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STARCUT STUBBLE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
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Traditional management of crop stubbles has often been centred around the combine harvester and the use of its straw chopper and chaff spreader for the mulching and dispersal of unwanted residues. This practice can prove costly with up to 120HP solely consumed by the straw chopper which could be 20% of the combines available power. For this reason cutting time increases and fuel costs remain high.
The emergence of Spearhead’s Stubble Management System coupled with the introduction of its STARCUT rotary mower range is helping to alter the thinking of many growers throughout Europe and beyond who have turned to the high performance STARCUT mowing system to better manage the chopping and distribution of crop residue. The system is proven to deliver savings in fuel, time, combine wear parts and fertiliser requirements whilst speeding up residue decomposition and reducing disease carry over into next seasons crops.
Established practice dictates that stubble cutting height is approximately 15 centimetres. The Stubble Management System challenges this and increases stubble height to at least 25 centimetres with the straw chopper and chaff spreader turned off. This has a dramatic impact on the operational performance of the combine harvester and still dictates a saving when allowing the STARCUT mower to move in to the field after the combine has moved on.
The higher the combine’s cutter bar is set the less straw is processed, increasing threshing capacity and resulting in up to 50% less straw being processed through the combine. Capacity for separation is increased significantly whilst improved operating speeds ensure that harvesting is carried out much more quickly and with a much lower level of fuel consumption. Being cut higher the crop is also likely to be drier meaning that early morning or late evening harvesting opportunities are more accessible and expensive drying costs greatly reduced.
Farmers working in Germany have reported reduced combine costs by up to €36.00/ha following the implementation of the Stubble Management System on their farms.
The German farmers increased normal stubble levels from 15 centimetres up to 35 centimetres. The impact was immediate and impressive seeing fuel costs reduced by 8 litres/hr at the same time as combine capacity was increasing from 3.6ha/hr to 5.4ha/hr.
Following harvest a 9.1 metre STARCUT 910 was employed to carry out the mulching work previously managed by the combine. The mower required 2.5 litres/hr of fuel and achieved a work rate of 12ha/hr.
In conclusion the adoption of the Stubble Management System significantly increased the work rate of the combine whilst the higher operational capacity of the STARCUT mulcher when compared to the straw chopper meant that both operations were completed in less time than it would normally take to complete the harvest. A clear saving in fuel was also achieved.
if you require any more information on the Starcut range then please
contact the Spearhead sales office on 01789 491861.
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