TWO NEW new self-propelled harvesters will be launched by specialist potato machinery manufacturer, Grimme, at the PotatoEurope event, which is being held on September 12 and 13, near Hanover, in Germany.

One will be the new company flagship model, the four-row Ventor 4150, which come with an impressive 530hp and a bunker capable of holding up to 15 tonnes of crop.

Based on Grimme's proven SE-principle – a combined separating device for sieving, conveying and haulm separation – the Ventor's new features include a re-designed digging system, low compaction wheels with crab steering, a CCI 1200 operator terminal with a new operator interface plus automatic belt speed control, courtesy of its Speedtronic system.

Despite being a huge machine with a length of 15m, the inner turning radius of the Ventor 4150 is only 6.1m.

The four-row, self-propelled Varitron 470 Terra Trac in its new Platinum guise, will also be presented for the first time. This has a patented seven-tonne non-stop bunker fitted and is popular because it can come with the highest variety of separator devices on the market

As the name suggests, it has soil-protecting rubber tracks, and is highly manoeuvrable.

Also on show will be the two-row trailed bunker harvester, the Evo 290 which has a 9-tonne bunker across the front of its TriSys three-wheeled chassis. In this machine and on the self-propelled units, the speed of the main webs can be infinitely adjusted using the VarioDrive concept and a memory facility can store chosen parameters for recall at a later date.

An add-on for the Evo 290 is the patented AirSep separator, which gently separates stones and clods from the crop using an air stream.

The fourth harvester getting its launch at the show is the single-row SE 140, which has a four-tonne bunker and has 40 km/h road approval.

With weed control trending towards mechanical methods, Grimme's two-row ridging weeder, the GH-OEKO, will also be at the show. It is equipped with blades which are guided in a parallelogram to 'peel off' weeds on the sides of the ridges and a single row shaper follows the cutting system to stabilise the ridge.

From its planting stable, the newcomer will be an eight-row, foldable planter, the GL 860 Compacta which carries a six-tonne payload. This has the option of have a tank system for liquid fertiliser to be mounted.