Krone EC TC Mowers: The Southeast Iowa Solution
By: Derek Bontrager, Equipment Sales
Designed for medium to large acre hay producers, the Krone EasyCut Trailed Center (EC TC) mower conditioners are the Krone solution for the 13’ and 16’ center pivot mowers. These larger mowers offer many of the same hallmarks as Krone’s smaller 3pt and pull-type mowers. Those highlights include: QuickChange blades, SafeCut Hubs—for individual disc protection, SmartCut Cutterbar, and conditioner options.
The Krone EC TC mowers come in two models: the 400 with a 13’ cutting width and the 500 with a 16’3” cutting width. Each of these models can be equipped with four different conditioner types or no conditioner at all. Conditioner options include rubber rolls, steel rolls, steel M-rolls, or steel V-tines. These are referred to as CR (roller) or CV (V-tine) models. All Krone conditioner options are considered the widest in the industry—measuring 129” in width. All the roll-optioned machines spin the rolls at 896 RPM, while the V-tines spin at either 896 RPM or the leafy-crop friendly 610 RPM.
The cutting discs on the EC TC units are noticeably larger than other Krone mowers and measure nearly 18.5” in diameter. These larger discs mean the EC TC 400 only has eight discs and the EC TC 500 utilizes 10 discs. As mentioned earlier, the EC TC units still offer the QuickChange blades as standard equipment. SafeCut hubs are also standard to allow discs to spin upward in the event the roll pins in the hub are sheared. This keeps a “one-car accident” from becoming a “three-car pileup” by preventing the sheared disc from contacting the adjacent discs.
Krone’s fully-welded cutterbar contains large, slow-turning idler gears for reduced noise and heat. These large gears drive the small gears under the discs at high speeds, creating clean cuts above the cutterbar. The cutterbar is one of the thinnest in the industry and runs at a very flat angle to the ground. DuoGrip cutterbar flotation is provided by two large outboard springs that can be adjusted to match field conditions.
The EC TC mowers can be equipped with either a 2pt hitch, which is compatible with most quick hitches, or a drawbar hitch. Both hitches allow for very tight headland turns by allowing the gearboxes to swivel while keeping the 1000 RPM PTO shaft very straight and overall, decreasing wear.
The mowers require three sets of hydraulic outlets—one single acting for lifting and lowering, one double acting for swinging the center pivot hitch side to side, and one double acting for adjusting the standard equipped Hydraulic Header Tilt cylinder.
If reduced width during road travel is necessary, Krone offers an optional endwise transport kit for the EC TC mowers. The endwise transport kit is plumbed into the hitch swing circuit and using an in-cab control box, operators can switch from field to transport mode in 30 seconds. With this feature, EC TC mowers can travel down the road 9’ wide.
Krone EC TC mowers come standard with a one-year, full machine warranty and three-year cutterbar warranty.
The 13’ model EC TC 400 fits into the southeast Iowa market very well; this mower size is the most popular in the area. Overall, our customers have been very pleased with the results they have seen with the EC TC mowers. We have seen excellent cutting and drying abilities with the V-tine conditioners—even in leafy alfalfa. The V-tines allow for a wide range of adjustments to match many different conditions and crops. They also allow the cut crop to be spread nearly entirely across the cutting width of the mower boosting dry times.
We currently have EC TC 400 CV units in stock if you’re looking to make a switch this forage season. Please stop in or call for more information about the EC TC or any other Krone mowers, tedders, rakes or round balers we have to offer.