Claas Celebrates 30 Years of Front Mowers

Bad Saulgau, Germany (May, 5 2011) – The front mower is celebrating its birthday. The CLAAS plant in Bad Saulgau has now been producing front mowers for tractors for 30 years. In 1981, the first front mower – the WM 31 F – was launched on the market. This drum mower allowed CLAAS to make its breakthrough on the mower market. Over the last three decades, the CLAAS plant in Bad Saulgau has now produced over 40,000 front mowers.

With their high work rate, mowing widths starting at 2.45 m and optimal ground following capabilities, the CLAAS mowers quickly earned a good reputation. Currently, all of our drum mowers bear the CORTO name while our disc mowers bear the DISCO name.

Technical development is now increasingly focussed on the energy-saving operation of mowers. Accordingly, CLAAS has combined its independent ground following system (PROFIL) with stepless hydraulic ground pressure adjustment, known as ACTIVE FLOAT technology, for the first time on its DISCO 3100 FC model.

The DLG (German Agricultural Society) tested this mower technology, which was introduced in the DISCO CONTOUR model series, and gave CLAAS an excellent rating in its test report. The reason for the excellent rating was the perfect mowing result combined with minimal fuel consumption. The technology of the system is based on optimal interaction between the hydro-pneumatic ACTIVE FLOAT mower suspension and the P-CUT cutterbar

20% less diesel consumption with ACTIVE FLOAT

As measurements have shown, the hydro-pneumatic ACTIVE FLOAT mower suspension allows diesel consumption to be reduced by up to 20% depending on the particular conditions of use. The system is so effective because the ground pressure of the mower can be adjusted conveniently from the cab at any time – even during driving operations. This means that the mower is always suspended optimally and the frictional resistance produced during the mowing process is converted into rolling resistance. As a result, the mower has low drag resistance, which significantly reduces power demand and fuel consumption.

Further 16% reduction in consumption from reduced PTO shaft speed

By reducing the PTO shaft speed from 1000 rpm to 850 rpm, it is possible to reduce the diesel consumption with DISCO CONTOUR mowers by a further 16%. This fuel saving function is made possible by the optimal gear ratio of the P-CUT cutterbar drive system without any impairment of mowing quality.

Less crude ash in forage

In addition to reduced fuel consumption, DISCO CONTOUR mowers also make an important contribution to forage quality. Accordingly, the content of crude ash in forage can be reduced by up to 17% with optimal mower suspension. ACTIVE FLOAT thus enables a significant increase in forage quality. For the farmer, this means top quality forage. The fuel-saving mowers of CLAAS are available in mowing widths of 2.60 m to 14.00 m.