VARIO updates

VARIO cutterbar updates

A number of new features are now standard on the three widest CLAAS VARIO cutterbars. These include a new reel drive and improved access to the stripper bars for the intake auger to aid performance, ease of operation, setup times and maintenance. Powerful rapeseed knives with tool-free fitting

For 2022, new rapeseed knives will be available for the VARIO 1080, VARIO 1230 and VARIO 1380 with a mechanical drive and integrated overload clutch to give a 50 percent greater cutting force. Weighing 33% less, a simple plug-in system with quick-release couplers allows the rapeseed knives to be fitted in a matter of seconds without using tools. Fitting and removing the dividers has also been simplified thanks to a new clamping system.

Intake auger height adjustment

A new hydraulic height adjustment system for the intake auger via the CEBIS terminal allows the operator to react to changing harvesting conditions immediately. Using this system, infinitely variable hydraulic adjustment (within a range of 25 mm upwards and 10 mm downwards) can be applied to the divided auger via the central bearing. The control unit mounted on the cutterbar for height adjustment has also been updated. This also houses the controls to turn on the appropriate work lights on the combine to aid fitting and removal of the cutterbar at night, plus a rotary switch to easily move the auger into a transport or cleaning position. Another rotary switch can be used for infinite variable adjustment of the auger height – any such adjustment being synchronised with the same function in CEBIS. Access to the stripper bars has also been improved and can now be reached and adjusted easily from the rear of the cutterbar.

New reel drive

The VARIO 1080, 1230 and 1380 also benefit from a new driveline to the reel, which delivers the torque directly from the hydraulic motor. Because this is narrower than a chain drive, it’s now possible to use the full 700 mm adjustment range of the VARIO table, even with rapeseed knives fitted. The maintenance interval for the drive is now 500 operating hours instead of 100. Another new feature is the pressure-dependent reel height adjustment, which automatically adjusts the reel speed to the ground speed, using a sensor in the reel drive hydraulic system. If large crop volumes cause the pressure to increase to such an extent that the drive can no longer maintain the required reel speed, the reel is automatically raised to a certain extent until the required speed is attained once again. If there is a reduction in the pressure, the automatic system lowers the reel to the set height again. Both the level of drive torque necessary to trigger the control system and the response of the latter can be set separately in CEBIS. This function already exists for the CONVIO and CONVIO FLEX draper cutterbars from CLAAS.