Here is a video from an exclusive demonstration of John Deere's upcoming combine X9 and the largest model 1100. It took place in a secret place in mid Sweden but it was OK to take photos and film.
A little background: On 15 August 2014, a New Holland CR10.90 threshed 798 tonnes in just 8 hours, ie about 99.75 tonnes per hour. It became a world record in the Guinness Book of Records. The new X9 combine from Deere & Co chews as much as 100 tons per hour - and then without giving more than a maximum of 1 percent waste.
Under Agritechnica, the company launched "The Combine Challenge" where they promise SEK 250,000 in reward to the farmer who manages to show a competing combine with higher capacity but at less than 1% waste.
I saw the harvest meter in the cab, you do not want to state what it showed. One thing I can say, however: It was fabulous to be part of this spaceship for technical creation and see the cutting table's flow of wheat that was brought into the combine so elegantly thanks to the 45 foot wide draper header. The engine in this combine is at 700 horsepower.
Almost everything has been improved on this combine. It has double rotors which is new to John Deere and these (which are a full 3 meters long!) Are fed by a feeder rotor which also distributes the harvest to the two rotors. The cleaning shoe has a huge sieve area (over 7 square meters!)
The straw chopper is new and contains i.a. flanges with small holes like golf balls. This improves the aerodynamics of the straw speading. Of course you can adjust the straw flow depending on the wind direction. You can also adjust so that the combine changes angle as soon as you turn the headland. However, the actual presetting must be done manually at the back. Distributing the straw behind combine harvesters is very important, because if it becomes uneven you get problems with e.g. the harrowing.
The combine can be quickly refueled with diesel just as you do with aircraft's aviation kerosene, but it is an extra accessory. 550 liters per minute! Large farms with many machines can experience queues at the petrol stations and you do not have time for that during the harvest. The fuel lasts a full 14 hours.
The largest model has a 16200 liter grain tank. However, it is not quite as large a tank that is available on the Fendt IDEAL (which holds a full 17,100 liters). You often drive with emptying on the go. During this demo, a Grain Saver wagon from Farm Mac was used. Awesome with a built-in elevator in the wagons which then pours into huge transport wagons with maybe 35 tons of cargo.
The combine of course measures the harvest for each meter and calibrates it against water content. The harvest measurement is calibrated automatically at regular intervals. More is going on but I was not allowed to say anything publicly about it.
The header has supporting wheels, reportedly mainly to facilitate compliance with the ground rather than reducing the weight of the strap stands. The cutting table used in this demo was rigid as a whole but divided into sections which, if I remember correctly, can be adjusted in height 16 cm depending on the changing surface. There are also cutting tables that, like hinges, can be angled on both sides. One more thing: The cutting table can also tilt forward if you drive up and down a hill in the field (but it has existed before). The reel is available with polyurethane fingers or those flip-over fingers that are common in the United States. Unlike steel fingers with a spring, the crop does not stick as easily.
The cabin is amazing. So many screens, so big windows, so quiet, so perfect climate while dusting and blowing outside. You sit like in a spaceship. The driver's seat has a built-in massage. Most are handled automatically so that the driver e.g. can concentrate on handling the reel in connection with lying grain.
The machine is in constant communication with a global command center at John Deere down in Germany. There, the system can warn that e.g. a layer in the combine is going hot. The dealer then receives info and can inform the customer so that they put in service before an accident occurs. How intelligent at any time.
The combine is available with wheels or belt racks in three different widths. These are made by a Canadian company and have several types of suspension for the best possible ride.
The price then? I have no idea what it will be, but I guess based on international information that you will probably have to shell out just under SEK 10 million once it hits the market.
Many thanks to Anders Karlsson and Henrik Gustafsson at Bil & Traktor Service, Emil Stolpe Nordin at John Deere's head office and Mikael Pettersson at Agrotec.
//Subject to possible factual errors.
