Combines CTS II

make sure the reel drive hoses are connected if cutting corn. also make sure the auger swing solenoid is shutting off.

WE FIXED IT!!

I was at a soybean harvest demo between a Deere 9510, Deere CTSII and a CaseIH. Considering the extra horsepower and expense of the CTSII, I couldn't see enough of a difference between the two deeres to justify it's higher price tag, although I will admit the CTSII was one smooth running machine. I think I'll stick to my 9610 for now, and probably look seriously at a 9650 STS when trade-in time comes. Just my 2 cents (3 cents Canadian) worth!!!

What crops are you cuttingIJ I assume you are looking at a CTS II because the CTS is underpowered. The CTS II small grains combine is a great machine. Don't know how it does in corn or soybean. We have a 1998 model with a JD 936 draper header. We traded a 9600 in for the CTS. We have found that it will clean the grain a lot better than a 9600. The CTS is the best of both worlds. It has the cylinder_concave of a conventional and 2 rotors. On some years, the guys with the CIH rotaries have trouble with white caps or tough grain. With the CTS in tough crops, you can close down the cylinder like a conventional. The CTS has more capacity than the 9600 in wheat and barley and we can keep up and sometimes pass 2388s. You cannot set CTS like a 9600 and expect to get good results. You have to do what the book says. For example, you open the concave up instead of closing it down. The rotors also crank out in case you have to replace tines. Downside is that it grinds up straw and it is a pain to change from dropping straw to chopping it. This might not be a disadvantage if you don't bale straw. Also, with the 936D we sometimes run out of power. We have had very few problems with ours. We had to replace on hydraulic hose and The other colored combines have more sieve capacity but we have never run out of cleaning capacity even though the CTS can out cut a 9600 but only has the sieve area of a 9500. One last thing, what ever combine you get, make sure you get a draper header. You couldn't give me a auger header for free after running our draper header last year

We are growing, wheat barley, oats, flax and peas. Some years a little canola.

Sorry for the delay in answering your post. Went to the mountains for a few days. The CTS in not a great machine in canola. It does a good job but the rotors create too much fine material and you have to slow down. The CTS works okay in peas. We don't overload the sieves on hot days in barley. Another difference between the 9610 and CTS is in the CTS you open the precleaner up 1_3 instead of closing it like in the 9600. We run out of power first because of the header. About the headers. What I meant by draper header are the ones used for straight cutting like the Macdons and Honeybees. We have a JD 36ft draper header on ours. And would never go back to straight cutting with an auger header. The straw quality depends on what time of the day you are cutting. During the day, it will grind it up just like any other rotary. But as you get closer to nightfall and toughens, it won't grind it up as much. We were having the full barley stalks go through the combine without breaking when combining at midnight. I don't know about the chaff spreader. We take it off anyways but you might be able to leave it on. It has been a few years since I quit dropping straw with our CTS. We also have an 8820 that we took the straw chopper off and put a straw spreader on so all it takes to go from spreading straw to dropping it is removing a belt. Our CTS has the back 2 rows of the rotors blocked off and the front third and back third of the concave blocked off. When we cut barley, we take the blocks out of the back of the concave and insert corn fingers. This is so there is an even load on the shoe. We were experiencing some loss on the rotors but insert corn fingers on the back of the concave solved the problem. We have not kept any detailed fuel records but we can go just as long on a tank of fuel on our CTS as we could with our 9600. Both tanks are the same size and you are getting more done with the CTS. About resale. Up in Canada, the dealers have stopped selling the CTS. We were up in lethbridge at the JD dealer and the guy told us why. He said the CTS was more expensive than a 2388 and when they were both sitting on the lot after being traded in the CTS was going to cost more. 9 times out of 10, a farmer who is looking buying a used rotary such as a CTS or 2388 will buy the 2388 since it is cheaper. In simple terms, the bottom fell out for used CTS's. Truthfully, a CTS is probably not a good combine to buy if you are thinking about resale in your area. We are a little worried about it right now on our combine. This year, we entertained the idea of trading for STS's but it hasn't rained in a month so we probably won't. If you want performance, then the CTS will be a better combine then the 9600. The local Case salesman ran a 2388 up against a CTS II awhile back. We asked him how it went. His quote was "Got my a$$ kicked by it and not only that, you can seed whats in the grain tank."

The resale on the CTS2 is probably less than the 9610, but you will be able to buy it for $20000 less CDN$ up front. It will probably not be any more than 20000 less when you resell it. To me, I consider them a super buy at the current time.

I cannot tell you how the CTS 11 is on corn, but on wheat, barley, oats, peas, beans, canola, and other cereals....the combine works great. There are quite a few of them up here in Western Canada, and everyone that I talk to love them. I've ran one for a friend on my own crops, and I'd say it has more capacity then a 9600 J.D., with a much cleaner sample then the 9600, and less over the back, especially in crops like barley. It has 275.h.p. and is super in tough conditions. I cannot figure why Deere did not push these more.

We ran a CTS for the first time last year and was very impressed. It would walk away from the 9600's and give a better sample. The previous owners of ours were corn farmers Does the one you are looking at have rasp bars or spiked cylinder.

I would say rasp bars, but I did not look. I think I'll give them a call next week and get some details.