Not available in North America, pity.
New Holland’s new 591 horsepower CR9090 Elevation set a world record by harvesting 16,579 bushels of wheat in eight hours, with peaks of 2,866 bu. per hour.
The demonstration took place July 31 near Leipzig in central Germany, and was documented and recognized by Guinness as an official world record. The previous eight-hour record of 13,154 bu. was set in 1990 by a combine being fed through a stripper header.
“Think biggest was the guiding principle behind the CR9090 Elevation’s development and we were confident we could achieve a very high record,” said Hedley Cooper, director of product marketing for the company in the United Kingdom.
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The big machine isn’t available in North America because it doesn’t fit the traditionally lower yielding crops found here.
Limitations for combines in North America tend to be on practical header width and straw management, rather than horsepower and threshing capacity, say engineers from several combine manufacturers.
The largest machine the company markets in North America is the CR9085.
The CR9090 Elevation uses New Holland’s speed and operations management, auto steering, camera monitoring systems and adjustable rotor vane covers to keep the combine operating efficiently.
The new 35 foot Varifeed grain header features a high-speed, heavy-duty knife drive, large auger diameter and extended reel tine-reach to ensure it matches the combine’s threshing performance.
The grain tank has been enlarged to 355 bu.
Turbo compounding technology lets the engine achieve a five percent fuel saving when compared to a similar horsepower standard engine. Fuel consumption averaged 6.13 litres per acre.
The challenge was undertaken using just one operator, with the machine operating continuously and without refueling for 10 hours. Combine designers plan for tanks to carry the machines for 10 hours and the CR9090 is no different. A full shift with the machine requires a 1,160 litre fuel tank.
Although the new record was established at eight hours, the combine continued for another two hours to harvest a total of 20,923 bu. During the whole period, it processed 427 tonnes of straw.
Average grain moisture content was 10.9 percent and the average broken grain was 0.14 percent. Grain purity was as high as 99.5 percent. Grain loss levels and grain quality were checked every 30 minutes.
