Combine Switches From Rotary To Conventional

Combine Switches From Rotary To Conventional COMBINES Miscellaneous 16-3-22 "It's the most versatile crop harvester ever built," say developers of this revolutionary new combine that can be easily switched from rotary to conventional and back again. Lets you choose the best harvesting configuration for each crop and condition. The Italian-built "Firefox" combine, dreamed up and manufactured by Rosso Combines Corporation in Larizzate, Italy, was the hottest new product at farm shows in Europe this year and it attracted huge crowds at the Fieragricola in Verona, Italy, where it was first introduced in March (see pages 21-23 for a roundup of other exciting new products from Europe). What makes the Firefox combine unlike any other harvester ever built is the way the entire cleaning system is mounted on an interchangeable track, allowing you to pull out the "axial flow" rotary cylinder and replace it with conventional straw walkers when needed, and vice versa. The entire conversion process takes two men less than 4 hrs. to complete. No changes are made to the threshing cylinder and main concave which are designed to handle any crop or condition. Rosso Combines says that approximately 50 percent of all combines worldwide are rotary and 50 percent conventional. Both designs have advantages but the one big disadvantage of rotaries that many farmers don't like is the way they chop up straw. New regulations banning straw burning have increased interest in baling straw as well as many new uses - such as burning straw bales for fuel. With Rosso's new machine, if you need to save straw, you can slip in the straw walker assembly. And there are other crops and conditions where one system - rotary or conventional - may have an advantage over the other. The combine's large threshing cylinder is 25 in. dia. and 46 in. long. Speed varies from 350 to 1,000 rpm's and it's driven hydraulically, making it easy to adjust speed to conditions. It has a wider concave than normal, improving threshing up front. The rotary separation cylinder is also driven hydrostatically and can be infinitely varied in speed from 0 to 1,000 rpm's or even reversed if it should ever plug up. The combine is powered by either a 6-cyl. 170 hp. naturally aspirated engine or a 6-cyl. 220 hp. turbocharged engine. Ground drive is hydrostatic. Any type of header can be fitted to the machine. All combine adjustments can be made from the cab including speed of threshing cylinder and fan, concave and rotor spacing, the movement of the tank unloading auger, and the height control for grain tank filling auger. You can tell the status of any of the equipment at a glance thanks to cab-mounted indicators. Optional equipment for the new combine includes a self leveling kit and full metal tracks. Rosso hopes to locate a manufacturer or importer in North America. Contact FARM SHOW Followup, Rosso Combines Corporation, 13030 Larizzate-Vercelli, Italy (ph 0161 392284; fax 0161 391730).

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