Rod
Guest
I've followed your postings and responses from the NH site through to the JD site and are not suprised by the comments - both fact and fiction. Here in the Riverina area of NSW (Australia) rice is a major component of most machines life. We grow both long and medium grain varieties. Yield range from 7.5t_ha (fragrant lG) to 13.5t_ha (medium grain) and it can be standing nicely to flat and wet on the ground. Any machine can harvest rice when it's standing. When it's flat on the ground and wet, that's when the differance in machines is highlighted and the differance in operators is significant. NH had the market nearly all by themselves some years ago with the 8000 series machines. JD was vertually no competition with the 7700's through to the 8820's (walker loss) Case didn't have an answer until the first type of spec. rice rotor came out on the 1480 equiped with a Sweco draper front, Class and Mssey had little backup or resale value. Then NH bought out the TX. All the good work they had done with the 8000 series went out the door in 1 or 2 years. Case did a lot more work with the new spec. rotor and 1680 through to the 2388 and have a pretty reliable machine in rice that can handle adverse conditions with a good operator and CARE. JD with the CTS eventually stole the market. They are a very good machine in all conditions (when set correctly) and really shine in the toughest of conditions. let me say that no machines likes flat wet rice harvestings conditions but the CTS will do it. Grain quality out of a conventional or rotory is of little differance if the machines are set correctly and the crop is of like conditions. CTS has had a few wear problems in small areas of the machine but not of great signifigance. The 50 series have had some differant problems which JD are addressing now! The CX machines that NH has brought out look a very solid well built machine and should get NH back into the rice and major crop market. If the CR and the eventual CIH single rotor is put into the same frame as the CX as proposed, I feel NH will have a product line that will be hard to match. Other machinery companies (how many are there leftIJIJ) should look at resisting to rest on their collective lorals just because of traditional customer_buyer loyalties. As to your question of rotories versus conventional, it's really pick the machine that suits the majority of you harvesting conditions. Rotories need to go a lot further down the road of success in rice (and tough harvesting conditions) before they can claim to be a really versatile all purpose machine. Rotories tend to be much higher wearing machines but have (usually) many less moving parts. I've had both and I know how many times I've had my hands in the toolbox with a rotory compared to a CTS. let us see what the CX holds up to in this coming rice season. It looks a good machine - time in the paddock will tell.