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 been some 10 years in development and shares little in common with the current 10.90 flagship, other than the basic configuration of the internals.

This means threshing is still carried out by twin rotors, but these are larger 24in units that offer considerably higher throughput.

See also: Ultimate Guide to buying a combine 2024

Other headline stats include a 775hp six-cylinder FPT C16 engine mounted to the side of the machine for better weight distribution, a 20,000-litre grain tank, 210-litre/sec unloading speed and the option of fitting a 15m (50ft) MacDon draper header.

The driveline has been simplified too, with 25% fewer components and no chains.

As well as pushing for throughput, engineers have worked hard to keep losses to a minimum.

To this end they’ve introduced a double cleaning shoe – one behind the other – with two upper sieves, two lower sieves, two clean grain augers and two sets of pressure sensors to monitor cleaning shoe load.

This so-called Twin Clean system also adjusts automatically and has a function that senses if one side of the sieves is getting overloaded, before shaking the cleaning shoe to even distribution.

Chopping and spreading

Residue management has been considered too, with a with a new chopper and chaff spreader setup that’s capable of giving a consistent spread at cutting widths up to 18m (60ft).

This automatically adjusts rotor speeds and vanes according to information sent from a radar that monitors the consistency of the spread pattern.

Due to the amount of crop that should be flowing through the machine, New Holland has also come up with a method for quickly shifting blockages without operators having to leave the seat.

The cab has had a few upgrades, such as a higher-grade seat and a 360deg camera system, and it houses the firm’s latest Intelliview 12 display as used in its high-horsepower tractor ranges.

The CR11 is being built at the firm’s Zedelgem factory in Belgium and will form a new range above the existing CR series machines.

We hear there will be just one model to start with, and if a more powerful version is introduced, it will need to have a larger engine block fitted.

Production machines will be painted in the firm’s standard livery and UK machines will be delivered on tracks rather than wheels and tyres.

Most will be teamed with the 15m (50ft) MacDon draper header, but trials have been carried out in Australia with a huge 18m (61ft) version.

Order books are opening in July 2024, with deliveries scheduled for harvest 2025.