Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 6.7.
Automatic 'swather cutter', initially used
for harvesting lucerne (ITC ©).
Figs 6.5 and 6.6.
Mowers cutting at two and three
levels with a working width of 4 m. These are
manufactured by Tebeco (Tebeco ©, 2009).
Fig. 6.8.
Conditioning mower (ITC ©).
MOTORIZED SWATHER CUTTING AND MOWER CONDI
-
TIONERS
(
MOCO
).
This equipment is often old
and dilapidated and is used mainly in the old-
est areas of hemp production (e.g. Interval/
Eurochanvre) where the equipment has been
in use since the time that hemp production
started. These machines must be bought sec-
ond-hand and finding spare parts for them
can be difficult. Adapted and transformed
using dividers, protective metal sheets or
deflectors for use when harvesting hemp, they
do not represent the future, particularly where
the new production areas are concerned.
Furthermore, their work capacity is very lim-
ited where yields are high (Figs 6.7 and 6.8).
Nevertheless, this machinery does have
one advantage: it is able to cut a swath and
ultimately condition the hurds in one single
passage. This reduces the amount of stones
incorporated into the swaths, especially on
fields that have a lot of stones.
MOTORIZED SILO FILLER WITH MODIFIED ROTORS
.
The
first company to use a silo filler for hemp
harvesting was the Dutch company, HempFlax,
with the same objective of cutting the hurds
into pieces as the multi-level mowers. In order
to reap hemp, a classic silo filler has to be
equipped with a specific rotor block. The rotors
currently available on the market allow hurds
to be cut into 20-80 cm pieces. The speed of
the rotor's chainbelt is very low (around 300
turns/min) and the number of blades reduced
to one or two. Equipped with a Kemper beak,
these machines allow high-yielding hemp to be
harvested. In 2009, these silo fillers were used
in the south-west (Euralis/Agrofibre) and in the
Vendée (CAVAC), France (Fig. 6.9).
MODIFIED COMBINE HARVESTERS
.
Combining equip-
ment has been developed by the German fibre
