Lotus 770 / 900 / 1020

"Cleaner tedding simply does not exist"

Frerk Francksen is a contractor and cattle farmer in Butjadingen. In 1990 he started with 150 milking cows and his farm consists of 200 hectares of arable land as well as 100 bulls for breeding. At his farm, Mr Francksen employs six people as well as two apprentices. As a contractor, he has built himself an excellent reputation by offering high quality contracting operations as well as being reliable and punctual. Due to his beneficial experiences with Lely's arable farming equipment and all positive stories about the Lotus 1020 Profi, Mr Francksen was already convinced into purchasing a Lely Lotus 1020 Profi tedder.

The first feature that the contractor noticed was the gentle crop treatment by the hook tine and the resultant perfect tedding pattern. At the time of the demonstration Mr Francksen drove some circular bouts and even then the Lotus 1020 Profi provided a perfect tedding pattern without forming heaps of grass. So far, he has operated the machine at an exceptionally high output on 600 hectares. "Especially after the second and third cut of grass we could drive much faster", says Mr Francksen. "We even managed an output in excess of 12 ha/h on fields with an average size of 4 hectares without any loss of tedding quality." In spite of its width, the Lotus 1020 Profi with its special Profi drawbar can be very easily manoeuvred in the field as well as during road transport. In addition, tedding round corners in a field is surprisingly simple, because the machine can be lifted hydraulically into the headland position while its rotors keep turning.

Lely Lotus combines reliability with high tedding standards

Superior pick up ability and robust construction were a given for Marton contractor Craig Pilet when he purchased his Lely Lotus 1020 Profi tedder last year. The impressive 10.2m working width was underscored with innovation Craig was already familiar with from owning a Stabilo 600.

The Lotus Profi shared the same genetics of the Lely stable, with unique hooked tines, solid frame and simple reliability combined into the greater working width of the 1020.

"We were looking for a machine that was as reliable, but wider. The Lotus Stabilo had always gone well, picking up all types of crop regardless of its length, and the Stabilo Profi is certainly no different there." Craig's contracting business includes hay and balage work and he is known for the high standards he strives for to achieve consistently dense, quality bales of either. To achieve it he requires quality gear, and attributes part of his success to his Lely Welger balers, but his tedders also play a big part in getting crops to a good bale ready standard.

The unique hooked tine system on the Lely Lotus rotors proves ideal for hooking up the shorter leafy clover rich crops Craig will encounter on sheep farms.
"On a lot of these types of crops when you the tractor tyre ruts you find with straight tines they are not as capable of picking up the shorter stalked grass from the ruts, it can be frustrating. We find we just are not leaving anything behind with the Lotus." Some seasons he may only get one shot at turning the crop if conditions are dry enough before baling.

Contact between ground surface and the hooked tines is more consistent, yet breakages are minimal compared to straight tines and no more costly to replace. He finds even with fine cut silage or balage cut early in the season when moisture and leaf content are high, the machine copes well.

While the 10m-plus width of the Lely Lotus 1020 may seem daunting, Craig has found the Profi steering system has proven more than capable of handling tighter headlands and gate ways, while the long draw bar allows for good stability and a good view of where the tedder is sitting.

The two point linkage system is set to provide a near enough "true tracking" pattern behind the tractor, keeping the foot print of tractor and tedder compact for headland turns and tighter areas.

"The fact that the transport wheels stay on the ground - and not raised up like on some other brands - means the stress on the frame is kept to a minimum and it sits well on the road."
He believes the high quality, solid steel frame of the Lely Lotus 1020 Profi makes it an easier machine to
transport at speed with less bounce and susceptibility to breakages. While the Lely Lotus is capable of running at 540 rpm, Craig tends to let the crop type and quality determine speed and finds a lighter, high clover crop will pick up well at speeds down to 300-350rpm through the eight rotor set up.
The multi rotor set up compensates for the rotors being slightly smaller, while 56 tines on the ground gives a thorough stalk and leaf sweep.

"The key thing with Lely gear is the solidness and the simplicity that means it is pretty bombproof, you do pay more for it, but you don't have any worries about it not lasting the distance," says Craig.

He points to the ease of operating of the Lotus Profi, which simply hooks up to the PTO and hydraulics, one single acting valve to control lifting the rotors, the other double acting valve to swing rotors around to the transport position.

"There is no worry about leaving a control panel in one tractor and taking off in another to find you don't have it."

With a diverse range of clients from sheep, dairy to mixed crop Craig faces a variety of grass swards. The Lely Lotus Profi's capability across all has helped maintain his reputation as a source of quality supplements throughout the lower North Island.

"After having worked with the Lely Lotus tedder for 3 years, we would not like to recommend any other machine to our fellow dairy farmers."

Reiner Wunderlich and Neels Ingo of Butjadingen (Niedersachsen) bought a Lely Lotus 770 Stabilo for their dairy association in 2004. They both have a dairy farm with 75 milking cows and in total the farms consists of 60 hectares of grassland and 15 hectares of maize.

The Butjadingen area has mainly loamy soil providing a heavy cut of grass. Therefore, the weight of machines is an important consideration when buying machines. Both dairy farmers are now using the Lotus tedder for the third season. On average they have three cuts of grass for silage and another two to three hectares of hay every season. Annual operation of the tedder amounts to approx. 400 hectares.

As a result of the satisfaction of these two users, many farmers in this area have also bought Lely Lotus tedders. The Lotus 770 Stabilo, a 6 rotor tedder with unique hook tines, has definitely made its mark in the region. This is mainly due to high output and the exceptionally even tedding pattern. These are benefits that the previous machine of Reiner and Neels could not provide. The two users like to highlight another benefit of their Lotus: due to the unique Stabilo headstock the tedder is true to track in the field at high speeds. The tedding pattern of the hook tines is very even and eliminates any lumps in the crop. Even after three years of tedding in heavy crop conditions, the hook tines have not shown any breakage or signs of wear. The only thing the two dairy farmers had to do was some simple greasing of just a few points on the machine ...

Stable and user-friendly machines, which accelerate harvesting noticeably

In Frankenberg - Geismar Mr Häcker operates a dairy farm with 200 head of cattle, of which 85 are milk cows. The farm consists of 70 hectares of grass, which is used for the production of roughage. Mr Häckers large three point tedder as well as his trailed twin rotor side delivery rake needed to be replaced. Therefore, his dealer - Krummel in Edertal - Bergheim - arranged for a demonstration at the Häcker farm of a Lely Lotus 900 Profi tedder and a Hibiscus 855 Master central delivery rake.

After having used the Lotus 900 Profi tedder after the second cut on 25 hectares of grassland, Mr Häcker noticed the machine's outstandingly quiet operation in the field, which is a striking feature of the carrier plus long draw bar. In addition, the hook tines ensure an exceptionally gentle and clean pick-up of the crop. Due to the combination of these two characteristics this machine achieves a far more substantial output than Mr Häcker's formerly used tedder of another make. In addition, the distribution of weight in relation to the tractor is far more favourable. The former machine with its weight of 1,100 kg was coupled to the tractor's hydraulic lift, which meant that transport always had to be done very gently. In respect of the trailed Lotus 900 Profi tedder there are no such problems. When in the transport position, the machine runs behind the tractor in a very compact and stable manner.

With the Hibiscus 855 Master rake, Mr Häcker has raked approx. 100 hectares of grass as well as some straw. Mr Häcker noticed right at the start that this machine has an outstandingly rugged build. In addition, thanks to the Ro-tines and the rotors with 13 tine arms, the machine achieves a high output. Herr Häcker operates his machines in hilly conditions and even there he achieves operating speeds of 12 to 13 km/h. The large rotors with their large number of tine arms ensure that the crop is raked together consistently and laid down in even swaths. The difference with Mr Häcker's former twin rotor side delivery rake is especially noticeable if the crop is collected by the pick-up loader wagon. "With the previous rake, I just did not manage to process the crop from 50 hectares of grassland in one day with the aid of two self-loading forage wagons. Now that we use the Hibiscus 855 Master central delivery rake, we can easily manage that output. The loader pick-up wagons can process the swaths made by the Hibiscus 855 Master far more easily."

"Practice tests are very important to the development of new machines"

At the farm Agrar GmbH Sonnenberg in Schönermark - with land in excess of 1,700 hectares - roughage for 300 milking cows and 140 head of young cattle is harvested by means of a full range of Lely machines. After the grassland (540 hectares) has been mown with the aid of the Splendimo 320 F and 320 T mowing combination, a Lotus 770 Stabilo is used for tedding the crop. For the first time this year, the farm also uses a Lely Hibiscus rake to rake the dried forage together.

Manager Friedemann Karl explains "that the farm's preference for Lely equipment stems from the good impression that the first Lely machine has left at the farm". Shortly after the Fall of the Wall the company bought its first Lotus 675 Stabilo tedder, which was sold in the federal state of Brandenburg at the time. Ten years later this machine was replaced by its bigger sister, the Lotus 770 Stabilo. In the process, the presence of dealer Lamadi as well as the quality of the machines definitely had an influence on the decision of Agrar GmbH Sonneberg to opt for Lely grassland machinery.

For the 2007 season, Agrar GmbH Sonnenberg has undertaken to test a prototype of the new Lely Hibiscus 1315 twin rotor side delivery rake in practice conditions. "So far, we are pleased with this new model", says Friedemann Karl. The Hibiscus 1315 is based upon its bigger sister Hibiscus 1525 but it is fitted with smaller rotors and features a simpler construction and control. Operator Manfried Bloch explains that the machine ensures very clean raking, which is also due to the stable wheel assemblies underneath the rotors, the sophisticated three-dimensional rotor suspension and the rugged H-frame.

The construction of this machine makes it possible to rake at high speeds, which - in conjunction with the large working width - gives an outstanding output. Manfried uses the machine to rake grass together for both big self-loading forage wagons and Welger balers. The Hibiscus 1315 rake makes it possible to rake the appropriate amount of crop into an exceptionally even swath. These swaths can be handled very well by harvesting machines. Throughout the testing process, Manfred noticed some details that might be improved. This is exactly the type of input - emerging from working in real practical conditions - that Lely always greatly appreciates and consistently improves when going to serial production. Before any prototype is being tested in practice, it is subjected at Lely's to rigid strength gauge testing as well as arduous field testing. Consequently, all prototypes that are deployed for field testing are already in their final development stage.

All in all the prototype of the Hibiscus 1315 rake has done such a great job at the Agrar farm that manager Friedemann Karl was happy to purchase the machine at the end of the season.