The productivity gain was clear for all to see as an 18 metre Midwest Durus front made a meal of mung beans in a Cecil Plains, Queensland trial run.
Midwest was granted demo time on GD Farming’s mung bean harvest and the results were impressive.
GD Farming’s harvester operator, Jim Hesbrook, said the performance compared to the standard 12m front was surprising.
“It is much more stable when you are making a turn at the end of a run where it's been hilled up and you go just a little bit too quick, the movement is slow and gentle.
“It’s just brilliant - unbelievable really.”
The Durus is constructed around a single super strength steel hollow section beam and is fitted with two carrier wheels and two control wheels to manage the ground height while airbag, strut and spring suspension dampens movement.
The front was fitted to GD Farming’s John Deere S690 for the trial.
“We’ve been going at about 13.5 kilometres an hour which gives you an average of 24.5 hectares an hour and I did a test with a full cut with the Midwest and I got to 16km/h averaging about 28.5ha/h with ease,” Mr Hesbrook said.
“Even if you are working on 25ha/h on an 10 hour day that’s 250ha, that’s phenomenal.
“You get a higher volume going through and you can run at a slower speed and give the machine and separator time to work and you’ll end up with a better product,” he said.
While there’s the extra width to consider the results are all about the set-up, Mr Hesbrook said.
If the reel speed and reach is set and combined with the ground speed, it handles mung beans with ease.
“It’s lovely, doesn't knock the crop about or leave it on the floor - it is very good,” he said.
“The main thing is its total stability and I put that down to the one piece steel beam build.
“The way it is set up I feel far less worried about damaging this in the normal way that I operate, than doing exactly the same speeds with the 40 foot draper.
“I’m not an engineer, not a mechanic either, but if I can see a front that’s flogging from side to side as you go over a couple of hills as opposed to one which might move half a foot over the same ground, it's easy to see the benefits.
“If I had the choice as a buyer I know which way i‘d go,” he said.
