Owner of a BiG X 700

Bob Lawson, owner of Cornerstone Dairy in Irasburg, VT, had always said, “I will never buy a Krone chopper.” Bob had always ran a competitive chopper until Keeno, his salesman at Northeast Farm Sales and Service, finally convinced him to demo a BiG X 700. The days leading up to the demo were filled with rain, so Bob suggested to Keeno that they postpone the demo. Keeno insisted that he wanted to demo the BiG X in “real life” conditions, so the demo proceeded in two feet of mud. The BiG X ran flawlessly, and because of its performance in “real life” conditions, the BiG X never returned to the dealership. It stayed at Cornerstone Dairy.

Bob relies on both his BiG X 700 and his BiG M II self-propelled mower conditioner to harvest the crop at the precise level of maturity because he depends on that crop to feed to his 1,300 Holsteins. In an average year, they harvest 1,400 acres of corn and 1,400 acres of hay 3 or 4 times a year. All of their fields are located between one and twelve miles from the silage pits. In an average day, with their entire fleet of trucks in the field, they can chop around 200 acres of grass.

The BiG X has many features that allow the operator to chop quickly and efficiently. “The VariStream is awesome,” explains Raymond, one of the BiG X operators. The exclusive VariStream system allows a clump of hay to pass through the machine smoothly because of the extra room the spring loaded drum bottom and accelerator back plate provide.

“The BiG X produces a very consistent chop,” explains Bob. The consistency of chop can be attributed to the corn head, feed rollers, and cutting drum. The Krone EasyCollect corn head is designed to cut the corn and bring it to the feed rollers all in the same direction, bottom end first. The six pre-compression rollers bring the crop from a thick layer, to a thin and even layer before it enters the cutting drum. Because of these two steps, the crop enters the cutting drum even and uniform, leading to the essential consistent chop.

The EasyCollect corn head is equipped standard with Ground Contouring. Bob explained this is a great feature to have and one he really enjoys. Ground Contouring allows the head to maintain a level cutting height by using sensors on each end of the head. Whether cutting on a hill or uneven terrain, the EasyCollect will maintain a consistent cutting height.

The 360° view from the cab allows the operator to have a complete visual of the spout and truck. This makes it much easier for the operator to accurately control the BiG X’s spout and allow the crop to make it into the truck. The spacious and quiet cab makes a pleasant work area when you spend your entire day there.

This year is the second season that the BiG X has run on Cornerstone Dairy. Bob summed up his experience with the BiG X in this time period. “The BiG X has been a very good machine for us. It is bigger than what we have ran in the past, which allows us to do more with it. I do not find any faults with this one like we have with others.”