Menu

Know How / Combines

This is your go-to area for everything related to combine harvesters. We offer tips for keeping old combines running well, how to select a new machine and all the specs and prices for the UK market.

Latest combine articles

COMBINES

Eight months with two custom combine crews

Each summer, an army of intrepid youngsters pack their bags, fly to the US and spend the following eight months piloting combine harvesters, grain carts and trucks throughout the Midwestern…

COMBINES

Ultimate guide to buying a combine 2025

Some major updates are included in this year’s combine buyer’s guide, not least New Holland’s all-new CR top-end machines. Existing CR Evolution and CX combines have also gained some improvements…

COMBINES

Plusher cabs and more tech for John Deere combines

Having splashed out on the development of its acre-gobbling twin-rotor X9 combine, John Deere has been making the most of the investment by filtering much of the technology down to…

COMBINES

Cropscan Ag 4000VT sensor analyses grain protein every 3secs

Cropscan Ag has launched a new combine-mounted grain sensor tuned to deliver more frequent analysis of crops. The 4000VT, which is initially available for the latest New Holland and Case…

COMBINES

Half-a-million harvesters – which Claas combine was best?

Hands up who hasn’t driven, or at least sat in, a Claas combine? Not many, surely, given the German company has now produced 500,000 machines, including 100,000 examples of its…

COMBINES

New Holland CR11 combine takes fight to Deere and Claas

While New Holland’s flagship CR10.90 was busy setting a combining world record in a 2014 Lincolnshire wheat crop, its engineers were already working on a machine that could beat it.…

Combine reviews and tests

See all

COMBINES

Video: It's coming - Massey's huge 650hp Ideal combine

Claas and New Holland might reign supreme in European harvesting circles, but Agco is hoping to knock them down a peg or two with its highest output and most sophisticated…

COMBINES

Articulating Tribine combine is king of the US harvest

Just two years ago, an Indiana farmer hand-picked a team of engineers from far and wide to set about his off-the-wall ambitions to build a colossal-capacity, bend-in-the-middle combine. We meet…

Driver's view: Claas Cemos Automatic

  The Claas Cemos Automatic combine setting controller is due to be available next season. Andy Collings spoke to a grower who has trialled one this year. John Hawthorne Original…

COMBINES

Driver's view: Clive Wreathall’s New Holland CR10.90 combine

The CR10.90 is still the biggest combine New Holland produces, but this machine has since been replaced by the Revelation model. Despite being located in an area that is a…

COMBINES

On test: Combine reversing cameras – which is best?

Clobbering the back of your combine harvester against an oak tree or backing over the boss’s pickup is no fun whatsoever. So the addition of a rear-view camera to keep…

Farmers review Case, Claas and Deere combines

Two years ago we picked seven different makes of two-year-old combine and got a warts-and-all report from their owners and drivers. We’ve repeated the exercise again this year to see…

COMBINES

Driver's view: Richard Ledger's Claas Lexion 8900 combine

Kent farmer Richard Ledger is one of several UK growers to have run a pre-production version of Claas' latest range-topping Lexion combines. We get the verdict from driver Nigel Richardson.…

Driver's view: Deutz Fahr 6090

Vital stats Six straw-walkers| 310hp Deutz engine| 7m Biso VX header| 8,500-litre grain tank| Made in Croatia A bit of background How has it performed? Likes & gripes Farm facts…

COMBINES

Retrofit yield monitor offers crop data on old combines

Canadian outfit Farm TRX has developed a relatively cheap retrofit yield monitor that is able to generate downloadable crop performance maps via apps that run on a standard smartphone or…

COMBINES

Driver's view: SB Farming’s Fendt Ideal 9T

The Ideal 9T is the flagship model of Agco’s new Ideal combine range that’s offered in both Massey Ferguson and Fendt guises. One of the first farming businesses to take…

COMBINES

Driver's view: Nick Brown’s John Deere S790i combine

The biggest combine in John Deere’s line-up is the S790i, featuring a 617hp, six-cylinder engine, single rotor threshing mechanism and various header options up to 12.2m wide. It replaced a…

COMBINES

Driver's view: John Roberts’ Massey Ferguson Activa 7240

We get the lowdown on the Massey Ferguson Activa 7240 combine run by Shropshire farmer John Roberts. Farm facts Napley Farm, Market Drayton, Shropshire Size 135ha Soil Sandy loam Crops…

Combine buying advice

Combine guides

See all

COMBINES

Lancs engineer modifies mint Claas and Deere combine fleet

Few combine harvesters leave a contracting business in better condition than when they arrived, but that’s usually the case for the cosseted examples run by Lancashire outfit A Johnson Agricultural…

MACHINERY

Compare tractors and combines with our buyers guides

Farmers and contractors looking to take several options into consideration when choosing a new tractor will find the new specification and price guide published on FWi this week a useful…

COMBINES

Ultimate guide to buying a combine 2020

With this year’s combining season well and truly put to bed, it’s time for some growers to look ahead and consider their combine requirements for harvest 2020. We detail the…

MACHINERY MAINTENANCE

Latest technology for putting out harvest machinery fires

It’s hard to imagine given the sogginess of the past 12 months, but there’s always a chance we could be in for a tinder-dry harvest, à la 2022. That year,…

COMBINES

Combine buyers guide 2018

Combine makers around the globe have been rebuilding and updating their ranges ahead of next year’s harvest. With that in mind, our Combine buyers guide 2018 (PDF) contains the specs and…

COMBINES

Headsight system automates combine header height

A bespoke header control kit could increase yield and reduce downtime by keeping the table height accurate in all conditions. The system is built by Canadian firm Headsight, and the…

COMBINES

On test: Combine reversing cameras – which is best?

Clobbering the back of your combine harvester against an oak tree or backing over the boss’s pickup is no fun whatsoever. So the addition of a rear-view camera to keep…

COMBINES

Updated Claas Tucano gets Montana levelling option

Combine market leader Claas has revamped its range of mid-ranking Tucano machines, aimed at farmers who want near-Lexion power, but struggle to justify the larger price tag.  Catching the eye…

COMBINES

Ultimate Guide to buying a combine 2024

There are few machine and model updates for this year’s Ultimate Guide to combine harvesters – but there are some subtle changes to the tables themselves to make some of…

Combine buyers guide 2014

Tweaks and upgrades rather than major new model introductions characterise combine developments for the 2014 harvest. Click on each manufacturer to see their specifications. Case IH Claas Deutz Fahr John…

COMBINES

16 nifty retrofit items to fine-tune your combine

The internet is awash with bolt on bits of technology to improve your combine's harvesting performance. We've picked out some handy items used by farmers all over the globe –…

Video

See all

COMBINES

Video: Orkney contractor converts his combine to tracks

Farming on the Orkney archipelago in the north of Scotland throws up challenges unlike anything on mainland Britain. The biggest of those is the weather – the Gulf Stream brings…

Video: Harvest 2015 filmed from the skies

Before lashings of rain brought combining to an abrupt halt, Farmers Weekly hit the road with a high-definition drone to capture some aerial highlights of this year’s harvest. We started…

MACHINERY

Class Lexion 770 user's view

[fwi_vidyard code="L-sGxm5SjRhWSED0nBHmvQ"] John and Tom Hawthorne are one of the first in the country to run the new Lexion flagship 770, equipped with a 40ft Vario header. Emily Padfield went to see how…

Claas Lexion 600 user in-cab chat

Claas's new hybrid Tucano (not to mention the firm's new 12m header) may have been grabbing the headlines in recent weeks, but it's still the Lexions that you mostly see…

Combine insights and practical advice

See all

MACHINERY

Exotic and unusual harvesters – rice

In the latest in his series on exotic and unusual harvesters, Nick Wigdahl looks at how rice is harvested. Rice is the world’s third largest crop after maize, sugar cane…

COMBINES

Video: Orkney contractor converts his combine to tracks

Farming on the Orkney archipelago in the north of Scotland throws up challenges unlike anything on mainland Britain. The biggest of those is the weather – the Gulf Stream brings…

HARVEST

What costs to consider when increasing combine capacity

Every year farmers face the same question: Should I buy extra kit to ensure a quick harvest and secure premiums, pay for a contractor, or risk rain delays? Each carries…

COMBINES

Lancs engineer modifies mint Claas and Deere combine fleet

Few combine harvesters leave a contracting business in better condition than when they arrived, but that’s usually the case for the cosseted examples run by Lancashire outfit A Johnson Agricultural…

MACHINERY

Combine fires: Why do they keep happening?

Combine fires are far from a new phenomenon. From the earliest petrol-powered Masseys to the latest tracked Claas Lexions, they are all capable of succumbing to the destructive forces of…

MACHINERY

Compare tractors and combines with our buyers guides

Farmers and contractors looking to take several options into consideration when choosing a new tractor will find the new specification and price guide published on FWi this week a useful…

COMBINES

Ultimate guide to buying a combine 2020

With this year’s combining season well and truly put to bed, it’s time for some growers to look ahead and consider their combine requirements for harvest 2020. We detail the…

MACHINERY MAINTENANCE

Latest technology for putting out harvest machinery fires

It’s hard to imagine given the sogginess of the past 12 months, but there’s always a chance we could be in for a tinder-dry harvest, à la 2022. That year,…

COMBINES

Combine buyers guide 2018

Combine makers around the globe have been rebuilding and updating their ranges ahead of next year’s harvest. With that in mind, our Combine buyers guide 2018 (PDF) contains the specs and…

COMBINES

Retrofit fire suppresion kit could save combines

Isolated in an air-conditioned capsule at the front of the machine, combine operators are usually completely unaware when there’s an inferno slowly building behind them. By the time they do…

COMBINES

Retrofit combine yield monitor provides low-cost crop data

From decision-making on crop dryer settings to variety choices for the next cropping year, there is value to be had in being able to quickly access and make use of…

COMBINES

Headsight system automates combine header height

A bespoke header control kit could increase yield and reduce downtime by keeping the table height accurate in all conditions. The system is built by Canadian firm Headsight, and the…