Harvest boon

While its road-holding may not be quite up there with its sports-car namesake, the Claas Jaguar, one of the farming industry's top-selling forage harvesters, boasts some pretty impressive performance characteristics.

With a top road-speed of 40km/h, and, more significantly, a typical working speed of 16.8km/h, the Jaguar, which is used to produce silage, can harvest up to 400 tonnes of maize or grass an hour.

Key to this performance is a specially developed hydrostatic — or hydraulic — drive system developed by Linde Hydraulics.

A feature of Claas's foragers since 2000, this so-called hydrostatic propel drive system, which consists of a hydraulic drive-system coupled with an electronically controlled diesel engine, has been enhanced with a recent redesign.

One of the prime areas of improvement was in the 18-tonne vehicle's tractive force, an essential feature on the slopes and wet ground that form its typical working conditions.

According to

, use of its CED electronic control technology enables Claas to achieve a significant boost in tractive force without increasing energy consumption by changing the diesel power, pump, rotating speed or pressure.