The knotter is the core component of square and big balers and its basic mechanical principle has remained virtually unchanged for decades – in both the single and the double knotter. In 1923 CLAAS developed the groundbreaking ‘knotter billhook with floating upper jaw’ (Patent No. 414212), which defines baling technology to this day and served as the CLAAS company logo for many decades.
Just two years before, CLAAS filed their very first patent for a knotting device they invented for use on straw binders. The straw binder was the first product made by the family company founded in 1913, followed by the patented CLAAS straw baler. In those days both machines were designed to be used in combination with threshing machines. Then in 1934 the CLAAS pick-up baler revolutionised European straw and hay harvesting by doing the whole job in a single mechanical operation – picking up the crop, pressing it into compact bales and loading it onto the wagon. Further milestones in the knotter’s history include the 1953 HD high-density pick-up baler, the 1967 MARKANT sliding ram baler and last but not least, the QUADRANT launched in 1988 – which has clocked up more than 5,500 sales in Germany alone; the major share of the domestic square baler market. QUADRANT square balers now operate all around the world – some under very challenging conditions, such as baling sugarcane straw in Thailand and North Africa or maize straw in Europe, China and North America. Starting with the straw binder and moving on to the MARKANT and MAXIMUM high-density baler right up to the present-day QUADRANT, CLAAS has produced well over one million knotters to date.