Rotary vs straw walker

W

willy

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Rutland
ok have had various coloured combines on demo, and they all have their good and their bad points. But one that one I have noticed is that the NH straw walker had by far the least losses. All losses where ok but seriously behind the straw walker nothing.

Looking to combine 2000 acres
Is a straw walker up to it.
 
Barleycorn

Barleycorn

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Hampshire
All to do with output I would think, Our neighbour has a straw walker JD, and I reckon it's the last combine still working in Hampshire! We baled behind a rotary JD and Case this year and the straw was fine. Years ago it was a nightmare baling behind the old axial flows.
 
D

d williams

Member
willy said:
ok have had various coloured combines on demo, and they all have their good and their bad points. But one that one I have noticed is that the NH straw walker had by far the least losses. All losses where ok but seriously behind the straw walker nothing.

Looking to combine 2000 acres
Is a straw walker up to it.
Click to expand...
You want a big one and a good spread of crops I would think also how's your access they always wider the the rotary
 
N

Neddy flanders

Member
BASE UK Member
Will we cut more than that with a 25' JD T670i walker machine. however this is the first year doing that acreage and don't think well ever see such combining conditions again. Losses are Ok, machine isn't as trendy as an S series or Lexion but not as expensive.

As a bit of an aside how do Combine manufacturers get away with selling £2-300,000 pieces of equipment that fall apart?? its nothing short of criminal. Know of a lexion 780 one year old with an engine failure that sat in the middle of a field for entire harvest. another JD year old whose gearbox completely disintegrated. Utterly sick to death of combine breakdowns here.
 
T Hectares

T Hectares

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Berkshire
@willy I've just bought a CX8.90 to replace a 10 year old CX8090

The old CX used to cut 1850 acres a year with no real bother, we had a spread of crops from WB through to spring beans

Now we are cutting a bit less, 1300 ac at home + some for a neighbour around 1500- 1600 ac depending on their cropping with no W Barley with no bother at all, to cut 2000 ac, it's doable but you'll need a spread of crops and a good drier...

I've been a big rotary fan for years and would like to have another CR, but on my acerage it doesn't stack up, a wide body one is around £80k more and a narrow body 40-50k more.

The CX is definitely cheaper to run, both in repairs and fuel use, it's been very reliable too, I've had one dealer call out in the 3 years I've been here, which isn't bad for a 2000+ drum hour machine.

I hope the new one is as good as the old one as it's going to be here for the next 10 years !!

I looked at the other brands and there was nothing in them that tempted me to change, but be aware the walkers will be the limiting factor regarding losses, this years has seen lighter dryer straw yields which has helped losses, the CX is as good as any other Walker machine...

And before anyone pops up with the "cheap axial flow" I looked, it was more expensive...
 
C

Clayfarmer

Member
Generally speaking there isn't actually any difference in output between straw walker and rotaries, the difference is more to do with power as the walker machines need a bit more power.

Over the years what happens is someone produces a high capacity rotary, then someone else produces a high capacity straw walker with a bit more power and so on. Hence all the swapping and changing - there is a fair bit of marketing benefit to this as well.....

Personally I like the idea of a straw walker combine as it is the only system that shakes the straw out, and it seems to need less modifications to deal with a wide range of crops (linseed etc) and straw moisture.
But the rotary concept is a mechanically simpler one in principle if not in practice...
 
P

Properjob

Member
Location
Cornwall
Clayfarmer said:
Generally speaking there isn't actually any difference in output between straw walker and rotaries, the difference is more to do with power as the walker machines need a bit more power.

Over the years what happens is someone produces a high capacity rotary, then someone else produces a high capacity straw walker with a bit more power and so on. Hence all the swapping and changing - there is a fair bit of marketing benefit to this as well.....

Personally I like the idea of a straw walker combine as it is the only system that shakes the straw out, and it seems to need less modifications to deal with a wide range of crops (linseed etc) and straw moisture.
But the rotary concept is a mechanically simpler one in principle if not in practice...
Click to expand...

Rotaries or Hybrids need far more power than a walker machine and have far greater outputs. Walkers are very inefficient at separating grain from straw. All machines have similar sized drums/concaves and sieves, etc, but it is the rotors that increase the output due to walkers limited with losses separating grain from straw. I would say a rotary/hybrid equivalent has at least 40% increase in output over a comparable walker machine. Not sure why you think a walker machine needs more power? Opposite is true, I don't believe there is such a combine as a high capacity walker machine for its width.
 
Poncherello1976

Poncherello1976

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Oxfordshire
Personally I would say walker every time, but I do not have that much to do, (no way near 2000 acres). It also depends on whether you have the capacity in the yard to keep up with a rotary? As long as you have a good spread of crops I would have thought that in most years a walker would cover that ground ok.
 
tr250

tr250

Member
Location
Northants
willy said:
Jd rotary 680 I think latest
Claas 670
New Holland cx biggest straw walker.

Jd nicest to drive
New Holland best header and v simple
Claas although an older machine good output and v good back up from dealer.
Click to expand...
Was the new holland set by a rep that used to sell claas by any chance? What sort of tons an hour we have a lexion 650 which is essentially the same as 670 with smaller engine and tank and I have been about 29-31 tons an hour in wheat. I'm not sure @Captain Mainwaring is right yes it's been dry this year but crops are not fit and I've struggled with walker losses more than other years
 
W

willy

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Rutland
tr250 said:
Was the new holland set by a rep that used to sell claas by any chance? What sort of tons an hour we have a lexion 650 which is essentially the same as 670 with smaller engine and tank and I have been about 29-31 tons an hour in wheat. I'm not sure @Captain Mainwaring is right yes it's been dry this year but crops are not fit and I've struggled with walker losses more than other years
Click to expand...

No regarding the rep. But what I have found is on the rotary losses it is v small grains not filled properly and so not really an issue except behind the walker it must have rattled it out better.i was impressed with output of 30-40tonnes per hour. Without reallly testing it. RES where the dealers
 
yellow belly

yellow belly

Member
Location
south west lincolnshire
for grain damage got to be a rotary
the advantage of a walker is it you are an impatient sort who starts 2 days too early and dries a lot of grain
straw quality in very dry very ripe conditions is harder to achieve on a rotary

the rotaries I have used use less fuel if you wait for it to be dry case and new Holland

the biggest factor with a combine if the dealer back up bearings fail ,acidents happen ,add blue de rates need sorting pdq
breakdowns always happen out of hours
pdi needs doing properly

my dealer has had me back in the field inside 24 hours Friday night failure combineing by 3 oclock on Saturday including collection of parts
and today the stores man was out in under an hour with all parts in stock but offered to collect parts if needed .RES are the dealers

previous combine dealers were imposible to get out on a sunday in September no one answered the phone laptop needed for add blue d rate
 

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