HarvestersHigher harvesting produc­tivity in hilly and flat terrain

Mr. Edwards, what is Active Slope Adjust­ment^™ ?

The inno­v­a­tive ASA tech­nology revo­lu­tionises mate­rial distri­b­u­tion on the cleaning shoe. This is accom­plished by util­ising an auto­mat­i­cally controlled vari­able speed conveyor belt during side­hill oper­a­tion, which posi­tions ASA as a supe­rior alter­na­tive to existing slope compen­sa­tion systems on the market. Addi­tion­ally, prelim­i­nary field test data indi­cate that the active pre-cleaning features enhance perfor­mance on level ground as well as in high throughput and MOG (mate­rial other than grain) condi­tions.

How does the system work?

ASA is inte­grated into the existing chaffer, so the largest possible cleaning shoe size can be main­tained. A special rubber conveyor belt with small U-shaped cleats, that runs across the width of the machine, actively moves mate­rial uphill before it reaches the sieve area. The speed of the conveyer belt depends on the tilt angle of the combine. Since the belt is centered in the middle of the chaffer frame, it allows iden­tical distri­b­u­tion regard­less of the slope’s incli­na­tion to the left or right. As a result, even on sloping terrain, harvesting can be conducted at a high throughput-level without causing addi­tional grain losses.

ASA leads to higher produc­tivity and reduced losses.

Jonathan Edwards

Due to the oscil­la­tion of the belt, ASA also acts as an active pre-cleaner. This feature is rele­vant in side­hill as well as in level-land oper­a­tion and allows better perfor­mance in high grain yield and MOG (mate­rial other than grain) condi­tions as it frees up cleaning shoe capacity.

What are the bene­fits of ASA for farmers?

Active Slope Adjust­ment™ offers several key bene­fits for farmers and contrac­tors, espe­cially to those working in hilly and uneven terrain. First and fore­most, it signif­i­cantly improves cleaning perfor­mance on slopes by actively redis­trib­uting the crop mate­rial across the entire width of the cleaning shoe. This prevents grain and chaff from accu­mu­lating on the down­hill side, which can lead to over­loading and reduced grain sepa­ra­tion effi­ciency.

Because the system uses a sensor-based control that adjusts the direc­tion and speed of a conveyor belt in real time, it ensures consis­tent perfor­mance regard­less of the slope angle. This means less grain loss, better grain quality, and more effi­cient harvesting. Farmers and contrac­tors can equip their machines with an effec­tive solu­tion. In prac­tice, this trans­lates to higher produc­tivity and reduced losses. As the design does not reduce the cleaning shoe area it does not reduce produc­tivity on flat fields.