ELIE, Man. – Manitoba farmers have recently seen Case 9120 combines leaving a wake while running in foot-deep water at eight m.p.h.
Southern Manitoba Case IH dealer Chabot Implements owns the two tracked 9120s, the only such Case combines in Western Canada. It has used them this fall for custom harvesting and demonstrations in impossibly wet fields in the Red River Valley.
But the impossible becomes the possible with rubber tracks, says dealership owner Bernie Chabot.
One of the company’s recent demonstrations was on peaty land 80 kilometres east of Winnipeg.
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“That was particularly interesting because of all the peat moss, but also because the water was more than a foot deep,” Chabot said.
“The other 9120 in the field was on tires with four-wheel drive. It kept dropping through and getting stuck. The demo unit on tracks would drive right past the stuck combine without a problem.”
Chabot said his tracked combines each have about 300 hours, all in extremely wet conditions. Both are fitted with 35 -foot MacDon headers and have cut oats, canola and wheat in water-logged fields.
The dealership ordered one of the tracked combines for demonstrations and the other one went to a grower at Starbuck, Man., who took delivery three months ago.
He finished his harvest without a hitch and then traded it for a 2011 model 9120 on tracks.
Chabot has added this trade-in combine to his demonstration-custom fleet.
However, he recently sold the original demonstration model to a local farmer who still had 700 acres of unharvested crop under water.
One of the biggest surprises with the tracked combines is the absence of ruts and wheel marks.
During a recent visit to a field, rubber boots left a deeper imprint in the mud than did the combine.
Case says the tracks reduce ground pressure by 50 to 60 percent compared to duals.
Chabot said most of the fields his company has harvested were so wet that the trucks and grain carts couldn’t get in. Operators had to drive to the road to dump grain.
“One farm we were at got five inches (125 millimetres) of rain just a few days before we went in, so it was like a lake,” he said.
“We were out there combining and the neighbours could see us in the distance. They started calling him asking what the heck was going on over here. People just don’t believe this is possible.”
Case combines with tracks also have auxiliary rear-wheel drive. When running in standing water, they do seven m.p.h. with the rear drive activated.
“But we found we really don’t need rear assist in water. When we turn it off, we get more oil to the front drive and then we can run eight m.p.h. in water. In mud, we use the rear assist. It seems mud is worse than standing water for getting stuck.”
The triangular tracks Case puts under its combines are the same 36 inch wide belts it employs on its Quadtrac tractors, except for gearing, mounting hardware and the crossover yoke that holds the tracks in alignment with the combine.
The tracked combine weighs 36,450 pounds and has a transit speed of 22 m.p.h., the same as it has on round rubber tires.
Chabot said it might be possible to transfer Quadtrac triangles to a combine, but it’s not recommended.
“It really doesn’t make sense. If you have a Quadtrac, you’ll need it for pulling your grain cart, especially in a wet harvest. The ideal setup is a tracked combine along with a Quadtrac pulling a grain cart on rubber tracks.
“We’re seeing so many implements coming out on tracks lately. There’s a lot of advantages, not just in mud, but also in terms of compaction in normal years.”
He said better weight distribution has been an unexpected advantage to the tracks. Their long footprint creates a good balance fore and aft and bow and stern, whether the 350 bushel hopper is empty or full. Long footprints do not leave a rutted surface.
“Guys know they save money if they can get the crop off without ripping up their fields and damaging equipment. Tracks on a combine will do that for you.”
He said the economics are clear: rubber tracks are a $50,000 factory option, but the payback can be realized with one wet harvest.
“We’re pricing out 2011 combines right now for guys. Every one of them so far is speced out with rubber tracks.”
