Austrian farm machinery manufacturer Pöttinger has added the new Top 882C to its range of popular centre-swath rakes.

Offering a working width of 7.7m to 8.8m, a longer boom allows swath width adjustment between 1.3m and 2.6m.

This flexibility offers the advantages of wider swaths for forage harvesters and narrower swath widths for small loader wagons or balers. From a practical point of view, despite the 3.7m rotor diameter, the transport height without removing the tine arms is still less than 4.0m.

Large tyres on the chassis are said to ensure optimum stability, while the Multitast, five-wheel sub-chassis system offers precise ground tracking, resulting in less dirt ingress in the forage. The positioning of the system sees wheels tracking the ground immediately in front of the tines and early response to each undulation.

The new Top 882C is also available with the optional Flowtast glide bar that replaces the rotor chassis wheels, allowing the machine to glide over deep ruts, holes or wheel tracks, making it particularly suitable for soft and damp soil conditions.

In operation, the required working width is set hydraulically, while the lifting sequence can be set to achieve fast headland turnaround or maximum swath clearance, with uniform lifting achieved via the standard flow splitter.

An individual rotor lifting system, with electrical preselect for raking headlands and field borders, is also available as an option.

The Toptech Plus rotor unit has a continuously adjustable cam track with 420mm diameter for producing a neat yet loose swath.

Distinctively, the raking tines are positioned directly below tine carrier, angled forward in a dynamic position. This configuration is said to actively lift the forage away from the ground, much like the typical action of a pitchfork.

This is said to ensure that as crop volumes increase, material rides up the tine unhindered, resulting in less dirt ingress dirt ingress and leaf shatter.

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