Tracked JAGUAR wins gold at SIMA

THE state-of-the-art CLAAS JAGUAR 960 TERRA TRAC forage harvester has won a coveted Gold Innovation Award at the SIMA agribusiness show held in Paris last week.

CLAAS Harvest Centre Product Manager – CLAAS JAGUAR, Luke Wheeler, says JAGUAR 960 TERRA TRAC is the world’s first forage harvester to be fitted with a factory-integrated crawler track assembly.

“CLAAS first released TERRA TRAC for use in combination with LEXION combine harvesters in 1996,” he says.

“This technology has revolutionised grain harvesting by significantly reducing soil compaction, improving driving comfort and improving field access.”

The system is available in track widths of 635, 735 and 890 mm. The 635 mm wide tracks have a contact area of more than 1.3 square metres, more than twice that provided by 800-size tyres.

“The intelligent headland protection system takes the TERRA TRAC concept to another level,” Luke says. “During turning, the support rollers in each track unit are pushed down hydraulically and the front drive roller is raised, effectively reducing the contact area by about a third. This results in the visible avoidance of damage to the grass cover by the shear effect when turning".

“Testing conducted by Kiel University of Applied Sciences in Germany has shown that the soil pressure during headland turns is less than that exerted by a wheeled machine.”

Combined with the tyre pressure adjustment system on the rear axle, TERRA TRAC will allow improved field access and reduced damage to croplands and headlands. 

“Put simply, this technology means the harvester won’t sink into the ground when operating in difficult, wet field conditions,” Luke says. “This makes the going so much easier for the harvester and the transport vehicles following it.”

The chassis has been extended by almost a metre in order to accommodate the tracked assemblies, which can oscillate 23 degrees upwards and downwards.

“This pivoted mounting system allows the machine to be operated in even the most difficult conditions,” Luke says. “The extended wheelbase also allows significantly larger maintenance compartment and improved accessibility to the corn cracker.”

JAGUAR 960 with TERRA TRAC also boasts excellent road manners, with a narrow transport width and a smooth top speed of up to 40 km/h.

“Even the wide 890 mm tracks, the machine remains within an external width of 3.5 metres making it very straightforward to license for use on public roads,” Luke says.