For nearly 60 years, John Deere has been the leader in providing cotton harvesting equipment for growers who need efficient, reliable harvest machinery to deliver a high-quality crop to the gin. Taking productivity to a whole new level is its 7760 self-propelled cotton picker.
The 7760 offers virtually non-stop harvesting. Unlike traditional basket pickers, the 7760 provides its own on-board module-building system, thereby eliminating boll buggy drivers, module builder operators, and all the supporting equipment traditionally needed during cotton harvest.
“The unique design combines harvesting and module building into one versatile solution, to bring growers unprecedented productivity to their harvesting operation,” Tactical Segment Manager Royce Bell says.
What makes the 7760 so impressive is the way it seamlessly forms, wraps and holds the round module in the module handler until the operator is ready to drop it at the end of the field, all while it continues to pick and form the next module.
Not to mention the way each module is wrapped in a protective film to preserve the fibre and seed quality, and minimise crop loss during handling and transport.
“Owning a 7760 will mean farmers and contractors can do without the specialised equipment and with non-stop harvesting they can eliminate the time operators spend unloading, waiting for boll buggies, or driving back and forth to a module builder,” Bell says.
Field studies comparing the 7760 with traditional basket machines found the 7760 can allow cotton producers to increase their harvest time productivity. In fact, some operators in a recent field study experienced productivity jumps in excess of 20 percent.
To assist in managing field productivity, the 7760 can be equipped with the Harvest Doc Cotton yield mapping system. The ability to collect harvest information is nearly as important as the crop itself and with Harvest Doc Cotton growers can document cotton yields with the GreenStar system.
Once the data is collected, Apex software can be used to generate detailed reports and maps of the captured yield data.
Utilising John Deere’s Precision Ag tools can help growers make better management decisions.
There’s also RowTrak Guidance to keep the 7760 picking on the row, reducing operator fatigue.
Powering the 7760 is the 13.5-litre John Deere PowerTech Plus turbo-charged engine with variable geometry turbo and exhaust gas recirculation. With 500 engine horsepower (373 kW) the cotton picker is able to handle the most challenging harvesting conditions and can operate at approximately 6.5km/h with yields of up to over 10 bales per hectare.
Adding to the productivity is the responsive ProDrive automatic shift transmission equipped on all 7760s to provide a hi-low automatic shift system, which allows the operator to shift smoothly on the go regardless of field conditions.
The 1,135-litre fuel tank ensures the operator can harvest non-stop for a 12-hour period without needing to refuel.