Careful forage handling has top priority at Pöttinger. Windrowing with the lowest levels of disintegration and minimum contamination delivers an energy-rich crop and a cost-effective feed basis. That is what Pöttinger windrowers are designed to do.

Multitast wheel – unique to Pöttinger rakes

For optimum ground tracking you just have to have a jockey wheel in front of the rotor. Pöttinger calls this system "Multitast". The Multitast wheel located just in front of each rotor in close vicinity to where the tines contact the ground. As a result the tines are guided over the terrain to considerably reduce contact with the ground. This ensures optimum protection for cam unit, tines and sward. Damaging the sward causes more weed growth and sorrel, more contamination and stones in the forage and reduced yield.

Harvesting machinery in the next pass can achieve higher performance because the swaths are intact and can be picked up more efficiently. The length and height of the Multitast wheel arms are adjustable on double-rotor rakes. Thanks to the smooth running of the rakes, top raking quality can be delivered at speeds of up to 15 kph. That is a major contribution to increasing productivity.

It is remarkable that virtually every farm has chosen to use the leading jockey wheel system for single-rotor rakes. Multitast also multiplies the positive tracking effect on double-rotor and multiple-rotor rakes. This diagram shows the triangle of support with and without the Multitast system.

The advantages of the Multitast system are clear:

• Optimum smooth running thanks to larger triangle of support
• Rotors follow terrain contours -> optimum ground tracking
• Contamination dramatically reduced - especially in dips
• Fewer stones in forage
• No tines lost on peaks

Optimum guidance in dips and over peaks thanks to leading jockey wheel on single-rotor rake.

Professional technology for two and multiple-rotor rakes with Multitast

The positive effect of Multitast wheels on Pöttinger rakes

High quality forage contains 7 to 8 percent ash, whereas the value with heavily contaminated forage will be between 12 and 16 percent. Ash is indigestible and reduces milk yield. We have already explained how the Multitast wheel can reduce contamination of the forage. Hay harvesting equipment has to be set up so that the tines reach below stubble level. It is therefore not possible to always prevent the tines penetrating the soil. However, with Mulitatst no tines contact the ground within the range of the highest raking performance. Statistically speaking, systems without the Multitast system scrape the ground 35 to 40 percent of the time. Inevitably the ash content increases as a result. A survey carried out by the Chamber of Agriculture in Weser-Ems, Germany, confirms Pöttinger's industry-leading position: forage processed by Pöttinger rakes was the cleanest by a long way. Taking the whole grass fodder chain into consideration, 1 percent less ash in a total yield of 7500 kg dry matter/ha produces 350 litres more milk per hectare (that's more than EUR 100/ha pure profit).