Testing the new John Deere X8 forage harvester in wet conditions near Salhusen, Germany. The machine uses large tyres and automation features to handle challenging terrain while keeping fuel consumption down compared to competitors.
Our next stop was near Salhusen in northern Germany. It turned out we hadn't just brought the X8 from the UK, we'd also brought the rain. We want to test the X8 here because of the difficult conditions, particularly the wet conditions that we find here. We've been here for two weeks and it has rained almost every day. That means we can test the traction drive of the machine, especially the effect of the 42 inch tyres. To gain experience under these conditions. We have two members from the testing team who are monitoring the technical aspects. Then we have two people from engineering who are looking at what the machine does in the field. You said that the conditions are particularly difficult and wet. What would be a normal length of cut for this customer? I would say the cutting lengths are between 6 and 10 millimeters. The biogas plants need an especially shortcut in order to produce good silage. We need to crack the kernels really well because the biogas operators demand high quality. We're testing the machine here because the owner also uses comparable machines and we want to compare the X8 with these. That includes John Deere as well as competitor machines. There are three parameters that we want to compare. First, the forage quality. Last week we obtained several forage samples from different machines. Then we're looking at fuel usage and the throughput. It was important for the test team to accurately compare fuel consumption and performance with the contractor's other machines. Karls, I see Marcel is still tightening some screws. What's still missing? We have a Krau fuel meter that still needs to go in the cab. Can you show me that? This is the device. Using this from the cab I can determine the litres of fuel used. So during the harvest. During the harvest and during the individual job I can look at it anytime to see the consumption. Great. Keep up the good work. The contractor, Hartmut Brockmann, was pleased with the performance of the large tyres in the wet soil. First, the forager needs to be able to drive through these wet areas without getting stuck because that costs us time and money. As we can see, it's working well here. It is the large tyre diameter that decreases the rolling resistance and that allows us to master the situation better and we don't get stuck as often. Very good. And your first impression here in the field of the machine? I would say first of all a fantastic overall impression of the machine. The exterior. There's been a lot of progress. What's important to me for the future is that there is less for the driver to worry about that can be done mainly through automatic steering system, automatic drive, so that everything happens automatically. Also some things regarding the functions, user friendliness and the radio contact between employees, so that that happens smoothly.
