Skids ‘Top’ wheels for Antrim contractor

Based outside Ballymena, Co Antrim, Jonathan Kirkpatrick runs a large-scale contracting business. Better known as Kirkpatrick Agri Contractors, the business carries out an extensive run of grass and arable work all year round.

Established 30 years ago, Jonathan started out his contracting career with a round baler and slurry tanker, Over the next three decades the business has grown considerably, to its current scale.

Last year, poor weather after the first cut caused ground conditions to deteriorate in many parts of the country, leaving the remainder of the silage season tricky.

Given the working nature of rotary rakes, correct setup is key to avoid scrubbing of the surface. In considerably wet conditions, surface scrubbing tends to occur due to the rotor bogie wheels sinking, causing tines to collide with the surface. The result is the dragging of clay into the swath.

Keen to avoid this becoming more of an issue and in searach of ways to improve both machine performance and forage quality, Jonathan decided to purchase a PÖttinger Top 882C twin rotor, centre-delivery rake, with the unique Flowtast glide bar system, replacing the traditional rotor bogie chassis.

Background

“Leaving aside the challenges faced towards the end of the 2023 season, I knew it was going to have a knock-on effect this year. As expected, land was rougher due to poaching and marks from machinery. My son, John, happened to show me a video of the PÖttinger Flowtast skid system last autumn and I liked the look of it.

“We looked into it more and contacted our local dealer, T Jackson & Sons. Soon after we bought the Top 882 C, which arrived in time for this season,” Jonathan said.

Prior to the arrival of the PÖttinger rake, the raking fleet was predominantly Krone branded, with a Lely machine thrown in there further back the years. Two Krone rakes are still active within Kirkpatrick’s arsenal of grass equipment, a four-rotor Swadro 1400 (11m-13.5m) and a TC880 (8.8m).

We moved to a four-rotor rake when we bought the Krone Big X 700 to keep it fed. The twin rotor rakes look after heavy crops for the forager and grass for baling. Unsure as to how the Flowtast system would work out, Jonathan decided to hold on to his Krone TC880.

The Flowtast system

At Agritechnica 2019, PÖttinger reinvented the wheel, for the want of a better word, within the rotary rake market. Replacing the traditional wheeled bogie undercarriage, PÖttinger came forward with an alternative plastic skid/glide bar option for its Top 842C and 882C twin rotor rake models. The sickle-shaped wheel alternative offers an eight-fold increase in contact area, which ultimately leads to improved ground-following ability in rough or wetter terrains. Interestingly, PÖttinger is the only manufacturer to currently offer such a system as an option to the typical wheeled bogies. The Top 882C model is the second largest twin rotor offering by PÖttinger with a hydraulic telescopic working width range between 7.7m and 8.8m. The overall diameter of each Toptech Plus rotor unit is 3.7m, each fitted with 13 tine arms. Raking for balers, Jonathan praised the evenness and formation of the swath produced by the rake. Swath width can be set from 1.3m to 2.6m.

How it works

Each skid unit consists of five individually replaceable, 15mm Nylon plates. The total surface contact area per skid is 5.5m2 compared with the standard bogies five tyres tallying in at 0.675m2.

The skid units are fixed, with no moving parts, however, the team at Pöttinger developed a new suspension system, so that it can be adjusted on the go by means of altering hydraulic pressure in the accumulators. The hydraulic lift rams on either side tension a linkage, which in turn alleviates the load being placed on the skids. The rotor tilt position comes factory set. Working height is also hydraulically adjustable from the cab, a feature optioned by Jonathan over the standard manual crank alternative.

Jonathan pointed out that the contact pressure of each rotor is displayed on separate pressure gauges. In softer, wetter conditions the idea is to remove as much weight off the rotors as possible, using the hydraulic weight alleviation system, helping the skids ‘glide’ better across the surface. Jonathan and the team tend to operate at the mid-point of Pöttinger’s suggested ground pressure range, suiting most scenarios.

In theory, one would imagine that the increase in contact area of the skids would result in a greater power requirement, but Jonathan believes this is barely noticeable, helped by the face that a 200hp+ New Holland T7 is used for raking.

Other features

Elsewhere, the rake is the same as the standard machine fitted with five-wheel rotor chassis. Jonathan’s rake is also equipped with the optional hydraulic raking height adjustment feature, which is done from the tractor cab.

Another feature and major like for Jonathan over competitor machines is Pöttinger’s steering system. While some brands opt to steer the full rear axle from the centre beam, leaving the wheel stubs fixed, Pöttinger uses a fixed axle and steers just the wheels, similar to a two-wheel drive tractors front axle, Jonathan explained. The main benefit seen so far by the team is improved stability on the road during transport. The position of the cam track within each rotor is infinitely adjustable, meaning the exact tine withdrawal point can be set in order to alter the swath shape if needs be. Each tine arm can be individually removed via two bolts in the event of damage. Pöttinger uses angled tines as standard to help lift forage off the ground.

Already running a Pöttinger one-pass seed drill and disc harrow, Jonathan pointed out the impressive build quality and paint work as a common trend with the brand.

“With the price of machines nowadays, you expect top quality paintwork. But you’d be surprised with the poor paint quality of some brands,” Jonathan outlined.

Verdict

“Before its arrival I was somewhat sceptical, the idea of the glide bar seemed almost too simple. However, I can say that it works a dream in all conditions. The first thing I noticed was how smooth and quiet the rotors run, compared to a rake on wheeled bogies. When you think about it, the small bogie wheels, run in and out of every small hollow or rut whereas the glide bars float across the surface. There’s no sinking of wheels into soft ground causing the tines to scrub the surface and drag clay into the swath. When that happens, it not only effects silage quality, but it places strain on the tines causing them to bend, not to mention the strain placed on the rotor arms and the cam track. Avoiding this has to ultimately increase the longevity of the rake and lower running costs. After 2,500 acres, there has been one tine bent, which has me well impressed. There are no major signs of wear on the skids, other than a few scrapes,” Jonathan pointed out.

“Being able to eliminate the possibility of flat tyre on the rotor chassis is also a benefit. Overall, I think it’s definitely worth the extra investment for raking in areas where there is wetter, more marginal land. When the time comes to change my other twin-rotor, it’s likely I’d buy another with the Flowtast glide bars. I’d imagine it’s only a matter of time before it''s an option on four-rotor models,” Jonathan noted.

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