketing manager, “we also listen to our customers. As a result, cutting edge technol ogy and ongoing product im provements are a Hesston hallmark.” “Productive improvements for Hesston Self-Propelled and Pull-Type Windrowers extend through much of the line for 2001,” said Raby, “And it starts with more horsepower on the Model 8550 self-propelled disc windrower.” “The 8550 will now carry the designation BSSOS, and will offer 165 engine horsepower in com parison to the previous rating of 152 horsepower,” explained Raby. “This will give producers the extra power they occasion ally need when harvesting heavy, tangled crops, or when cutting thick hay at higher ele vations.” Prospective customers look ing at the Model 8250 self propelled windrower will now have one more option. In addi tion to the standard 8250 and 8250 S models, Hesston will offer an 8250 S equipped with a two speed hydrostatic transmission, much like the one installed as standard equipment on the Model 8450. As part of the two- Two Area Technical Managers Appointed At Biovance® OMAHA, Neb. Dr. Doug las E. Pamp has been named technical services manager for Biovance Technologies, Inc. in Minnesota, lowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska and the Dakotas. He is responsible for liaison with all natural and regional accounts in his area. He will also conduct technical training programs, and provide sales support, and consultation with dairy nutri tionists and veterinarians. He C6-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 28,2001 Business * News speed package, the new 8250 S offering will also include a speedometer and a rotary air intake. “We’re also offering a new conditioner roll option on se lected mower-conditioner and windrower headers,” Raby adds. “As an alternative to the rubber on steel or steel on steel conditioner rolls that have long been a Hesston exclusive, we now offer TiCor™ conditioner rolls, which are shallow-lugged, intermeshing rubber rolls made from cord reinforced rubber that are stacked, compressed and machined into rolls.” As Jeff Noll, Agco sales engi neer for Hesston products, ex plains, stacking and compressing the rubber on the roll has several distinct advan tages to a roll which has the rubber molded to a steel roll. “One benefit is that the TiCor rubber rolls absorb shocks from rocks or other foreign objects with less damage,” he says. “Also, since the roils are shallow-lugged, they do less damage to crop leaves than competitive deep-lugged rubber or urethane rolls.” Finally, be cause the rubber is not molded to a steel roll, there are no prob lems associated with chunks of rubber gouging out or peeling away. was previously with Vita Plus. Dr. Ralph Randall has been named technical services mana ger for the upper South Atlantic, Northeast and Eastern Canada. He is responsible for liaison with all national and regional ac counts in his area. He will also conduct technical training pro grams, and provide sales sup port, and consultation with dairy nutritionists and veteri narians. He was previously with Furst McNess. Case IH Celebrates 25 Years Of Axial-Flow Harvest Innovation RACINE, Wis. The changes in agriculture during the past 25 years have been nothing short of revolutionary. Global positioning systems, tractors with rubber tracks in stead of tires, crops resistant to herbicides and pests, and many other new technologies have found a place in the farmer’s toolbox. Looking back a quarter cen tury showcases another agricul tural milestone. The year 1977 marked the birth of the Case IH Axial-Flow line, and the first 300 combines rolled off the as sembly line that year. The Axial- Flow combine’s innovative, but simple technology was a clear breakthrough in grain harvest ing. In fact, the five principles built in the first Case IH rotary combine simplicity and reliabil ity, grain quality, grain savings, matched capacity and crop adaptability continue today, 25 years later. More than 100,000 Axial- Flow combines have been sold over the years and they’ve har vested upward of 1 billion acres of crops. Little wonder the Case IH Axial-Flow combine is leg endary among grain farmers. Its high reputation can be at tributed in large part to a net work of good dealers; loyal, enlightened customers; and, of course, solid engineering. Dealer Since 1941 Charlie Hoober has seen it all in his years in the farm equip ment business in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Hoober Inc. has been an IH and now Case IH dealer since 1941. What does Charlie Hoober re member about the first Axial- Flow line? “We really liked the clean, simple design, less grain damage and the combine had a lot of threshing capacity.” He adds: “Without a question, we could see these combines had great po tential.” Over the years, he estimates the dealership has sold 800 Axial-Flow combines. Today, Hoober is servicing 197 of the original 1400 Series units still being used by farmers. What was the most significant change in the combine over the years? “The best change was the spe cialty rotor because it handles wet crops,” he says. “That really opened a lot of doors for us. The Field Tracker option and adding more horsepower along the way have been good, too.” Jerry Heim has owned and operated Hoxie Implement in Hoxie, Kan., since 1962. His first thoughts about the pioneering Axial-Flow combine? “It was a revolutionary new design and we were really ex cited about it,” he recalls. “The superior grain quality, simplic ity and a new, modern look really made it stand out.” Hoxie Implement serves cus tomers within a 100-mile radius of Hoxie in northwestern Kansas. The Case IH dealer also has a location at Colby, Kan. Wheat, corn, soybeans, milo and a few sunflowers are grown in the dealership’s trade area. “We tested a 1440 the year before production started,” says Heim. “We knew right away it would be a big advancement in combines.” The basic design hasn’t changed much since 1977, but Heim has seen other improve ments. “More horsepower, nicer cabs, easier controls, and a much-improved cleaning system have all helped us continue to sell customers on the Axial-Flow The birth of the Case IH Axial-Flow combine in 1977 played a significant role in the sweeping changes that have come to agriculture in the last 25 years. The innova tive but simple technology of the Axial-Flow combine pro vided a clear breakthrough in grain harvesting, and more than 100,000 have been sold over the years. combine’s advantages,” he adds. Custom Harvester Rick Farris, a custom har vester from Edson, Kan., bought a fleet of model 1680 combines in 1988. “We started because of the good support people in the field,” he says. “When you’re harvesting thousands of acres over a large geographic area, you really need that service and parts support out there.” Farris harvests between 25,000 to 30,000 acres a year, getting the job done with four 2388 combines. Axial-Flow com bines handle all of the crops his customers want him to harvest, including wheat, edible beans, corn, soybeans, malt barley and sunflowers. “There are a lot of things you can do with these combines to get the sample you want,” he says. “Reliability is a big factor, too. Case IH has a simple ma chine, and that’s really good.” Design and testing on this new harvesting concept began further back than most people realize. Camiel Beert has worked on the Axial-Flow combine since the beginning, first in engineer ing, then in manufacturing as a field representative. He recalls that IH personnel tested an early rotary combine concept in Mexico in 1958. Engineers started work on the rotary concept in earnest in the early 1960 s at International Harvester’s combine works in East Moline, 111. “We used high-speed, 16- millimeter film to study how grain was handled by the rotor,” Beert says. “We often shot 10 or 12 rolls of film a day and had it developed at a local TV station at night with the news footage. Then we’d study the films the next day to see what worked best.” Asked about his favorite memories of working with the combine and its customers, Beert replies; “A farmer told me Lancaster Farming ✓Check Out Our Web site www.lancasterfarming.com once, ‘l’d rather be in this com bine than sitting in my living room.’” Beert adds: “The way I look at it, I was in the right place at the right time.” The engineers who invented the Axial-Flow combine truly were focused on finding a better harvesting solution. “With the rotor, we saw a clear breakthrough in grain quality,” says Dave Gustafson, a test engineer for the Axial-Flow combines. “I started working at the East Moline plant in 1969. By then, we recognized the grain quality advantages of the rotary design. With the simplicity of the rotor replacing the normal cylinder, concaves, straw walk ers ai\d all the other parts, we re alized we had something special. “We had a lab called The Garage where we could haul in crops and test the rotor and the cleaning system,” says Gustaf son. “The Garage was pretty secret. We did a lot of things in there we wanted to keep under wraps. Only a small group of en gineers, maybe six or eight of us, was allowed access.” Often, I would travel to a field test site, and you couldn’t tell anyone where you were going. The field machines had pad locked security doors and were often guarded at night. “For a young engineer, it was as an exciting time to work there.” The 25-year run of Axial- Flow combines has been equally exciting being on the cutting edge of harvesting technology. Actually, the Case IH reputa tion for innovative harvest tech nology goes back to the mid 1800s to the inventions of the McCormick reaper and the Case thresher. For a century and a half, the company has lived up to the promise of harvesting higher-quality grain and more of it. Now, the latest chapter is the Case IH celebration of a quarter-century of Axial-Flow combines.
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