Harvester Tracks
There’s an old saying: you reap what you sow. Looking at it in a rather literal way, one can say that without a good harvester, no grain sewn can ever be collected. Of course, present day combine harvesters are used for much more than simple harvesting. As the name of the vehicle suggests, there is a number of operations that a harvester does: reaping, threshing as well as winnowing; all three at once. As such, combine harvesters have become the backbone of agricultural work, saving labor and manpower needed to address this process.
The original inventor of the combine is Hiram Moore – a United States citizen – who presented the first schematics in 1834. While earlier versions used the pulling power of mules and horses, modern harvesters are self-propelled and steadily march forward on their harvester tracks or tires. Apart from the self-propelling technology, harvesters made another big leap in 1975, when the rotary design was introduced. Maximum yields were achieved in the 1980s with the implementation of on-board electronics, which were used to give an indication of the threshing efficiency.
Most of the initial models self-propelled combines featured standard manually operated transmission. The continuously variable transmission was later introduced in order to avoid deficiencies. Thanks to this technology, the machine can be operated at varied ground speed while the engine and threshing speeds remain the same.
One particular component that combine harvesters are equipped with is the removable head. The most standard models are called grain platforms and feature knife cutter bar and a revolving reel with teeth (metal or plastic) that lead the cut crop to the auger. Particular crops require different heads, such as ‘draper’ for wheat, corn head or rowcrop head. Often times the type of crop combines are used to harvest dictates the need not only for special head, but also harvester tracks. One famous use of harvesters with tracks is in rice farms.
Keeping a harvester up and running is of crucial importance. When the demand on the equipment is huge, which is usually the case at the start of harvesting season, any malfunction can cost a lot of money and lead to huge losses. Most of the time, problems occur from the fact that a component is worn. One such part of combine harvesters that is critical to effectiveness is the header area. Regardless of what crop is being harvested, vital components need to be inspected often and replaced if need be.
One of the components that experience a lot of wear is harvester tracks. They make an essential component of every vehicle. Uneven wear can cause the machine to slow down, run unsteadily or not go in a straight line, all of which are undesirable scenarios. In order to ensure none of that takes place, we at McLaren Industries have developed a brand new FieldMasterTM Multi-Season series rubber harvester tracks.
The main quality of this series of tracks is the improved strength and wear resistance. The secret behind these improvements lies in the new material used for the forgings design, which guarantees up to 50% less wear. One more benefit comes from the fact that the new forging material can be directly welded with the help of surfacing welding wire, whenever repair is needed.
The new McLaren harvester tracks come with improved tensile strength to guarantee that stretching doesn’t occur. The SpoolRite BeltingTM technology used in the creation of the tracks features a belt system using no joints and an increased number of cables, which results in 30% increase in tensile strength.
Another great benefit of McLaren harvester tracks lies with the Extra Wide Forgings (EWFTM) System. Thanks to it, track strength is further improved by the extra width of the steel belting. That leads to significant improvement in stability, even on harsh and uneven terrains.
The FieldMasterTM Multi-Season series come with a guarantee for unhindered use over many seasons due to the special rubber compound – the High-Performance Rolling Area Track (HRATTM) compound – used for the rolling areas and the tread. It is what maintains excellent performance even at maximum capacity. Another risk factor (UV exposure) is eliminated by the 5-RT Compound, exclusive to harvester tracks. The compound provides resistance to cuts, tears and cracks through UV protection.