tobaboy
Guest
We've run a 480 lexion for three seasons now. Capacity, grain quality and service have been beyond our expectations. We've had very little down time as a result of mechanical failure. You have to watch the concaves on these machines as they will get out of level. The feeder house slip clutch is weak, and in need of improvement, apparently the R series are better. The air filter set-up was poor in the past and required frequent cleanout, but they seem to have corrected the problem with a new and much larger filter in '03. These machines really shine in tough conditions, which we are often faced with up here in Manitoba, in fact I doubt there is a machine out there that will perform as well as the 480 when tough. However, in dry conditions, particularly in wheat, they can be a little frustrating to set, they have so much power, but you are limited in dry weather by shoe overload. We combine cereals, oilseeds, pulses and grasseed with our machine and this past year we averaged about 18a_sep hour on crops ranging anywhere from average-bumper. We are able to produce a better sample with the 480 then we could with our TX and about the same or a little better than our R70. A major improvement to these machines would be to make the rotor filler plates adjustable from the cab, this would allow for more fine-tuning. The 500 series has this option, but I would like to see them come out with a kit for the 400 series that would allow us to do the same. Thats about all I have to say, if I think of anything else, I'll post again.