Combines Deere dealer bringing 9660 to demo against my R72 sIJIJ

Be worried alright. Oh, not because the STS is a good combine (actually it's a joke when you measure true performance). Be afraid because even though the combine he brings out will say 9660 on the side, what you're likely to be going up against is a specially souped up and tweaked 9660 that is set to 9860 power levels of 375 hp. That's going to be tough, even for a 330 hp R72 to handle. Deere is notorious for doing this on demos against competitive machines; happens all the time. Only part of the reason for my disdain for the green grinders. No integrity...

Have never ran against one personally Deere dealer wont bring us a demo. This is what I know, neighbor traded R-62 for a 9760 two years ago and says its only bigger in canola where feeder was a restriction, in everything else he feels its no bigger. Deere brought out a 9860 to demo against a 480R Cat with another neighbor and the cat did 6 passes to the deeres 4 and it was always running @ max power so dealer sent out mechanic to test it and he said it was performing to spec(what this means I do not know) neighbor said in his opinon my R-72 would outdo it (we farm side by side on a few feilds and have a good feel for each others capacities). Also when the 9750 came out we were @ a Deere dealer looking @ a used R-72 and the dealer told us that those R-72 can thrash some grain that they had demoed a 9750 for 3 days to a big gleaner customer and never once passed the R-72. In a nutshell if its a true 9660 I would think you will hold your own very nicely.

IG;let us know what happened,good or bad.Have you got your 72 fully hyperizedIJFrom what NDDAN and Tbran say,it makes all the difference.

I agree with you, Harvester about Deere and their politics. I remember several years ago, seeing an experimental 8820 in a wheat field. The face and body sure said 8820, but the decal clearly stated "7700." Ha! a 7700 suit clearly does not fit the big 8820 and just who was Deere trying to foolIJ The "9660" may very well be a whole other combine in clever disguise. Deere strategically avoids ordinary show-downs among combines, unless they can rig things and stack the deck in their favor. For this reason, the Model 7700, a really fine combine, was not allowed to participate in a non-partisan combine field test and user evaluation sponsored by Big Farmer, a magazine, and not a combine company. The R72 is also a great combine, and one you have the right to be proud of. do your best and win or lose, if it's really that at all, just know that you've done your best. I also recommend making sure the R72 is fully hyperized and in tiptop working condition. Keep us posted on the outcome.

I've also heard of Deere doing that. I've got a picture of an R65 going head to head with a 9650 a few years back. Deere never caught up to the Gleaner. Guy running the deere said he had the thing pushed to it's limit to where he was loosing rpms. Guy in the Gleaner said he was moving along without pushing it. I wouldn't be worried. What size head do you run on your R72IJ Will the deere match itIJ Why are they brining you out one to tryIJ Take care, Nathan

Since the Deere dealer is nice enough to go through the bother of bringing a machine out to your place and harvest some of your crop for free, the gentlemanly thing to do would be to let him go first. Then, the only thing you have to worry about is the poor guy not getting out of your way!

To answer all the questions.I run 25 ft headers on them. The 98 I put the triangle piece in took out all reverse bars,and made the disrupters,and also extended the bars into the discharge,so partial hyper,the 99 is stock.The deere dealer demos one everyear here,we lost our agco dealer so I guess I am a potential customer now.One of my good friends runs deere,he said that they should bring me a 9760 to stay with my 72's. I will let everyone know how it comes out.I have never run anything but a silver combine my whole life so I am pretty partial to my grey combines,just looking at the deere,they look very complicated.I will be cutting green stemed beans testing 10%,that is all we have here this year IG

I dont know why Agco seems to loose dealers but it has happened my way as well over the years, I love the machines and their simplicity and a few of the people I know who changed say if it had a better dealer network they would have stayed. Personally Agco has some good equipment out there but needing different contracts to sell and service the different lines seems strange, let the dealers be full dealers and let them sell a farmer a complete setup rather than a Gleaner combine but they have to get a blue tractor and a green baler because thy cant sell the hesston or massey line. As well they need to let the dealers that sell multiple Agco brands do multiple deals on whatevere name and color as long as its from Agco, this has caused us greif once or twice in the past as a gleaner combine and massey swather didnt qualify then they changed it so they did and then changed it back. Maybe it has changed again havent tried to do two things @ a time in a while. If you buy green it does not matter if its a sprayer, tractor and a baler they all go together, simple. Just my 2 cents worth Sometimes I feel Agco weakens their dealers ability as much as they help it, no dealers = no sales so if they would work with the dealer to build their business they would sell more Agco product and Agco would be stronger.

My uncle traded his R72 for a 9660 sts and said he would never go back to a gleaner, especially due to the fact that there is hardly any dealers around. H said the J.d was almost twice the machine. He said he would never own a Gleaner again unless he wanted to sow volunteer wheat. lOl

With all due respect to your uncle (I'm sure he's a fine man) he wasn't setting the Gleaner properly. A Gleaner R62 or R72 properly set will always beat its STS counterpart quite easily. The STS tends to be poorest in wheat; it actually does best in corn and soybeans, and it's only marginally impressive there. I've run both in wheat, beans, and corn, and believe me, the STS is simply no match for a Gleaner in wheat and probably most other small grains; that is where the Gleaner is still king. In the corn field, the Gleaner's advantage is lost, although I look forward to seeing if the new CDF rotor with its lower power requirements and better separation with less cob breakage can't put the STS back in its place in corn too.