Claas 870 Forage Harvester (tractor)

A Kleen Emissions system was installed on a Claas 870 Forage Harvester on a farm in upstate New York. The Claas 870 has an in-line 6 cylinder diesel engine while the previous model (Claas 860) had a V8 engine. The owner was considering upgrading to a V8 engine because of lack of power under heavy loading of the machine. The system installed included three Kleen Emissions units, a large reservoir tank, control switching, and associated plumbing and electrical.

The Harvester was tested by measuring fuel usage, time in use, and engine RPM during operation under normal and heavy loading conditions chopping alfalfa. These tests were first performed without the Kleen Emissions System and then compared with the system running, yielding the following results:

Without KEC System

• 2.80 gallons of diesel fuel consumed per load (12 ton average)
• 9.15 minutes time per load
• On high with no load – 1800RPM, with heavy load (1,000 pounds of slug hay) – 1200-1300RPM. Engine bogs down severely and may stall.

With KEC System

• 1.95 gallons of diesel fuel consumed per load (12 ton average)
• 6.78 minutes time per load
• On high with no load – 1800RPM, with heavy load (1,000 pounds of slug hay) - 1550-1600RPM. Engine RPMs remain high.

Results

• 2.80-1.95=0.85 gallons less fuel consumed per load - 30% Savings
• 9.15-6.78=2.37 minutes less time per load - 26% Savings
• Loaded engine from 1300 up to 1600 RPM - More Power

This Claas 870 with a 6 cylinder engine now runs with the power of the bigger V8 engine (100+ more horsepower) with the Kleen Emissions (KEC) system installed. The machine used 579 gallons less fuel during the first 10-day hay cut with the KEC system. There was a 30% fuel savings, a 26% time savings, less wear on the engine, and tremendous overall productivity increase. Although not run on a gas analyzer, it was noted visually that the exhaust emissions were also greatly reduced.