Cutting lucerne, winter forage and whole-crop silage is a special challenge for mowers. While lucerne is a fragile crop that calls for particularly gentle conditioning, like whole-crop silage and winter forage, it also produces high yields so the mower has to handle high volumes of material as well. Efficient crop flow is therefore just as important as robust, sturdy drives and high-performance swath grouping with optimised swath formation. These features are becoming increasingly relevant with the growing cultivation of biomass substrates such as sorghum and rising share of lucerne in crop rotations – reflecting the move to more localised protein production for livestock farming.

The innovative crop flow is a particular feature of the DISCO RC AUTO SWATHER. As standard, the roller conditioners are driven by a double drive roller with a specially designed scissor gearbox – for maximum throughput and durability even under sustained heavy use. The transmission and drive trains are designed for use with tractors up to hp and incorporate new, P-Line triple telescopic driveshafts developed jointly with Walterscheid featuring specially toughened large diameter steel profiles and a new K- friction clutch. This combination makes the DISCO RC AUTO SWATHER the most powerful belt mower with conditioner currently on the market.

Two counter-rotating polyurethane rollers crush the crop gently yet effectively without loss. The conditioner spans the entire width of the mower bed to ensure continuous linear flow without forage bblockages. Optimised crop transfer to the mm wide, extremely robust Kevlar-reinforced cross conveyor belts ensures uniform filling of the AUTO SWATHER belt units. This produces an even, loose and perfectly shaped swath which the harvester following behind can easily pick up and process.

CLAAS has launched the two most powerful belt grouper mowers on the market for tractors up to hp – the DISCO C AUTO SWATHER and DISCO RC AUTO SWATHER. These mowers have been specifically developed for harvesting lucerne, whole-crop silage and winter forage alongside traditional grass crops, with the focus on maximum yields and forage volumes. The harvested crop is gently and effectively crushed without loss by two counter-rotating polyurethane rollers. Furthermore, the conditioner extends across the entire width of the mower bed to avoid any forage jams.

The AXOS offers even more of everything, which means even more versatility overall. Two models with a maximum output of and hp complete this tractor segment from CLAAS right up to the ARION . In addition to a higher lift capacity and more payload than the ELIOS series, the AXOS offers large rear wheels up to inch. This makes it a sturdy, capable yet compact all-rounder that performs well even on challenging terrain in arable and vegetable crops or forestry. With a height of . m, it can also pass through low entrances and is astonishingly agile thanks to a minimum turning radius of . m.