Rubber haulm toppers in the agricultural industry
Haulm toppers are often used in agriculture; these implements are either hitched to a tractor or integrated into a harvesting machine. The function of a haulm topper is to separate the haulm from the crop just before or during harvesting. This operation prevents superfluous haulm from entering the harvesting machine along with the product. A haulm topper basically consists of a rapidly rotating shaft with flails attached to it which chop the haulm from the crop; the flails themselves are a rubber/metal assembly.
Large harvesting machines for potatoes and sugar beet often have haulm toppers fitted to the front of the machine. When using a smaller harvesting machines without such an attachment a separate haulm-topping implement will be coupled to the tractor.
Benefits of haulm topping
Haulm topping provides multiple benefits, and in potato culture it can be deployed as a mechanical alternative to chemical haulm elimination. The haulm-topping operation can be carried out several weeks before actual harvesting if necessary.
Another benefit of haulm topping for harvesting machines without a haulm-removing belt, or when dealing with crops with a particularly large volume of haulm, is an improved flow through the machine and a better harvest as a result.
Production process of haulm toppers
We produce flails for haulm toppers at our production sites in the Netherlands and Bulgaria. The metal is sourced in the required size, and we use a special pre-processing method before vulcanising rubber to the metal. Read more about the bonding of rubber to metal here. The moulded rubber products are manufactured on both injection presses and compression moulding presses in our factory. We use compression moulding presses for the production of smaller series, while the larger series are made using multi-shaped moulds and injection presses. We supply the rubber and metal flails to our customers, who themselves assemble them in the machines as required.
If you would like to know more about haulm toppers or any other rubber parts for agricultural machinery, such as pintle rollers, axial rollers or ejection rubbers, please let us know; we produce a number of different rubber parts for agricultural equipment. Please contact us without obligation to discuss the possibilities.