We ran the new John Deere W235 windrower in some contour fields near Montfort, WI last week. If you’ve ever driven a windrower before, you know how squirrelly they can be with the two separate wheel motors driving the machine similar to a skid steer. We’ve been requesting an integrated steering system in windrowers since the ATU left a lot to be desired in our hills and contours at higher cutting speeds. I was VERY impressed with the new integrated steering system in this machine. As you will see in the picture, I had my demo receiver on the machine which was set-up for RTK, but we ran the machine on SF1 since that’s the system most customers would use for cutting hay. We cut up to 15 mph in these small contours and the system was very smooth. Whether you have an ATU in your windrower today or not, you will want to run this new machine. Give us a call if you want to set-up a demo.
This week, I got the chance to start out a customer with his new 569 Premium round baler. The premium round baler includes: new cam style pto slip clutch for less wear and maintenance, ISO monitor with 3 bale shape sensors instead of 2, a grease bank for easier service, 2 year or 12,000 bale warranty, improved mega wide pick-up (larger cams, larger bearings and larger spider gears, but same low profile) and two options for tractor/baler automation. This baler had both of these automations activated. With a level 1 baler activation the baler gate opens and closes automatically. With Level 2 the baler tells the tractor when to stop. The baler wraps the bale, kicks the bale out and closes the gate without operator involvement besides pressing the brakes after the tractor begins to slow down on its own. In hilly fields, there is also a pause button, so you can kick the bale out where it will not roll away. This is pretty neat technology that will save a lot of operator fatigue if you bale a lot of hay or corn stalks. Once again, give us a call if you are interested in a demo.