Case IH is to launch its Coffee Express 200 Multi self-propelled coffee harvester onto the African markets, in a move designed to further extend the brand’s harvest product offering and bring to the coffee sector the same levels of product engineering, efficiency, service and support enjoyed by users of its grain, sugar cane and cotton harvesters, as well as tractors and other farm equipment.

Proven design

Coffee Express harvesters have been manufactured by Case IH for many years, and are well-proven in other markets around the world. Now they are available to coffee growers across Africa one of the world’s most important coffee-growing region.

The machines incorporate a pair of vertical rollers, revolving at up to 0.5 turns/minute, which are fitted with nylon fingers to gently remove the coffee cherries, minimising the risk of plant damage. The rollers are fitted with 1,248 fingers which are 576mm long and 480 fingers which are 520mm long, a blend that provides the best levels of harvesting performance and minimum crop and plant damage. As well as rotating, they vibrate to gently loosen the cherries, with an innovative hydraulic brake system allowing the level of vibration to be altered on the move. The distance between the two rollers can be adjusted by 80mm according to plant size and plant age.

Retractable ‘fishplates’ at the base of the rollers allow the base of each bush to pass gently but firmly through the machine, and gather the cherries for transfer, before horizontal augers equipped with adjustable-speed leaf fans transfer them, via vertical chain-and-flight conveyors, either directly to the unloading conveyor or via an optional 2,000-litre storage hopper, which means a tractor and trailer does not always have to be present and stopping is unnecessary.

The self-propelled Coffee Express 200 is powered by an MWM three-cylinder engine producing 55hp, supplied by a 75-litre diesel tank. Ground drive is hydrostatic. Operating at a harvesting speed of 0.4-2.0 km/h, the machine can work in crops of up to 3.9m high, on average consuming 5.0 litres of diesel per hour.

Coffee Express 200 operators benefit from an air conditioned cab that also features an adjustable-position steering column and fully-adjustable comfort seat. Key machine operations are easily conducted via a multi-function joystick on the operator’s right.