CLAAS and farm life blogger develop pedal harvester prototype for children

"Dear Santa Claus, I would like a pedal harvester." - This sentence was recited two years ago by the four-year-old son of farm life influencer Julia Nissen from North Friesland for his Christmas wish list. The 33-year-old, who writes an internet blog entitled "Deichdeern", was eager to pass on the "pedal harvester" wish to Santa Claus.

There was only one problem: A "pedal harvester", i.e. a miniature forage harvester for children that they can pedal themselves, did not then exist. So Nissen approached the agricultural engineering equipment industry publicly via their social media channels and asked for their support in developing a "pedal harvester".

World market leader builds miniature prototype

CLAAS from Harsewinkel in Westphalia responded to the young mother's call, and not without reason: The agricultural engineering equipment manufacturer is the global market leader in self-propelled forage harvesters and the European market leader in combine harvesters. This resulted in Nissen and CLAAS establishing "Team Pedal Harvester" in Autumn 2020. In doing so, they asked children between the ages of 3 and 10 to help with the design. A drawing competition gave the children a chance to help decide how the future pedal-operated forage harvester should be made. More than 140 "mini-engineers" participated in the graphic design of the prototype.

A jury of five consisting of Guido Höner (top agrar editor-in-chief and children's book author), Charlotte Stenzel (Marketing CLAAS Collection), Lars Kaumanns (Product Manager Merchandising), Volker Buhlmann (Product Marketing self-propelled forage harvesters) as well as agricultural influencer Julia Nissen took a look at the design proposals. Tow rope, cup holder, rotating lights, foldable maize attachment - the industrial mechanic trainees at the CLAAS Technical Training Centre then turned the children's design wishes into reality.

Following a number of technical challenges, the finished prototype was presented in April 2021. The challenge is now to turn the prototype into a toy ready for mass production. To achieve this, CLAAS is currently on the search for a cooperation partner from the toy industry so that the "pedal harvester" can also be on the Christmas wish list of many other children.