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

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

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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…

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

Driver's view: John Deere CTS 9780i combine

A 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…

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: 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…

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

Video: Claas launches biggest-ever Lexion combine

Claas 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…

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…

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…

COMBINES

Driver's view: Peter Booth's Claas Tucano 320

We get the details on Angus arable farmer Peter Booth’s Claas Tucano 320 that replaced a near-identical model in 2017. See also: Combine add-ons can help slash spread of weed seeds…

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…

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…

Combine guides

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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

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

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

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

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

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…

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

Ultimate guide to buying a combine 2023

New and improved models at the top and bottom end of the performance spectrum characterise the changes in this year’s Ultimate Guide to combines – along with the arrival of…

COMBINES

Ultimate guide to buying a combine 2021

Increased capacity potential with more sophisticated powertrains promising lower running costs are common themes among new combine harvesters listed in this year’s Ultimate Guide for harvest 2021. At Claas, the…

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

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

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…

Video

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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…

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"]

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…

VIDEO: Fendt tractor sales rocket

The explosive modernisation of eastern European agriculture has fuelled massive growth in sales for German tractor maker Fendt.    Sales of Fendt tractors have rocketed on the back of the…

Combine insights and practical advice

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COMBINES

Combine innovations that will help next year's harvest

The introduction of a new grain tank discharge auger and modified cutting table for Claas combines has improved their compatibility with wide-spaced controlled traffic farming systems. Controlled traffic farming substantially…

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 –…

HEADERS

Buying alternative combine headers - the options

Buying a new combine rarely involved much discussion about header options when there was no choice other than to decide what width to hook on the front. But that has…

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…

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

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…

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…

COMBINES

Agronomist-built combine attachment helps monitor losses

A novel Canadian combine attachment is helping growers calculate the monetary value of thrown-away grains by checking tailings as they fall from the machine. The Bushel Plus system was developed…

SOILS

6 top tips to minimise compaction at harvest

Climate 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…

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

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.…

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…