The power baler.

Just like the XERION, attachments have evolved significantly in the last 25 years. The QUADRANT is a perfect example of the pace of technical progress—with more than 5,000 units sold—it's the most popular square baler in Germany.

Up to 33 tons (30 metric tonnes) of straw per hour.

The first QUADRANT set new standards when it was introduced in 1988—with bale dimensions of 2 ft 3.56 in by 3 ft 11.24 in (0.7 m times 1.2 m), bale lengths of up to 8 ft 2.43 in (2.5 m) and an hourly capacity of up to 33 tons (30 metric tonnes) of straw.

In 1999, it was superseded by the radically redesigned QUADRANT 2200. It had a 9 ft 10.1 in (3.0 m) long bale chamber, a 6 ft 10.7 in (2.1 m) wide pick-up, up to 25 knives and a piston stroke of 51 strokes per minute.

Here—at last—was a square baler that could make full use of the 250 hp of the very latest XERION 2500. With its chainless drive in 1999, the QUADRANT 2200 marked a new milestone in the history of square balers.

The QUADRANT has continued to evolve over the last 20 years. The latest model, the QUADRANT 5200 EVOLUTION, has a 12 ft 7.6 in (3.85 m) long bale chamber and a wider 7 ft 8.5 in (2.35 m) pick-up. The baler also has 51 knives and—depending on the model—runs at up to 56 piston strokes a minute.

"Like the XERION, the QUADRANT has again seen a significant increase in performance since the end of the nineties," says baler sales rep Hendrik Henselmeyer. "The baler throughput capacity has virtually doubled." The performance of standard tractors has also evolved in recent years, even beyond 400 hp; a QUADRANT and XERION combination is still a remarkable sight, though."

The QUADRANT can now be operated effortlessly via ISOBUS, but using the CEMIS 700 is also an option. In this case, up to two cameras can be connected to the CEMIS 700.

The TELEMATICS on IMPLEMENT (TONI) data transfer system enables baling operations to be tracked remotely. "So the farmer can pinpoint the exact location of the tractor-baler combination at any time and check the bale quality," Hendrik Henselmeyer explains. "At the end of the shift, the software shows which part of the field the baler has covered and how many tonnes of square bales of what quality were collected where. The basic requirement is that the XERION has TELEMATICS, but nowadays all machines in Germany do."

There's one function that has remained constant throughout the decades: thanks to the high-performance single knotter, patented by CLAAS back in 1921, all QUADRANT model produce perfectly tied square bales, leaving no twine residue on the field. "This means that QUADRANT drivers can save up to 15 km of twine a year", says Henselmeyer.

Furthermore, to this day, the baler still has chainless drives to minimize wear. The focus is on quality and efficiency—another point the QUADRANT and the XERION have in common.