ScanStone has come to market with a new lightweight trailed onion and bulb harvester, equipped with a specially designed front lifting unit.
The configuration of the new Panther machine comprises an onion lifting unit at the front end, complete with a square bar and paddles for gentle conveying of the crop. Each lifting function can be individually, hydraulically controlled from the cabin and the company states that the square bar is market-leading, driven by a study belt to reduce the risk of abrasion in dusty conditions.
The belt drive further allows the bar to drive at the optimum height, without a hydraulic motor reducing ground clearance and manual depth wheels are used to adjust the lifting unit.
Crop is conveyed to a longer main web, equipped with a rocker agitator to separate soil or root balls. A second, mechanically driven web follows this before the crop is transferred to the hydraulic transfer web and into the cart elevator. The new elevator system comes with stronger, higher active fingers on the side to hold the crop as it reaches the trailer.
A self-centring lane adjuster ram can be controlled using the in-cab joystick, which ensures the crop is always loaded in the middle of the lifting unit. Once the joystick is released, the machine will automatically recentre. This feature can also be switched on or off.
Also controlled from the cab is the turret style steering system and like the rest of the ScanStone trailed range, comes GPS ready. The system also has eight stud axles, which can be simply adjusted to various track widths.
Completing the Panther is LED road and working lights, centralised grease banks for bearings and an in-cab colour screen control box with auto-levelling system, full headland management and joystick control. Prices start from £99,500.
For more information go to www.scanstone.co.uk
