25 years ago, the first Krone BiG X forage harvester rolled off the assembly line in Spelle, Germany. This completed Krone’s machine portfolio, which then covered the entire forage harvesting chain.
The self-propelled machine began as a 40 km/h high-speed machine, officially with 540 HP. The BiG X was available with EasyFlow grass pick-up and the EasyCollect maize header. Just five years later, a BiG X prototype was presented that broke the limit of 1000 HP. Equipped with two synchronized six-cylinder motors, this forage harvester was developed for the most demanding conditions.
The first BiG X was already equipped with some features such as an engine with enormous power and a top speed of 40 km/h as well as a fully hydraulic, infinitely variable traction drive on all four wheels. There were also six pre-compression rollers, a chopping drum 750 mm in diameter and 830 mm wide and 32 blades arranged in a V shape. The harvester concept was from the very beginning designed for maximum throughput with ideal chop quality. Onwards, Krone developed numerous innovations over the course of 25 years, which are a significant factor in the success of the BiG X.
Especially worth noting are the Operator Assist systems and electronic aids such as AutoScan, AutoStop and EasyLoad as well as ConstantPower and XtraPower, which utilise the machine even better and reduce operator work stress. With the EasyFlow, XDisc, EasyCollect and XCollect harvesting headers, BiG X has shown to be an all-rounder, harvesting all field crops from grass to maize. Especially for use with maize, the chopper unit with a large bandwidth from MaxFlow to Biogas chopping drums in combination with the OptiMaxx conditioner, which conditions crops Intensively, ensures optimum chop quality with maximum throughput. Not least thanks to the VariStream system, the BiG X achieves a uniform crop flow.
Two series of harvesters are now available with a total of 10 models. While the small series of BiG X 480 to 630 covers the range of power from 490 to 653 HP, more powerful models with 687 to 1156 HP are available in the large series from BiG X 680 to 1180. All forage harvesters are equipped with the Krone SmartConnect telemetry unit among other standard features. Machine data, recorded automatically in real time by this system can be sent to the Krone SmartTelematics application for further processing or alternatively via the agrirouter to one of the many farm management-systems.
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