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 COMBINESEight months with two custom combine crewsEach 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… COMBINESUltimate guide to buying a combine 2025Some 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… COMBINESPlusher cabs and more tech for John Deere combinesHaving 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… HARVESTMake the most of your combine’s yield data this harvestWhat to do with your harvest data? Despite many growers being awash with historical data from combine generated yield maps, only a small minority are using this data to its… COMBINESCropscan Ag 4000VT sensor analyses grain protein every 3secsCropscan 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… COMBINESHalf-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… COMBINESNew Holland CR11 combine takes fight to Deere and ClaasWhile 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 testsSee all COMBINESBrace of John Deere X9 combines gobble 170t of wheat an hourIn its quest to build the highest-output combine harvester on the market, John Deere came up with a machine that was also the most expensive. Commanding a heady starting list… Driver's view: Case Axial Flow 9230Vital stats Single-rotor threshing| 571hp Fiat 12.9-litre engine with AdBlue| 10.7m (35ft) header| 12,330-litre grain tank| Made in USA A bit of background How has it performed? Likes & gripes… COMBINESArticulating Tribine combine is king of the US harvestJust 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… COMBINESDriver’s view: Robert Floyd’s 1989 Laverda 3850 combineA 1989 Laverda 3850 has been the combine of choice for Worcestershire mixed farmers Robert Floyd and James Kent for the past 13 years. The Italian-built harvester cuts about 80ha… COMBINESDriver's view: John Deere CTS 9780i combineA large output when crops are at their driest was key for Dorset farmer James Reed. After doing his research, the hybrid arrangement of the John Deere CTS was the… Combine buyers guide 2014Tweaks 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… Driver's view: John Deere S690iVital stats Single-rotor threshing| 617hp Deere 6-cyl twin-turbo| 10.7m (35ft) header| 10,600-litre grain tank| Made in USA A bit of background How has it performed? Likes & gripes Farm facts… COMBINESOn 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… COMBINESDriver's view: Nick Brown’s John Deere S790i combineThe 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… Farmers review Case, Claas and Deere combinesTwo 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… Driver's view: Massey Ferguson DeltaVital stats Twin-rotor hybrid threshing| 509hp Sisu 7-cylinder engine with AdBlue| 9.2m header| 9,500-litre grain tank| Made in Italy A bit of background How has it performed? Likes & gripes… COMBINESRetrofit yield monitor offers crop data on old combinesCanadian 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… Combine buying advice Ultimate guide to buying a combine 2023 Buying alternative combine headers - the options Guide to buying a used hill-sider combine Tips for buying a quality used combine on a £40,000 budget How Kent farmers saved £33,000 on buying a new combine What to look for when buying a used combine What costs to consider when increasing combine capacity Driver's view: Greenshields Agri's 13.7m MacDon FD2 header Combine guidesSee all COMBINESUltimate Guide to buying a combine 2024There 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… COMBINESUltimate guide to buying a combine 2020With 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… HARVESTMake the most of your combine’s yield data this harvestWhat to do with your harvest data? Despite many growers being awash with historical data from combine generated yield maps, only a small minority are using this data to its… COMBINES16 nifty retrofit items to fine-tune your combineThe 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 –… COMBINESLancs engineer modifies mint Claas and Deere combine fleetFew 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… MACHINERYCombine buyers guide 2017Having the right harvester can prove vital for any arable operation. If you are thinking of updating your combine, our tables break down the UK options so you can directly… MACHINERY2019 Ultimate guide to buying a combineIncreased automation to help both experienced and inexperienced combine operators is the highlight of upgrades to the latest crop of machines destined for harvest 2019. New sensor technology can now… COMBINESUpdated Claas Tucano gets Montana levelling optionCombine 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… MACHINERY MAINTENANCELatest technology for putting out harvest machinery firesIt’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,… COMBINESVideo: Claas launches biggest-ever Lexion combineClaas has just won the most recent hand of combine manufacturer Top Trumps after it launched its most powerful Lexion machines yet. The headline-grabbing flagship 8900 is the biggest in the… COMBINESCombine buyers guide 2018Combine 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… COMBINESGuide to buying a used hill-sider combineTrue full body levelling on combines is not just a nice-to-have feature – for some farms it’s essential. And although the additional cost when buying new isn’t as much as… VideoSee all COMBINESVideo: John Deere's monster £850,000 X9 combineUS firm John Deere has given its new X9 1100 combine and 12.1m HDX header a whopping £850,328 list price. The combine alone is listed at £725,908 and the HDX… VIDEO: Claas Tucano 480: Farmer's verdict"We've been running a six-walker Lexion 560 and wanted to go rotary, but a Lexion 570 was a step too far," says Matthew Bowe, of Denham Estates near Bury St Edmunds.… MACHINERYMonster John Deere combine in action[fwi_vidyard code="dyrxMsd6xM87NQU70t8Yxw"] Boasting the largest grain tank on the market, the most powerful engine and new rubber track units, John Deere’s monster S690i rotary combine is out to impress. The… COMBINESVideo: Claas launches biggest-ever Lexion combineClaas has just won the most recent hand of combine manufacturer Top Trumps after it launched its most powerful Lexion machines yet. The headline-grabbing flagship 8900 is the biggest in the… Combine insights and practical adviceSee all COMBINESUltimate Guide to buying a combine 2024There 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… SOILS6 top tips to minimise compaction at harvestClimate predictions indicate that for the next 20 years there is a 35-40% chance of a wetter-than-average summer, giving rise to the potential for disrupted and challenging harvests. Aside from… COMBINESUltimate guide to buying a combine 2020With 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… HARVESTMake the most of your combine’s yield data this harvestWhat to do with your harvest data? Despite many growers being awash with historical data from combine generated yield maps, only a small minority are using this data to its… COMBINES16 nifty retrofit items to fine-tune your combineThe 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 –… COMBINESMachinery Milestones: History of the combine harvesterThreshing machines were an international success story for British manufacturers, and the companies involved became global leaders, but the combine harvester market proved a far harder nut to crack. Britain’s… COMBINESLancs engineer modifies mint Claas and Deere combine fleetFew 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… MACHINERYCombine buyers guide 2017Having the right harvester can prove vital for any arable operation. If you are thinking of updating your combine, our tables break down the UK options so you can directly… MACHINERY2019 Ultimate guide to buying a combineIncreased automation to help both experienced and inexperienced combine operators is the highlight of upgrades to the latest crop of machines destined for harvest 2019. New sensor technology can now… COMBINESTrelleborg's self-adjusting VIP wheel kits: How they workA clever new system designed by tyre giant Trelleborg promises to reduce soil damage by automatically altering combine tyre pressures as the grain tank fills and empties. It’s an area… COMBINESUpdated Claas Tucano gets Montana levelling optionCombine 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… MACHINERY MAINTENANCELatest technology for putting out harvest machinery firesIt’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,…