Combines Why the TX aren t popular in rice IJ

The only rice fields I've seen are in California and I'm not a rice grower. But I've followed it and the machinery companies involved in rice production a little in the "Delta Farmer " paper. This is only my opinion.One reason may be that New Holland combine is a late comer in North America compared to Europe. It has only been sold in the U S since 1966 and the TX is sold almost entirely in Canada in N A. New Holland was traditionally a hay company years ago and probably didn't have many big combine dealerships in rice country like other companies. Much of the rice areas along the Mississippi river are in with cotton growing areas. Those companies that have made and sold cotton pickers, combines, and row crop tractors like IH and John Deere for 1_2 to 4_5 of a century and have large numbers of dealerships and some really big dealers in those areas. They probably have most of that market. Some of those big CIH dealers now sell NH. Check their web sites I'll bet you see mostly CIH used combines for sale. Even before the rotary IH advertised they were big in rice country (at least in the West). Also The CIH is one of the most popular combines ever made and their special rotor must be successful since it was made originally for rice but has been expanded to other crops. Rotaries are famous for the quality of the grain in the bin after harvest. Stripper headers like the Shelbourne Reyolds out of Britain are used by rice farmers (although I don't know how much) and with them there is almost no straw going into the combine. The TX combine is a really good combine, but I thought it looked complicated to work on compared to our old IH's. The rotary is what most Americans want and it;s hard to go back to old designs when you've got something successful.

I would go to the CaseIH and John Deere section on this site to ask this question. You might have a better chance of finding someone who is a rice farmer or works in an area where rice is grown.

I think the reason that the TX machines are not sold very much in the US is because rotaries are great in corn(maize) and soybeans and the TX is designed for cereal crops. Rotary combines have a very high capacity and they are gentle on the grain and beans. Corn and soybeans are king in the USA and rotaries work well in other crops like cereals. For rice they need special rotors or equipment to handle the tough wet straw, but rice growers often also have soybeans and maybe corn to harvest too. Biggest shortcoming of a rotary machine is the power they must use to process the crop. They often run out of engine power before they exceed the threshing capacity of the machine. Finally, New Holland is a rather minor player in the North American combine market and as the earlier post states they were late getting into the combine market, and most people think of hay and forage equipment when they hear the New Holland name.

The New Holland dealerships are few and far between in Arkansas. Most people want their parts within 30 minutes. With the stripper header you dont have a need for all of the straw handling. You cant beat a big green walker with a stripper. We are running 6 of them down here.