Combines Rumor Mill Rumbles On

[RamRod]

This has been a topic visited many times on this site, and the basic positive aspects of the transverse rotor R's will keep it as my favorite design. I just bought a new R75 with Sisu, and am glad for that if they quite that design anytime soon; at least I got one that can go for me quite a while. I made a full review of all other offerings when deciding this trade, and overall, the direction the others are going involves complexity and excessive weight, and hillside issues and shoe performance issues, etc. ad nauseum. I need an ability to carry a big load as we do not dump on the go, and all others are designing with the assumption that everyone has labor_equipment to do that. Gleaner reigns supremely there. All rotors have a much more challenging cleaning need, and only Gleaner can do it best with acceleration_blast precleaning. Note the concerns about this on our sister pages. We need this design to stay on the market even if it cannot be made to a class 8 or 9, as it is the better alternative in the 6 and 7 class.

 

[hunter]

So every year Cat lost money......"I do not think so"! Where did you get your factsIJ

 

[Orange]

CAT corporation lost money on the the Challenger AG side of the business. Don't know how the individual dealers done. Got the facts from a Robert Ratliff press conference shortly after the Challenger business purchase by AGCO. Mr. Ratliff quoted the CAT CEO as stating the same, quoting the AG business was not a good fit for the company. For further clarification, I would suggest contacting Mr. Ratliff.

 

[R_O_M]

Adding to Rolf's comment; sorry to hear about your loss STT. For our north American friends, belt fronts or headers are getting a lot of notoriety in Oz for their ability to light up and burn with quite a number of machines burnt out over the last few years. The convential spiral augered header never has a problem. As Rolf says, the main problem is when dry straw lodges against a high speed belt and friction then heats it up and it explodes into a big fire in a few seconds. The belts are also a type of, for the physics minded, Van De Graaf static electricity generator capable, in our dry atmospheric conditions, of potentially generating voltages in the millions. Many years ago I worked another conveyor equipped harvesting machine which in very low humidity atmospheric conditions threw sparks 6 inches long. I have unfortunately experienced their effects on a number of occasions which sometimes resulted in a half somersault and_or flat on my back! The third cause of fires is the number of small, inaccessible, highly loaded belt roller bearings buried in dry straw. When they fail, a fire is quite on the cards. Belt headers have a number of capacity and feeding advantages but they come with a very high potential for creating a very serious fire risk and a possible loss of the entire machine.

 

[DJP]

did not say as far as bushels per hr.he said 400 bushel bin 400 hp.and near 5 bushels per sec. unloading rate.

 

[Rolf]

G'Day Guy's My A$0.1.5 cents worth!! (2 cents US!!) For me to buy a new class 6 or 7 Gleaner or any class 6-7 color Combine I need close to Au$500,000 and at current grain prices theres no way I can do that! I would have thought that a lot of grain farmers are in the same boat, So why doesn't AGCO keep building the R55 and R75 and drop the R65IJ R55 Priced and sized for the smaller farmer and R75 for the larger farmer or contractorIJ Why keep the (Hyperized) 55IJ because some of those small farmers do turn into large farmers and or Contractors and most of them will be brand loyal and turn around and buy and R75 if they have been treated right by there dealer and AGCO. It's is a bit like a law firm here that brought every small Accountant firm around that there was, and they became a very large Accountant firm and only taking on $10,000,000 clients in only a couple of years the board was wondering why they weren't getting any more clients! They discovered that some of the $1,000,000 potentials clients that they were knocking back were turning in to $10,000,000+ clients that were going to other Accountant firms. My point is that AGCO or any other Color brand MUST look after the smaller client just in case they tun in to a Big Client which will reward AGCO ten fold. Rolf

 

[Silver_Shoes]

Hibred I understand your plea. And agco does also, they told my brother on the phone that the majority of the business is still conservative farmers and thats the business they are targeting. Although I have heard the rumors of the 55 I am not positive about it and it may take a couple years for them to figure out what they are going to do. But believe me that Agco isnt writing the average size producer off. They just have a need to increase the capacity of harvesters and are working on that frontier also.

 

[Combine_Wizard]

R.O.M. it was me who had commented about Silver Tin Tank's loss. As much as I love my combines [I have 2] I would sure take it very hard if either one was lost to fire or whatever. Now, from what you say, these front belts overheating are a major issue and are leaving a trail of dead, burned combines. Yes, as stated above, if something is not done, farmers and contractors may be forced into NOT using them for fear of having their insurance voided. Companies are often quick to catch on to such things and change policies to protect their investment. Things could get really ugly before they get better. By the way, I used to have a small Van De Graaf of my own so I know what you are talking about.

 

[hunter]

Trust nothing of what you hear and be cautious of what you read...but a good place for you to start is here. http:__finance.yahoo.com_q_isIJs=CATandannual

 

[R_O_M]

Hi Combine Wizard. There have been a number of combine fires from the draper headers in S.E. Australia over the last few years and this from a relatively low percentage of combines equipped with drapers. I don't know the fire percentages re the total number of draper equipped combines but the fire hazard is specific to these draper equipped combines and the insurance companies will have the numbers. There have been half a dozen fires caused by draper headers in the last 3 or 4 years in our local district alone with the loss or severe damage to the header and sometimes to the combine if the header cannot be detached from the combine in a bloody big hurry. Maybe our harvest weather and crop conditions are more likely to be of a higher fire risk than North America so the statistics don't look too bad from the American view point and that is possibly why the insurance companies have not yet reacted. Our grain growing community down here are certainly becoming aware of the increased fire hazards with the draper headers. Any insurance reaction may therefore be limited to Australia. Cheers!