Monsters of the Grassland
The Story of the Forage Harvester and other Grassland Machinery
With Jonathan Whitlam & Stephen Richmond
A fourth journey into the marvelous world of harvesters leads us to explore the array of essential machines developed by the need to gather fodder for livestock.
The main focus is on the forage harvester, opening with some remarkable archive footage of early American machines before moving on to early double chop and then precision chop trailed models of the 1960s, 70s and 80s. By the end of this period the self-propelled forage harvester began its bid for dominance and we examine the development from the first early machines into the powerful, often twin-engined monsters of today – such as the Krone Big X, just shy of 1000hp!
We also turn our attention to the mower, as it progresses from horse drawn finger bar to huge self-propelled disc mowers that cover the ground at great speed, then on to the simple hay rake, altering dramatically from early ground driven examples to the modern power take off, hydraulically folding machines of today. Essential balers and bale wrappers also come under scrutiny during the hay making, silage harvesting and crop drying processes.
Special features in addition to the main programme shine the spotlight on equipment used by one particular forage-harvesting contractor, harvesting of maize for forage and feeding of the end product during the winter months, all nicely wrapping up the story that is ‘Monsters of the Grassland’.
Duration : 111 minutes
