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

New Holland unleashes biggest-ever combine – the CR11

New Holland has pulled the wraps off its highest capacity combine harvester yet, which it hopes will leave the competition choking behind its chaff spreader. Dubbed CR11, the machine has…

COMBINES

New Holland introduces its highest capacity combine yet

The battle to build the highest output combine harvester is hotting up, with New Holland set to launch its biggest machine yet. Details are still thin on the ground, but…

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…

COMBINES

Driver’s view: Claas Trion 750 rated after two seasons' work

The launch of the Trion combines two years ago represented one of the biggest-ever shake-ups of the Claas range. Slotting between the high-output Lexions and late-of-this-parish Tucanos, they promised something…

COMBINES

Brace of John Deere X9 combines gobble 170t of wheat an hour

In 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…

Combine reviews and tests

See all

Driver's view: Massey Ferguson Delta

Vital 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…

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The CR10.90 is still the biggest combine New Holland produces, but this machine has since been replaced by the Revelation model.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

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

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…

Driver's view: Case Axial Flow 9230

Vital 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…

Double cutterbar combine can boost outputs by 15%

An unusual double-cutterbar combine header being used by a Midlands farmer is claimed to be able to boost harvester output by up to 15%. Nick Fone explains how. For the…

COMBINES

Driver's view: Mathew Caudwell’s John Deere W540i

We get the lowdown on the John Deere W540i combine run by Lincolnshire farmer Mathew Caudwell. We find out why his chose the JD W-series and how it has performed…

Driver's view: John Deere S690i

Vital 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…

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…

Driver's view: New Holland CR9070

Vital stats Twin rotor threshing| 490hp Fiat engine with AdBlue| 9m header| 11,500-litre grain tank| Made in Belgium A bit of background How has it performed? Likes & gripes Farm…

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…

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…

Combine guides

See all

TECHNOLOGY

Simple guide to telematics and performance monitoring

Of all the key machines on an average arable farm, the combine is king. It’s the most expensive piece of any machinery – top-of-the-range machines can hit the £400,000 mark…

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…

MACHINERY

Combine buyers guide 2017

Having 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…

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

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 –…

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

2019 Ultimate guide to buying a combine

Increased 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…

MACHINERY

Top tips to keep your combine running in the wet

August invariably delivers a spell of bad weather, so we’ve put together 20 top tips from the experts on how to ease the flow of damp crops through the combine.…

COMBINES

Guide to buying a used hill-sider combine

True 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…

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…

COMBINES

Ultimate guide to buying a combine 2022

After something of a stop-start harvest that for numerous growers involved cutting crops new to their rotation, manufacturers and dealers are looking to sign up customers for combines delivering additional…

Video

See all

MACHINERY

VIDEO: New Holland combine tracks - how they work

New Holland harvester specialist Nigel Honeyman explains how the firm's new combine track system works. [fwi_vidyard code="H4xpBcJmtCz3qbViCP5dGQ"]

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…

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…

Biso launches 12m header Ultralight 800

Austrian header company Biso demonstrated its latest 12m (40ft) header in Warwickshire last week. Made mostly of aluminium, the Ultralight 800 weighs in at just under 4t, a full 2t…

Combine insights and practical advice

See all

How Versatile's RT490 combine made it to UK farms

Versatile is a well-known name in the world of articulated prairie monsters and its recently launched four-track crawler has reignited UK interest in the brand. The Canadian maker’s machines have…

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…

Machinery giants: How Case IH became a big name in farm kit

You have to go right back to the 1820s to witness the beginnings of Case IH. The McCormick family was developing a new reaping machine that was demonstrated successfully in…

COMBINES

Machinery Milestones: History of the combine harvester

Threshing 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…

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…

TECHNOLOGY

Simple guide to telematics and performance monitoring

Of all the key machines on an average arable farm, the combine is king. It’s the most expensive piece of any machinery – top-of-the-range machines can hit the £400,000 mark…

MACHINERY

8 ways to make your combine tyres last longer

Checking the tyres before the combine is put away for winter could save farmers thousands of pounds in unnecessary replacement costs the following year, according to Mitas Tyres. "Replacing combine…

MACHINERY

Tips for buying a quality used combine on a £40,000 budget

Banging on about shiny new Lexions and the latest high-capacity New Hollands is all well and good, but there is still plenty of demand out there for smaller five-walker combines…

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…

MACHINERY

Combine buyers guide 2017

Having 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…

MACHINERY

Top tips to boost combine output

Optimising combine harvester output is a difficult task that can often involve a degree of guesswork. Ever wondered how manufacturers’ product experts can identify problems so accurately? It’s all down…