REFERENCES ROPA Keiler 2 RK22
Keiler 2 RK22 at Olligs family in Kirchherten, North Rhine-Westphalia
Interview with Heinz-Georg Olligs
"The fertile Cologne-Aachen Bay has always been a potato-growing region. Here we supply our customers all year round. We pre-sprout potato, start harvesting in May and harvest until November. The Keiler's performance always impresses us, especially under wet conditions. Its efficiency and high level of crop protection make it unrivalled. Harvesting with the Keiler is simply a lot of fun. Sometimes, we really fight over the right to harvest with the Keiler."
ROPA Keiler 2 RK22 and John Deere with black rims at Kartoffel Olligs
The Olligs family runs an arable farm in the Rhineland (Bedburg-Kirchherten) with over 250 hectares. This farm has a long tradition and is now being farmed by the third generation. A ROPA Keiler 2 RK22 and a John Deere with rims painted in the special black colour harvest the potatoes.
Potatoes have always been cultivated in Kirchherten thanks to the very fertile soil of the Jülicher Börde. The ROPA Keiler delivers impressive performance, efficiency and crop protection.
Keiler 2 Classic RK22 at Honsel Agrar in Rhede, North Rhine Westphalia
Interview with Georg Honsel
"We run a potato and onion farm on organic basis and focus particularly on crop protection, as marketing quality is our top priority. Highly positive factors are the low operating costs and the incredibly responsive control of the entire operating hydraulics. This is another area where ROPA has outdone itself."
Onion harvest at Honsel Agrar in Rhede
Many thanks to the "junior manager" for these photos of the ROPA Keiler 2 in action!
ROPA Keiler 2 RK22 DoubleSelect at Binder GbR in Gerolsheim, Rhineland-Palatinate
Interview with Gerald Binder
"After the factory tour last year, we knew it was going to be yellow! We tested all possible brands and finally chose ROPA. The Keiler DoubleSelect was simply the most convincing. Another feature in its favour was the hydraulic disc coulters. Four pieces in the front centre. We have to harvest in any weather conditions when we get orders.All four hydraulic disc coulters are really great and we haven't had any problems yet."
ROPA Keiler 2 RK22 DoubleSelect
The DoubleSelect option for better separation performance on cloddy and stony soils will be available for the RK22 in series from the 2025 season. With this option the harvester has an additional triple UFK on pintle belt 2 with a separate trash track and a retractable sorting platform next to pintle belt 3. The additional UFK can be precisely adjusted in height on both sides of the RK22 DoubleSelect thanks to electric lifting spindle motors.
Improved separation performance
Early separation of clods and stones in the crop flow significantly reduces damage to the potatoes later on, thus ensuring that the potatoes are harvested even more gently. Each UFK can also be optionally equipped with rotating brushes (UBK).
ROPA Keiler 2 RK22 Classic L at the Wolkenburg farm, Limbach-Oberfrohna, Saxony
Wilhelm Stassen reports on his practical experience
Wilhelm Stassen, who originally comes from the Rhineland, took over the business in the Zwickauer Mulde almost 30 years ago. Today, he runs the farm with ten permanent employees, cultivating crops on the fertile loess-clay soils and annual rainfall of 650 to 700 mm.
The potatoes are distributed via Friweika, a cooperative society involved in the processing of table potatoes, in which Stassen's company also holds a stake. A particular interest relates to the storage method used by the members of the cooperative, as the potatoes are stored in large boxes with a volume of around 3.8 tonnes. Stassen fills the boxes in his yard with the help of a drop bunker and corresponding box fillers. In this way, he can store up to 9,500 tonnes at two locations. The potatoes are then delivered to the cooperative society from December to March.
Focus on throughput and product protection
Keiler 2 Classic at the Wolkenburg farm: a special Keiler 2 harvests around 220 hectares of table potatoes every year in the south-west of Saxony. The Wolkenburg farm uses a RK22, equipped with deflector rollers instead of a rotating finger comb on the pintle belt 2 and an overloading bunker. Jens Wendler, ROPA area manager, and Axel Drescher, from service and sales partner LTZ Hartmannsdorf, provide support and service for the machine.
ROPA Keiler 2 RK22 L at ROPA France in Golancourt, France
ROPA Keiler 2 RK22 - at Papen GbR in Surwold
The potato harvest in Lower Saxony. Henning Papen harvests potatoes using his RK22, equipped with an overloading bunker and a drive wheel.
The starch potatoes are transported directly to a pile in the field by a Case Puma with Emsland LoadMaster. These are then covered with fleece.
ROPA Keiler 2 RK22 - Demonstration at our partner Claas Weser Ems in Lower Saxony
Potato harvest in Lower Saxony, impressions from October 17, 2024 near Rastdorf!
The RK22 with a tray filler and a bunker articulation, for particularly gentle loading of the sensitive tubers, is towed by a Claas Axion 830.
ROPA Keiler 2 RK22 Silver Edition - visiting our customer Ludger Hermes in Lehe
Holger Christians enjoyed harvesting with the Keiler for years. In the 2024 season, he operates the RK22 Silver Edition and a Case Optum 270.
Silver Edition offers such advantages as reduced soil adhesion, corrosion- and wear-resistant stainless steel bunker walls and, of course, an outstanding design.
ROPA Keiler 2 RK22 - first operation at Bachmaier
On August 23, 2024, we had an opportunity to accompany another Keiler on its first mission in the Eichstätt district. The RK22, fitted with a bunker increase and black rims, started its first potato harvest under optimum conditions. The Keiler and the JCB Fasttrac teamed up perfectly.
Christoph Bauer and Christoph Arnold from Gebr. Bachmaier launched the machine, which is serviced by our sales and service partner, Gebrüder Bachmaier Landmaschinen GmbH.
ROPA Keiler 2 RK22 Classic - demonstration at Lohmann Landtechnik
The team of our partner Lohmann Landtechnik from Scheeßel was also busy demonstrating Keiler in the 2024 season, here some impressions from October 18, 2024.
The demonstration machine is equipped with a sunshade canopy and the optional grader rollers for comfortable and effective sorting. Four plastic rollers on the picking conveyor, which allows up to 8 people to sort, can be infinitely adjusted from 25 to 40 mm.
Furthermore, the RK22 Classic has been fitted with the new all-round pickup.
With this pickup, the ridge drums can be folded away to allow harvesting without ridge pressure, using only the guide wheels. This means that onions can also be harvested on light sites without having to change the pickup.
Alternatively, depth guide, ridge pressure and automatic ridge centring can be controlled as usual via the ridge drums. Furthermore, the drums can run only with their own weight and thus control the automatic ridge centring.
ROPA Keiler 2 RK22 DoubleSelect at Thomas Mohr in Frankenthal
First operation at our partner RWZ Mutterstadt
Another Keiler 2 shows its capabilities! On cloddy soils, the new DoubleSelect is fully in its element. Superior separating performance! Florian Schmitt (RWZ Mutterstadt) and Rainer Anhäuser, ROPA's local area representative, handed over the harvester to its new owner on July 25, 2024.
Thomas uses his Keiler to harvest potatoes and load onions.
