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

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…

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

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: Robert Floyd’s 1989 Laverda 3850 combine

A 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…

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…

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…

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

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

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…

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…

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

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…

Combine guides

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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 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…

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

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 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

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…

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…

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

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…

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

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…

Video

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COMBINES

Video: John Deere's monster £850,000 X9 combine

US 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.…

MACHINERY

Monster 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…

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…

Combine insights and practical advice

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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…

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 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…

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

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

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 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

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…

COMBINES

Trelleborg's self-adjusting VIP wheel kits: How they work

A 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…

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…

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,…