Combining on hills: Slope solutions
Combining on slopes has always been a tough challenge. Opinions differ as to whether a modern harvester should be equipped with an automatic self-levelling system, and, if so, what type?
In Germany it is estimated that about 4% of the arable cropping area has a gradient of more than 15%, and more than two thirds of tillage land has a slope of up to 5%, while around one fifth falls into the 5-10% bracket. There is about 6% sitting on a 10-15% incline. These statistics may not seem too dramatic at first glance, but take a combine without self-levelling from the flat plains to the rolling hills and you'll quickly realise how much of a difference some form of hillside correction can make to output and limit losses.
Losses on the sieves
On the flat land, the walkers are usually the limiting factor — provided all the settings are correct. This quickly changes on a side slope, as grain, chaff and straw shift to
