white did have a very good combine with thier 9700 and 9720. the reason they arent all over the country is because when they came out with the combine they didn't have much of a customer base that would buy them, in a time when brand loyalty was probably more fierce than today. whites combines came from oliver and MM designs niether of those brands were ever popular with very many farmers, so white fought an uphill battle from the beginning trying to sell enough combines to stay in business. what if white had made the 8820 and deere made the 9700. would the 8820 then be the mammoth turd that you say the 9700 isIJIJIJ plus if the 9700 had been green and yellow, i suppose the almighty himself would have strolled into the deere combine design studio to show everyone how grain was meant to be harvested. take care Red