Tribine breaks from 70-year-old combine harvester design
AE50 awards go to the year’s most innovative designs in engineering products or systems for the food and agriculture industries.
The Tribine has been under development for nearly 20 years, and models are now about to roll off the production lines in the agricultural heartland of Newton, Kansas.
Incorporating a 22-tonne grain tank, the Tribine doesn’t need a tractor and grain trailer running alongside.
Its makers hope this reduction in capital and operating costs can make no-till farming profitable in the US corn belt.
The grain tank can be unloaded in less than two minutes, and a 500-gallon fuel tank allows for 24 hours of continuous operation.
With four aligned low ground-pressure tyres, central articulation, and a pivoting rear axle, the Tribine leaves only one trail in a field, compared to the many tyre trails of a combine harvester, and tractor and trailer.
The machine also benefits from a tight turning radius.
Two engines provide 590 horse power, and full-time all-wheel drive, but no diesel exhaust fluid is required.
Grain is carried in the rear section.
This allows space directly behind the cab for what the manufacturers claim is the world’s largest threshing and cleaning system on a harvester, providing up to twice the cleaning area of other harvesters.
The concave/grate wrap around a large diameter rotor is designed to use 270 degree of the cylindrical surface area, a much larger separation area than other single rotary machines. It also features an advanced pneumatic cleaning method.
The Tribine cuts a swath width up to 50 feet.
Side discharge choppers get rid of the finely chopped chaff, for better field distribution of residue.
In the cab, the driver operates a joystick rather than a steering wheel, and the glass cab floor provides plenty of visibility down towards the header and field.
All-round visibility is improved by cameras and extra large side mirrors, and 360-degree LED lighting for night-time operation.
