Since the release of the new X series combines from John Deere, there’s been a lot of curiosity and perhaps some controversy surrounding the new line-up.
RealAgriculture covered the initial launch of the X Series back in June (that story here), and though we couldn’t join John Deere in person at the Farm Progress Show demo site at Boone, Iowa, we’ve brought you a glimpse of the new combines in action.
In this special machinery spotlight, Bernard Tobin is joined by Cory Friedli, product manager for John Deere, to see how the new combines stack up in the field and find out just exactly what sets them apart.
“The 1000 and 1100 are performance group 10 and 11 combines, and are really designed for that large acre customer,” says Friedli. “You mention capacity, in the corn area here in the upper mid-west, we’re doing 7,200 bushels an hour, for a high-yielding corn, and up there in Canada, with those tough threshing grains, it can do 30 acres an hour in wheat,” says Friedli.
Capacity in the new series is driven by a combination of things — a wider feeder house, a dual separator, and a larger cleaning shoe. The feeder house width was increased by 23 per cent, roughly 12 inches, which is carried through the entirety of the machine, all the way from the feeder house to the residue systems. (Story continues below player)
The dual separator feature means 45 per cent more threshing area and 80 per cent more separation area, which means better capacity when the crop gets tough, says Friedli. The shoe size was increased by 36 per cent, relative to a 790 model, rounding out the X9’s ability to provide capacity.
Automatic settings adjustments to changing conditions throughout the day is available through the combine advisor package, which was carried over from the S series into the X9. Fuel efficiency is also a big feature of the x9, with a new engine from John Deere, and updated belt design and layout.
“The X9 combine was designed with tough-threshing, tough to separate crops in mind, and that’s one of the reasons we designed the X dual separator, to get that extra capacity out of the combine,” says Friedli. “With that extra threshing (capacity), that fits all across Canada — in your tough, green stem canola crop, the high yielding wheat in some places,” Friedli adds. The new line-up of headers is also designed to compliment the new series’ capacity.
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