REGINA — New combines will be taking grain from Canadian and European fields this fall, and they won’t be doing it slowly.
The New Holland CX840, class six and CX860, class seven combines made an appearance at the Western Canada Farm Progress Show last week.
The giant machines show a 15 percent increase in capacity over the company’s TX series of conventional machines that they replace.
Improvements include: streamlined threshing cylinders; a variable speed for the main cylinder and stripper beater; a larger 30-inch diameter and 62-inch wide main cylinder with more rub bars; and a smaller secondary beater that allows grain and straw to pass through the system more quickly.
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The rotary separator behind the first two cylinders remains similar to the TX unit, but has two selectable speeds for easily damaged grain or for higher capacity.
A heavier chassis carries increased horsepower, with either 295 or 330 hp available. The smaller engine is a New Holland power plant while the larger one is an Iveco Cursor motor.
Power is transferred through a gearbox instead of direct from the engine. The design change improves torque to the drive train and threshing system.
Higher grain flow through the feeder house and cylinder is accommodated within the existing TX design.
Grain, chaff and straw are stratified on a gravity table-type grain pan that feeds a set of pre-sieves, which in turn feed the main sieves.
The grain shoe is self-leveling at up to a 17 percent angle on hilly land without compromising the shoe’s ability to keep grain in the machine.
A new residue handling system with twin fans blends straw and chaff to the user’s setting. The chaff may be included with the windrow for producers who feed crop residue.
For those desiring only straw for bedding, chaff can be blown through the straw chopper and spread while still providing a straw windrow for baling.
The straw spreader blades are adjustable on the go from the cab, allowing the producer to spread straw and chaff left or right in wind or when working along field edges.
A large 200-gallon fuel tank will keep the machine in the field for up to 16 hours.
Crop changes are quick with a new one-touch memory that resets the whole machine to farmer-selected settings for each crop.
The new unloading auger is the highest capacity of any combine on the market, with three bushels per second exiting either a 290 or 330 bushel grain tank. The auger has a top-exiting system that allows tall trucks closer access to the machine.
Better, larger
Steering systems have changed. The rear steering axles are set at a camber, allowing the combine to turn in a tight radius with limited pitching to the outside of the corner.
Other changes from the TX design include a new, larger cab with a built-in food and beverage cooler.
Dan Harting, a senior combine marketing analyst with New Holland, said most of the company’s marketing efforts for the new combines will be in Canada and Europe.
The CX series, manufactured in Zedelgem, Belgium, will share many components with New Holland’s new rotary combines that are expected sometime in the next two years.
The TX and previous conventional combines did not share common parts with the TR rotary machines. New Holland said its new common design will allow dealers to set up better parts inventories, improving access for producers and lowering costs for dealers.
The company will bring 19 units to Canada this year. Two have already been sold since their official launch on June 20 — one near Calgary and another to a Lipton, Sask., farmer.
