NEW BISO COMBINE HEADER
A novel development on the grain side this harvest is a combine fitted with a specialised header from Austrian company Biso. The new combine and header were supplied to a Carlow farmer, who declined to be interviewed by the Farming Independent, but he had no issue with the the product and its supplier being featured. The supplier in question is independent trader and combine specialist, Frank Jenkinson, from Bagnalestown, Co Carlow. Frank has been in the second-hand combine business for several years and came across the Biso header in Britain, where it is used extensively. No one here in Ireland had yet invested in this very specialised unit, but Frank had an enquiry for a combine from one of his customers who grew quite a lot of oats, rape, barley and wheat. Wrap Barley and wheat are relatively easy to harvest, but oats and rape are a bit trickier. Oats have a tendency to wrap on the reel and are often too tall to fall into the auger properly. This means that the reel must be used to break down the crop first so the auger can digest it. This results in two problems: firstly, it increases the losses at the header (not to mention oat regrowth) as oats shell very easily; and secondly, it creates an uneven feed to the threshing mechanism, which reduces the combine's capacity. Rape is a similarly delicate crop and requires side knives to cut through the mat of material. The Biso is designed to accommodate all types of cereal, changing from one type to another extremely quickly and easily. It does this by incorporating extra features into its design. Biso do not manufacture combines but provide specialised pieces of equipment, such as headers, side knives, header trailers and regular trailers. The Biso header replaces the combine's original header, and functions, such as reel height, reel in and out, reel speed and ground contouring, are controlled in the same way as the original — from the combine's joystick or controller. The additional functions are controlled by an extra control box, which allows the driver to change the angle of the reel tines on the move, adjust the floor with the knife attached up to 700mm to accommodate long straw crops such as oats and tilt, and move the whole header forward in the head to bring the knife closer to the ground. It incorporates its own hydraulic system, which drives any extra hydraulic features. In addition, the reel is hydraulically driven, doing away with messy drive systems on the drive side. It also drives the side or rape knives when they are in use. When out of use, the rape knives fold back into the header. Stainless steel is used abundantly in the Biso VX850's construction, principally for its low friction values, and that it won't rust. Both the moving floor and the main auger are stainless steel, plus the curtains for the rape knives. Toby Aubrey, the British importer, said the use of stainless steel also improves crop flow. "The large diameter (610mm) stainless steel auger with shallow flights helps maintain a smooth crop feed to the drum," Mr Aubrey said. The tine bars are armoured or protected with low-friction plastic to help prevent oat straw, in particular, from wrapping on the reel tine arms. Even the steel auger fingers are plastic coated to assist a smooth crop flow. Features Mr Aubrey was commissioning the header on site and outlined many of its functions and features. Biso fit a slip clutch to the auger itself, instead of the whole header drive being protected by a slip clutch. "This allows the knife to clear itself in the few seconds after the auger is jammed and before the operator stops the header drive. If everything stops, then there is a much greater load, particularly on the knife, when starting up after the blockage is cleared. This has the potential to cause the knife to break," Mr Aubrey explained. The Biso header also comes with its own trailer, and the manufacturer claims that wherever the combine can go the header will follow. There are two wheels set side by side at the front, and the rear axle is about a third of the way up the frame. Time will tell whether it follows as good as they claim. The header is slightly narrower at 8.5m than the New Holland 9.0m header that would have come with the combine. There is a small weight penalty over the New Holland header, but this was expected. I don't think this type of header is something that you could buy for an existing combine, but is certainly something to consider if buying new — like this customer — if you have a lot of cereals to harvest.
