Combines crystal ball

I am worried myself. I have even been in contact with the CEO's in Germany and they can't or don't want to give me an answer either. What details have you been hearingIJ I would also like to hear about all the lexion problems everybody had during the last season. If you don't want to write it on the board, please email.

It scares me a bit that the people whom we knew who worked at the plant are no longer there. A few questionble issues at the dealer level as well. As for combine problems - we covered alot of acres, with 75% of the crop coming off damp, so you can imagine what the combine was put through. The biggest problem was plugging up. The need an easier method for getting unplugged. Also, we had a few issues with the electrical system. We burnt out a few circuit boards and a half dozen altenators. Besides that, we had a pretty much trouble free harvest season.

Doesn't sound to bad. We didn't have any electrical problems. The dealer warned us about the alternator and to keep it clean but never burned one all year. We had a lot of weeds and green beens but never plugged up the threshing part. Only the shoe once when the customer wanted us to but beans when it was too wet. Our biggest problem was running corn out of the back or grinding it and nobody could fix it. The next thing was broken feed chains and a bunch of trouble with the corn heads. You are right nobody of the old CAT crew is in Omaha any more. Everyone left throughout last year including the people with knowledge and ideas. What year and model machine are you runningIJ May I emailIJ

We ran 2 470's last year, then went to 2 480R's for '02. I don't feal comfortable posting my email address, but if you give me yours I will send an email.

To hell they did!

Wondering Kp how much capacity you gained going to the 480's from the 470's. Have heard of guys that have run 3or4 9600's or 2188's and went to 2 480's. How many more acres or bushels did you gain in a day. How many less hours did you put on the 480's in a year compared to the 470's.

Here it is again: ralfmei@hotmail.com

We harvested just over 10,000 acres this past year. We also went to 36' heads from 30'. We would probably average in that 20-24 acres_hr, but we had 2_3 to 3_4 the crop we normally do. In places where we got rain, we would be in that 1400-1900 bu_hr in barley. We liked the 470 combine, but it is not able to do our acres. The difference between the 470 and the 480 is like driving a 1_4 ton truck to 3_4 ton truck. last year we put on 240 hrs_combine on 8000 acres with the 470, and this year it was 250 hrs_combine on just over 10000 acres with the 480R. I would think we gained at least another 30% in capacity. Not only that, but the extra ponies really helped out in our tough conditions last year. I have not had the chance to demo the new CR from New Holland - I hear it is a pretty good machine as well. I have had a 9750 demo, and it was pretty decent, although I did not spend enough time in it to give an opinion.

KP, The 480 is a big combine and some people say that the new CR New Holland's are too big for custom people, so how do haul yoursIJ Do you think that your combine weighs to muchIJ I think your 480 weighs about 33,730 lbs and a CR 970 weighs 36,831 lbs so they almost weigh the same. TIA, Ilnewholland

No, we do not haul our combine. Why would a combine be too big for custom peopleIJ Are you not out there to harvest as many acres you can without comprimising sampleIJ You have fixed costs which cost you $_day regardless of acres covered (hired men, trucks, cart, etc),so why not get them moving a little faster and do more acresIJ