CLAAS is extending its combine harvester product range below the TRION and LEXION series with two new five-walker machines.
Equipped with modern Cummins six-cylinder engines and the CEMIS 700 control concept, these compact machines take performance, convenience, flexibility and durability to a new level in this class. The EVION CLASSIC is a perfect fit for family farms as well as for contractors and agribusinesses with smaller field sizes.
The arrival of the EVION completes the restructuring of the entire CLAAS combine harvester range which began with the new LEXION in 2019. As successors to the AVERO and the smaller TUCANO models, these three five-walker combine harvesters round out the lower end of the range below the TRION. “The EVION is a very important product for CLAAS”, explains CLAAS CEO Jan-Hendrik Mohr who is also responsible for the Grain Business Unit. “With these new combine harvesters we are able to offer modern, yet affordable machines for smaller-scale farms which want their own grain harvesting equipment. We’re a family business ourselves and we want to continue to offer the right machines for smaller farms across all our product segments. We chose “family matters” as the theme of the EVION campaign with three messages in mind: first, to mark the completion of the CLAAS combine harvester family with the new EVION, second, to recognise family farms as the principal customer group, and third, to acknowledge our position as the world’s largest family-owned agricultural machinery company.”
The technology of the EVION is based on a modular system which is used to build almost 40 versions of the LEXION and TRION. “For the EVION, we are drawing on tried and trusted technology which has proven itself in thousands of machines”, Mohr continues.
As well as focusing on using high-quality, proven components, delivering uncompromising threshing quality and ensuring operating reliability, even under difficult harvesting conditions, the development team have ensured that the EVION is easy to use. It is therefore equipped with a single-drum tangential threshing unit with a large, 600 mm threshing drum and a synchronised impeller combined with five 4.40-metre-long straw walkers and a feeder housing width of 1,420 mm. This results in an impressive threshing concave area of 0.95 m2 and a separation area of 6.25 m2 provided by the straw walkers. Complemented by the standard preconcave flaps under the threshing drum, this arrangement enables high throughput while also delivering excellent grain quality.
The threshing drum speed in the EVION CLASSIC is infinitely adjustable over a range of 480 to 1,150 rpm (420 – 1,080 rpm with reduction kit) using the CEMIS 700 terminal. Concave clearance adjustment is performed hydraulically from the cab and features integrated overload protection provided by a diaphragm accumulator to prevent blockages from occurring in the threshing unit. As the threshing concave in the EVION CLAASIC is a MULTICROP unit, conversion measures are only needed rarely, if ever, when switching between common threshing crops. When conversion is required, the concave segments can be swapped out easily through the stone trap.
In order to provide more effective secondary separation and greater throughput, the centre risers of the straw walkers have been redesigned to loosen the crop mat even more effectively and to enable a faster transfer to the next straw walker racks. Another important factor – in addition to the threshing concave overload protection – in ensuring operating reliability is the sensor-based monitoring of the crop flow on the straw walkers. As soon as any blockages begin to develop there as a result of difficult harvesting conditions, the operator receives early warning both in the form of an audible alarm and as a visual alert on the CEMIS 700 terminal display. In addition, the optional CEMOS AUTO CROP FLOW automatically deactivates the front attachment and the feeder unit in the event of any imminent risk of blockages on the threshing drum or serious belt slippage so that no more crop is fed in. This avoids unnecessary downtime.
Despite the compact exterior dimensions of the EVION, the development team were able to integrate an extremely efficient cleaning system. The sieve pan works with the upper and lower sieves moving in opposite directions and has a total sieve area of 4.80 m2. The sieve design, which features frogmouth openings with optimised flow characteristics, has already proven itself over and over again in the LEXION and TRION under extremely varied operating conditions.
In addition to electric sieve adjustment, the standard equipment for all EVION models includes a loss measurement system. Adjustment of the speed of the radial fan is performed from the cab – and can even be controlled automatically with the optional AUTO SLOPE functionality when harvesting uphill or downhill. An inspection window allows the returns to be viewed conveniently from the operator’s seat. Available as an option is the 3D cleaning system, which is able to compensate for a lateral tilt of up to 20 percent when harvesting on slopes.
The grain tank integrated behind the cab holds 5,600 l in the EVION 410 and 6,500 l in the EVION 430. Sensors alert the operator when the fill level reaches 70 percent and then 100 percent. In addition to this functionality, a large grain tank inspection window gives the operator a direct, comprehensive view of the fill level and grain quality. When it comes to unloading, all three EVION models benefit from the 330 mm diameter of the grain tank unloading auger and the resulting 90-litre-per-second unloading rate – meaning that offloading can be completed in 1 to 1.5 minutes. The 105-degree pivot angle of the grain tank unloading auger ensures that the operator always has a perfect view of the offloading process. A pivoting unloading spout, as already used in the TRION and LEXION, is available as an option to provide high-precision control of the grain stream directed at the transport vehicle.
Another powerful argument in favour of the EVION models is to be found in the grain elevator which has an increased conveying capacity of 34 l/s.
At medium to high-yield locations in particular, farmers attach great importance to good straw chopping and spreading. This is why, in a first for this class, the EVION is available with an optional 72-knife straw chopper as an alternative to the standard 52-knife version. Both shear bar and friction bar can be adjusted without tools while the switchover from chopping to swathing is performed at the right-hand side of the straw discharge hood. The straw guide plates are adjusted manually to the working width so that uniform distribution is ensured even when operating with a cutterbar width of 6.80 m. Chaff and short straw are distributed across the working width by optional, hydraulically driven chaff spreaders.
Common to both EVION models is the 6.7-litre Cummins B6.7 engine which meets the Stage V emission standard. This is the same common-rail six-cylinder unit used in the TRION and is notable for its ability to deliver high torque at low revs. The full rated output of 204 (EVION 410) and 231hp (EVION 430) is available at just 1,900 rpm, while the idle speed is a low 800 rpm (1,200 rpm with active hydraulic functions). DYNAMIC POWER engine management ensures that the engine only delivers as much power as is actually required at any time. This system can reduce fuel consumption by up to 10 percent. When the grain tank unloading system is active, the highest output level is enabled automatically.
Access to the engine from the maintenance platform is excellent, simply requiring the cover plate which provides protection from dust and dirt deposits to be raised to the open position with the support of two gas struts. A rotating radiator screen cleans the air intake area continuously. For daily cleaning tasks, an air compressor with three connection points – near the cab (for cab cleaning), at the left above the rear axle (cleaning of sieve and straw walker area as well as the drives on the right-hand side) and near the engine (cleaning of engine area) – is available as an option.
Power transmission to the various driven units of the machine is handled by a drive system based partly on components from the TRION and LEXION. The reel drive, feeder housing and front attachment reversing mechanism as well as the threshing drum and fan variator are operated hydraulically – a unique approach in this class which enables outstanding operating reliability in difficult and changing conditions. Other important units, such as the threshing unit variator, straw chopper, front attachment and grain tank unloading auger are activated and deactivated electrohydraulically. Belt tensioners, which are fitted as standard, simplify the system check at the start of each working day.
The ground drive is provided by a 3-speed, manually shifted hydrostatic drive with a choice of top speeds – 20, 25 or 30 km/h. For the rear axle, customers have a choice of wheels with a diameter of 1.35 m or, for maximum soil protection, as much as 1.50 m.
