Combines full length tracks on combines

Claas had full length tracks on a machine in the mid '90's. Can't remember exactly when. There was one in SC Kansas. It could have probably been fitted with 2-way leveling if a person wanted to take on a pretty good sized engineering project.

There are or were some custom made rice combines used in northern California that had full tracks. Not sure who made them, maybe Sweco or something like that.

The 116 and 228 Claas Commandor CS were the models of Claas combines with full track undercarriage. This was in conjunction with Caterpillar. Cat supplied 3306 engines and the full track undercarriage to these machines for a successfull launch and model life, until the launch of the Cat lexion. The full track system was very effective and virtually everywhere. However, the ride factor was an issue (like a dozer) when traversing extremely rolling terraing. Thus, the release of the MTS system on the lexion tracked combines.

Nice dream. Tanks have suspended rollers on the tracks cushion the bump to some degree. Mark Underwood explained to me that the birotor isn't as bad as the Challenger because the center of the weight is about equal with the center of the tracks. Versus the challenger having the weight hanging way out front. I still wouldn't try to cut across terraces too much, I guess.

There are a variety of different designs for a full track undercarriage, but I have never heard of one with a self leveling systems since they are used mainly on flat rice ground. One person to talk to would be Fred Riplo at www.griptrac.com. They have done some custom work for us in addition to their standard track products.