- Many Bizon combine harvesters are still used in Polish fields, and are currently used most often for their own needs.
- What is Bison's performance? How much can he mow in a day or season?
Bison is a living legend
Bizon is not just a brand. In fact, over the years, the combine harvesters from the Harvesting Machinery Factory in Płock have become legendary. When they entered the market, they were the dream of many farmers, although even for larger farms at that time, owning a Bison remained a dream, as it was almost impossible, at least initially. Bisons revolutionized Polish agriculture and this is an undeniable fact. In state farms and SKRs they not only replaced Vistula, but sometimes they were the first combine harvester. To this day, for many people, the first association associated with the harvest is the Bison. After all, it is a machine that is in fact a living legend, because it is still used on many Polish farms. Any estimates as to how many Bizon combine harvesters are in operation in Polish fields are subject to a certain risk of error, although it is assumed that there are as many as 50,000 combine harvesters.
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How much can a Bison mow?
Bizon brochures from the 1990s reported that the throughput of e.g. Bizon Rekord Z058 was 6.5 kg/s. In the case of a less common model, the largest from FMŻ's offer, Bizon BS Z110, it is 10 kg/s. In turn, the Sampo model is 3.5 kg/s. The throughput of the Bizon Z056 Super is 5.5 kg/s. Of course, we are talking about the total mass, which includes not only grain, but also straw and chaff. But these were information materials, and what's more, they concerned new machines at that time. Practitioners often mention that the real throughput is lower.
On "heavy" grain there is no chance for a Bison to mow a hectare in an hour – this is a common opinion and it generally seems to be true. With a grain yield of over 7 t/ha, it is difficult to achieve work efficiency of 1 ha/hour. In reality, we are talking about slightly smaller possibilities, e.g. in the case of wheat, about 6 t of grain/hour. It is possible to mow an hectare of grain in an hour with a Bison, but certainly not on the best plantations. Bison owners often say that if we mow calmly, so as not to lose the grain, we can thresh 5, maximum 6 tons of grain per hour. Of course, it is possible to do it faster, but we cannot cheat the efficiency of the combine harvester. If the machine "does not choke", it will certainly leave a lot of grain behind if it works too fast.
During the day, the Bizon can mow a maximum of 10 ha – this opinion most often appears when we ask the owners of these machines about the combine's capabilities. Assuming the efficiency of, for example, Bizon Rekord at the level of 0.8 ha/hour, we can mow 8 ha in 10 hours. The equally popular Bizon Z056 (Super) is slightly weaker; here, the machine's efficiency is relatively lower.
Some Bison operators say that in the past, during the season when they often went out for services, they mowed up to 200 hectares of cereals and rapeseed during the season. And there are also those who mention that in a good season they were able to mow almost 300 ha in a month. Currently, it is rather unusual for Bisons to work in such areas. They don't go out for services so often anymore, because there are many more combine harvesters. Another thing is that the result of approximately 300 ha of mown cereals and rapeseed during the season is quite a feat for Bizon (as well as the operator), but also an effort.
What about rapeseed? Some say that the Bisons lack the power to mow rapeseed. However, this is not true, because here again we are limited by efficiency. Combine harvesters from Płock successfully mow rapeseed, and some people point out that Bizon's rapeseed has less pollution. However, there is probably no point in overdoing it – the level of contamination depends on a number of factors, including appropriate machine settings, operator skills, but also the condition of the crop and the humidity level. It is worth mentioning that the Z058 (Bizon rekord) models can cope better with rapeseed, which are slightly stronger than the Bizon Super.
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It's not easy for the operator in Bizon
Bizon's performance is limited not only by technical capabilities, but also by purely human ones, because the operator unfortunately does not have very comfortable working conditions. Combine harvesters equipped with a cabin allow for better quality of work, but it is not easy, because machines equipped with air conditioning are rare (and even this is most often installed on your own). This means that you most often have to work with the door open, which means dust gets into the cabin. And in the case of combines equipped only with a canopy, it is even worse, because the dust from under the header is carried straight to the operator's position. And working in dust and heat is not the most pleasant, fatigue comes faster.
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Fewer services, but Bizon works well on smaller farms
Currently, Bizon also works in services, but the scale of these is much lower than before. In SKR, when the availability of combine harvesters was lower, these were the main machines that, in their heyday, worked for whole weeks, every day until dusk, and also at night. However, FMŻ machines work well on smaller and medium-sized farms. Where there are 10, 20, 30 ha of cereals and rapeseed to be mowed, owners often say that the machine works really well. But farms with an area of even 100 grains and rapeseed sometimes work with bison. Although the task here is more difficult, both due to the acreage and the performance capabilities of the combine harvesters from Płock. However, on smaller farms there is no alternative in the same amount of money. Used combine harvesters from brands such as Claas, John Deere, New Holland are much more expensive. Sure, in most cases also more convenient and often with better performance. However, the difference in the purchase price is sometimes quite large.
So Bizon will thresh no worse than Western machines from the same period, and even newer equipment. However, it is a bit slower and not as convenient to work with. On the other hand, there are no advantages – even with new equipment we cannot overcome certain things, if we rush too quickly we will leave a lot of grain behind the combine. Of course, there is no point in comparing the comfort of work with Bizon to that of younger combines. But there is no point in deprecating these machines. They work and are doing quite well on many farms.
