CLAAS Variant 480 Round Baler
This outstanding performer now features a reworked 360° rotor for ROTO CUT machines, better-shaped bales with the new patented CLAAS Covered and CLAAS Covered XW wrapping system, and increased user convenience, thanks to operation with EASY on board, controlled via the iPad.
- ROTO CUT: new 360° cutting rotor with 14 blades
- ROTO FEED: spiral rotor for uniform crop flow
- New, patented tying features, thanks to a new guiding plate with CLAAS Covered or CLAAS Covered XW tying
- Bale discharge within 6 seconds
- Suitable for silage, hay or straw
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Features
NEW: Patented wrapping and tying
The completely reworked guiding plate provides even more reliable bale wrapping and tying. The plate is open during baling, then closes during wrapping or tying. The end result is an extremely reliable wrapping system.
NEW: extra-wide wrapping or tying
The new patented CLAAS COVERED wrapping system provides bale coverage right up to the edge, and the CLAAS COVERED XW system provides coverage that extends over bale edges – for a neat, professional-looking end result.
NEW: 360° rotor for ROTO CUT and HD ROTO CUT.
The new 360° rotor, specifically designed for ROTO CUT and HD ROTO CUT, delivers consistently better-shaped bales, particularly when working with a small swath.
VARIANT drive concept
The unique drive concept, in which the rotor gets the bale rolling, provides the perfect bale start. This makes it possible to produce significantly more bales per hour, with increased throughput in all conditions.
Choice of four different operating terminals
The machine can be fitted with four different operating systems: OPERATOR, COMMUNICATOR II, S10 steering system and, of course, EASY on board.
Pick-up & Crop FlowWith a huge appetite, nothing gets left behind
While working, you have an excellent overview of the pick-up, and can boost the work rate as required. Depending on the crop and crop flow, you can push the machine to its limits to achieve maximum performance.
- Controlled pick-up, 83"
- (Folding) oscillating pick-up guide wheels for a thorough field clearance
- Optional double-roller crop press for optimal crop flow
- Everything in view
83" Control's the main thing
The VARIANT was the first round baler with an 83" pickup – and with good reason: the formidable intake capacities and exceptional performance data are still impressive today. The adjustment of the pickup's working height is tool-free. Also important is the pickup's intelligent control system – this ensures a better crop flow, especially with short material, and increases the service life considerably.
Adjustable, oscillating pick-up guide wheels
Whatever your preferred width, the pickup's large, oscillating castor guide wheels ensure optimal ground-contour following, and protects the grass cover even at high speeds or when turning. Adjustment of the guide wheels is tool-free in all models.
Rotor
The rotor feeds the crop into the baling chamber where the bale is forced to start rotating immediately.
Optimal core compaction to produce extremely high bale weights and a storable, uniform bale shape from the start.
With a belt speed of 9.84 ft/s, the VARIANT can process more than many other round balers, and requires significantly less time to bind the bale.
Unique to CLAAS: the rotor gets the bale rolling
Only from CLAAS: the belts and the chopping rotor turn in opposite directions, allowing for the immediate bale start necessary to produce a compact core. The high-speed rotor reaches directly into the bale, forcing the bale start – for each and every bale, and in all conditions. This also prevents belt slippage.
Benefits that you can see in every minute of operation, because you can operate the VARIANT at full speed all the time.
Core compaction on demand
You can determine the core compaction in regard to forage quality, and control this conveniently from the cab – for example, maximum core compaction with straw, or a soft core with hay. You can also choose between three default settings, or use two freely adjustable parameters.
Even filling of the bale chamber by the rotor
A further benefit: the standard feed rotor delivers a uniform crop flow to the bale chamber, allowing significantly more crop to be processed per unit time, and, as a result, you can operate the VARIANT at incredibly high work rates.
NEW: ROTO CUT with 360° tine arrangement
The tine arrangement in ROTO CUT and ROTO CUT HD has been improved. The four-star rotor's tines are now distributed in a spiral over 360°, which allows for optimum distribution of even short material and small swaths, and results in a better bale shape.
The perfect cut:
Fourteen blades for top forage quality. The VARIANT ROTO CUT with its 6.00-mm-thick, four-star dual tines works more precisely, more effectively and faster than other balers.
- 14 aggressive DEGUY blades
- Precise, close-cropped feed quantities for greater compaction and easier unwinding
- Saves time when mixing feed, and the top-quality forage increases milk yields
- New: spiral tine arrangement (360°)
- Helical rotor for a short chop
- Combined stripper system between and within the double tines
- Individually secured, double-tempered steel blades
- Hydraulic knife engagement
Bale Chamber & Drive Line
Reliable drive line and fast belt speed.
The four highly durable endless baling belts and the TSUBAKI chains on the VARIANT guarantee you high bale density. The fast belt speed means that the VARIANT turns faster than any other baler.
Well guided at all times
The belt guide and the profiled, rubber-coated drive train rollers ensure that the belts are always optimally positioned for driving the bale.
The bale chamber
Maximum output in the bale chamber too – the hydraulic bale density control system was designed to enable maximum bale density in all conditions. The active hydraulic system combines three hydraulic rams with a dual-tensioning arm system, and ensures actively controlled guidance and smooth movement.
Continuous lubrication of the drive train
The new distribution units in the 1.7 gal lubricator supply each individual chain with exactly the amount of oil needed for long and smooth-running operation. You can save on cash, in addition to saving valuable maintenance time.
Wrapping & Tying Good things can happen to those who don't want to wait
NEW: CLAAS Covered net wrapping.
The special net wrap linkage and the lateral spirals adjust the brake force to the decreasing net roll diameter. This ensures a consistent net tension and optimal coverage of the bale from edge to edge. The benefit for you: compact bales that keep their shape and are ready for further processing.
New: the CLAAS Covered XW net wrap
No matter whether it's with hay, straw or silage – the, extra-wide wrapping will deliver perfectly shaped, sturdy bales. The spiral rollers on the VARIANT ensure optimal overlapping and, consequently, protection of the bale edges. The ideal wrap material is the extra-wide, 4.3 ft net roll ROLLATEX PRO XW.
Keep on baling, with no interruptions
Round baling systems require the machine to stop briefly while the bale is wrapped or tied. However, even in this respect, the VARIANT offers a crucial benefit with its speed and efficiency. The process starts automatically once the desired bale diameter has been reached. The high belt speed of 9.8 ft/s ensures an extremely fast tying cycle, making it possible to continue baling right away without wasting any time – and at record speed.
New, patented guiding plate increases reliability
Developed by CLAAS, and patented by CLAAS – the newly developed guiding plate works in two stages, and ensures an even more reliable tying of the bale. The plate opens during the baling process, and this prevents feed matter from accumulating. The plate closes again during the tying process. This ensures that the net or twine is guided optimally. The result is an extremely reliable tying system – and extremely satisfied operators.
Optimized tying
Both net wrapping and double-twine tying start fully automatically. The easily adjustable, precise tying mechanism ensures compact bales that keep their shape. There's a lot of storage space in the VARIANT for the necessary work materials. You decide whether to stow two net rolls or up to ten twine rolls on board.
Fast and reliable: twine tying
Whether using net wrapping or tying with double twine, the VARIANT is highly impressive in the field. Following the fully automatic start, the easily adjustable precision tying system grips the bale tightly, producing solid bales that hold their shape – and at record speed, thanks to a bale rotation of 9.8 ft/s.
Good visibility
In order that you can see exactly where it's all happening, how the work is progressing, and if it's progressing at all, the wrap is located in an easily visible area, as is usual with CLAAS balers. The wide-opening panel allows for convenient cleaning and maintenance.
Operation
What should hard work be like? Easy as child's play!
Even those who love their work want to finish up at some point. That's why, every day, we do our best to support you in your daily work, with good ideas, robust equipment and innovative technology. User-friendly, convenient operation is always our number one focus.
- Access all the important functions directly from the driver's seat
- COMMUNICATOR and OPERATOR for all ISOBUS-compliant machines
COMMUNICATOR
The optional COMMUNICATOR terminal has a 5.7" color display. It conforms to the ISO UT standard, allowing convenient control of ISOBUS-compatible implements from the COMMUNICATOR. Needless to say, functions can also be assigned to the F buttons (auxiliaries).
OPERATOR
The OPERATOR impresses with its self-explanatory user interface and its convenient customer management, and 28 job memories are available for flexible deployment. In addition, the function keys are backlit. An ISOBUS-compatible device from CLAAS is required when using the OPERATOR.