Forage Harvester

The Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College is seeking bids for a Forage Harvester to be used for harvesting forage plots in various research and variety trials across Louisiana. The equipment must be operable by one driver and one sample collector, and must meet specific technical specifications, including being 4-wheel drive, hydrostatically controlled, and having a cutting head of minimum 36-inch-wide flail head. The harvester must also have a weighing hopper sample access, a scale unit, and a delivery condition of being delivered, assembled, and ready for operation. • The harvester must be able to cut tall grasses and legumes, and biomass must be chopped into minimum 1/2 ft uniform pieces. • The harvester must have a cutting head connection to weighing hopper and provide weighing hopper sample access. • The harvester must have a scale unit that operates on 10.5–16 V DC, supports up to eight 350 Ω load cells, provides ±0.1% accuracy with temperature compensation, and has a 6-digit LCD display. • The power unit must be equipped with a diesel engine providing 35-40 gross horsepower, and must have a front-mounted PTO capable of operating the cutting flail and re-cutter blower.