Combines rented a 480 NEVER AGAIN

[BOSS_351]

Well the problem with the ClAAS front not feeding as easily as you would expect it to in such a short while is because the paint they used wouldve been a two pac paint, just like they used back in the father land, and the jumping out of gear is something that it's ancestor's used to do, only we had it happen in road gear, although I was told that CAT put their own gear's in, I had one of it's ancestor's (116 V8 ) and in less than 4000 engine hour's it was on it's FIFTH hydro motor and pump, all of them were warranty of course,ah the good old days when Claas lived up to it's promise's. The power problem sound's like a new one, that problem was a hallmark of the American Combine's of not so long ago. But it's good that the dealer was on your side, that on it's own is a good thing.

 

[Russ]

What part of the country are you inIJ What was the crop condition likeIJ Was this a brand new machine or one that had been demonstrated beforeIJ Was the machine set-up exactly like the operators manual recommended for the crop you were inIJ Horsepower problems in this machine are in my experience almost nonexistant. So I am inclined to believe that there were some major problems that were not addressed. For example... I have seen contaminated fuel that totally rendered a machine useless. The engine would hardly pull the air conditioner. If this machine had been properly set-up and adjusted, the IH whould have been run out of the field. Check out the machine specifications of your IH and the Cat. There is no comparison. Unfortunately, you and your dealer had ONE bad experience.

 

[Rigels_Hammer]

Sounds like you had some poor luck. We attended a demo of a lexion 480 in the first week of August at Dix, Nebraska. The temp. was 97 degrees and the crop was Jager wheat and 2137 wheat. Both crops were irrigated and ran upwards to 115 bu_acre. The lexion 480 had a 30' Cat header and consistently ran at 5.3 mph with a good sample and very minimal loss (same or less than the Case 2388). The farmer who's fields the demo was at owned a 2388 with a Macdon 36' header and could not maintain a 3 mph ground speed without backfeeding from the feeder or tossing over the top sieve. They owned Case combines for years and knew how to set them. One note - the new air intake on the 2388 plugged with short straw several times. I think they need to rotate the intake upward to alleviate this.Better luck next time.

 

[Gman]

I am in Washington near Spokane. Crop cond. were standing and some down wheat(soft white) . Header feeding problems at first were because of paint on the table but after 15 hour's paint was wore off and still back fed. Biggest problem was a warp in the header that should of been ajusted at the factory and was not found untill late in the game. Building shim's and installing them on the header when I have two truck drivers standing around on the payroll and rain being called for is NOT why I rented a Combine. The only way I could get this thing to feed was by batting half my crop over the back of the header...Another money maker...This machine was billed as a downed wheat eater and probably is in heavy straw conditions. The rock retarder built into the header worked against me in my field as if any dirt was picked up in a draw it would not feed untill it was cleared. That was a big -plus- also. As far as the power this thing is just to heavy to be packed around my SOFT HIllY feilds. It was dualed up with 4-wheel drive and the hydro would power out on the smallest of hill's if not in 4 wheel drive. With the grain tank over half full trying to pull a hill while cutting you would have to back off the hydro or the overload buzzer was buzzing. On flat ground in 80-90 bushel wheat this thing is probably great but it didn't live up to its billing in these soft hill's.Garry

 

[Russ]

Thanks for the background. Those conditions are some I have never been in. I have had great success with finger reels on these headers. The fingers help to lift the crop up and over the front ("rock guard") grainsaver. I agree, you had a less than productive experience.

 

[spooky]

Hi Russ! Could you please send me an EmailIJ

 

[lexi]

just tried a cat combine yesterday in canola. had about 2hrs left to do on a field and we got a little shower. our cts could not handle the canola anymore at 1mph. the cat was doing 5.5mph and throwing over next to nothing and only using 55% power. our cat dealer did many demos for alot of farmers and have not found a farmer who didnt like it. even with deeres new rotary i think the cat will still be a lot better machine.