One German farm, four ROZMITAL machines
Yes, it's not a typo or a misprint, German farmer Helmut Straub from Bavaria has been relying on ROZMITAL machines since 2017 and in that time he has purchased four machines - the SC-301 and SM-820 combination disc mower, the OZ-676 six-rotor tedder, the SB-4631 single-rotor delivery rake and the LB-R120 roll baler. We went to ask him how he was satisfied with the equipment.
The picturesque village of Falkenberg is located between Munich and Passau in Bavaria, where farmer Helmut Straub and his family live in the hilly countryside. When you arrive at his farm, you have the feeling that you have suddenly found yourself in Bohemia, as you are surrounded by technology of predominantly Czech production. Here you will find not only Czech forage harvesting equipment, but also a baler, a plough, an electric tricycle and a passenger car.
"We like to use Czech machinery, as the cooperation with people and companies from the neighbouring country works very well. Whether it's the reliability of the products or the service. Moreover, the quality and robustness of the machines meet our expectations," says Helmut Straub.
Mr. Straub comes from a farming family, but originally embarked on a business career, which he has followed for 20 years. However, he has been close to agriculture all along, working for producers and companies that specialise in agriculture. A few years ago he was given the opportunity to take over the farm from his wife's parents, the family took up the challenge and have been farming successfully for 7 years.
The family farm specializes in Simmental cattle breeding, the German farmer's herd numbers 150 head. In addition, the family farms over 50 ha of land, of which 10 ha are meadows and pastures for hay and haylage. The rest is arable land used to grow silage and grain maize, wheat and soya.
Our main aim of the visit was to find out how satisfied Mr Straub's family is with the ROZMITAL technique. "In 6 years of use, I am completely satisfied with the ROZMITAL machines. They are robust, durable, simple and reliable machines. Specifically on the farm, we work with a mowing combination consisting of a front-mounted SC-301 disc mower and a rear-mounted SM-820 side-mounted disc mower, I use an OZ-676 fodder tedder to turn the forage, I stack everything with an SB-4631 delivery rake, and I have an LB-R120 baler for baling," says Mr Straub.
And what exactly does he like about each model? "The combination is easy to attach to the tractor and simple to operate. The mowing quality is excellent, and I also appreciate the ease of changing the mower blades and the hydraulic over-balancing. Moreover, thanks to the 8.2 m working width, one is quickly finished and can get on with other activities. In our case, where we do up to 5 mowings in the course of a year, speed is of the essence," the farmer explains and goes on to describe the OZ-676 six-rotor tedder. The machine is also simple and efficient, and by turning the travel wheels on the machine, the correct angle of the forage can be adjusted, which is a great feature, especially when working on the edges or boundaries of plots," says Straub.
The ROZMITAL machines are aggregated by the farmer with FENDT tractors, specifically the 718 Vario and 207 Vario models. It should be added that the mowing combination in particular works very well in combination with the 718 Vario and can also handle tall and dense grass in hilly terrain.
When it comes to swathing, the Straub family chose the SB-4631, a single-rotor machine with a working width of 4.6 m. It is equipped with a tandem chassis with four wheels for better copying properties and has a large rotor with a diameter of 3.76 m and 10 arms. "I'm going to repeat myself, but again this is a simple and robust machine. With its working width and taking into account our acreage, it absolutely suits us, and we can quickly and cleanly gather everything we need with it," says Straub.
And as the last machine in the ROZMITAL family, the farm uses the LB-R120 roll bale with chain chamber. Interestingly, Mr Straub drove all the way to Rožmital pod Třemšínem in 2022 with his own tractor to pick up the baler. The 400 km long journey (there and back) was made in 13 hours. His performance was also written about in the local newspaper.
"The roll baler has all the features I need to get the job done. We mainly use it to baling hay for our calves. The net insertion works very well and the bales are dense enough," says Straub.
Throughout the meeting, it was clear from Mr Straub how satisfied he is with the ROZMITAL technology and that he can't get enough of it. We would like to thank Mr Straub and his family for the pleasant few hours spent on his farm and wish him every success not only with ROZMITAL but also in his farming.
