IT will be very much a clash of the titans in a month or so when rival super-sized headers go head-to-head for the first time, also a brand new draper front.
All are designed to maximise harvest performance at farming’s most critical time of the year.
• Just about to break cover for the first time in Australia will be the familiar green and white livery associated with a brand new 700 series Lexion header from Claas equipped with the world’s first factory engineered-and-fitted tracked system for combine harvesters.
• Not to be outdone, New Holland will put its canary yellow CR9090 flagship header through its paces after its record-breaking feats in Europe.
• Meanwhile, look out for John Deere’s just-released 12.19m (40ft) wide draper-style front that weighs in at 5tonne to attract interest with those on 12m CTF systems.
The new 700 series Lexion headers will be noted for their optional low impact hydraulic suspension Terra Trac rubber tracks, Maxiflo draper fronts, more threshing and sieve space, plus upgraded operating systems.
Landpower harvest product specialist Steve Reeves says the new series is the agricultural engineering equivalent of the Olympics creed: “Faster, higher, stronger.”
“The Lexion 700 allows man and machine to work faster, longer and smarter,” he said.
“Its sole purpose is to harvest more grain per hour for more hours per day.
“We’re at the point where combine harvesters can’t get much bigger because of transport issues - so now the focus is on productivity, reliability and efficiency.”
Four models make up the new Lexion 700 series. Said to be have been “completely reconfigured” from the ground up, they boast new hydraulics and new electronics.
On board, there’s a new electronics system and a data network that improves real-time monitoring and optimisation of key operating systems - all controlled from the company’s CEBIS operating system.
To drive all this activity, new-generation Mercedes-Benz or Caterpillar engines deliver up to 431kW (586hp), depending on model.
Claas, which builds its Lexions at its Harsewinkel plant in northern Germany, retains its Hybrid threshing system across the range, based on an accelerated pre-separator threshing system and twin longitudinal rotary separators.
The top of the range Lexion 770 also boasts a 20 percent larger sieve box, a massive 12,000L grain tank and a high-capacity discharge auger that can empty the bin in less than two minutes to keep pace with its daunting throughput.
Meanwhile, New Holland has flagged the arrival of its most powerful combine harvester to date – the 443kW (591hp) twin rotor CR9090 Elevation, claiming a current Guinness World Record for the most grain harvested when it gulped up 551.61 tonnes of wheat over an eight-hour period on a UK farm in September 2008.
This equates to spot work rates as high as 100t/hour, averaging out to 68.95t/hour to put a smile on the face of any operator facing a rain-affected harvest.
In fact, those who participated in the successful record attempt believe the header is capable of exceeding a staggering 600t in eight hours
New Holland says months of assessment into Australian market requirements were needed before engineers at its Zedelgem plant in Belgium were happy to give a nod of approval for the CR9090 to be sold in this country.
Its new flagship sports a 13L Iveco Cursor engine offering the same turbo compound technology that powers its T9060 tractors.
The CR9090 Elevation boasts 400kW (544hp) at rated engine speed, boosted to 435kW (591hp) when needed – some 45kW (61hp) higher than its current CR9080 model.
The CR9090 Elevation's large 1160L fuel tank ensures it can work hard all day without stopping. The technology is said to be fully compliant with 100 percent biodiesel usage.
While there was plenty of inteest in John Deere’s new 12.19m (40ft) wide draper front at the Heritage Ag Show, it was also interesting to learn the the famous green marque’s assembly line at East Moling, IL, recently rolled out its half-millionth self-propelled combine harvster, a 9870 model.
"Reaching 500,000 self-propelled combines is a significant milestone for us and our dedicated employees," a spokesman for the company said.
Interestingly, John Deere introduced its first combine, uniting harvesting and threshing in one operation in 1927. Twenty years later the company made its first self-propelled header.
Harvesting capacity of its self-propelled combines doubled in the first 20 years, doubling again between 1980 and 2000. Deere says productivity has nearly doubled again within the past 10 years – a global trend that shows no signs of slowing anytime soon, it appears.
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