combine for 800 acres.

[tinkerman]

thinking of getting our own combine after years of contractors. which make and model would everyone choose for the job.
we have all major dealers reasonably close by. cutting 800 acres wheat,barley and osr and need to make a good job of chopping and spreading the straw.
we will also bale a reasonable amount.

 

[rob h]

what’s the budget

 

[T Hectares]

thinking of getting our own combine after years of contractors. which make and model would everyone choose for the job.
we have all major dealers reasonably close by. cutting 800 acres wheat,barley and osr and need to make a good job of chopping and spreading the straw.
we will also bale a reasonable amount.

Get the largest and newest Claas/CNH/JD you can afford

 

[tinkerman]

new to nearly new.
hope to run it for quite a few years

 

[tinkerman]

presumably there is nothing much between all the major manufacturers

 

[NFI]

Your contractors invoice must be frightening. That's an envelope I wouldn't want to open.

 

[T Hectares]

presumably there is nothing much between all the major manufacturers

Plenty of differences, it depends on your preferences and what you want to achieve
Do you have good drying/cleaning/hauling facilities?
What part of the country ( weather windows/ field size )?
Chopping or baling most of the straw ?
Will you service it or dealer?

Avoid the manufacturer I didn’t mention in my original list and you will fine

 

[T Hectares]

Your contractors invoice must be frightening. That's an envelope I wouldn't want to open.

£30k ish ??
Should be able to run a decent machine for that, that’s if the rest of the harvest Jigsaw is in place…

 

[Phil P]

£30k ish ??
Should be able to run a decent machine for that, that’s if the rest of the harvest Jigsaw is in place…

Have to remember with a contractor the price will include an extra man and probably the fuel as well and need to be put into the equation when working out a budget to buy a machine machine rather than a contractor.

If your spending 30k a year on a contractor it won’t mean there’s 30k a year to put toward a finance package as fuel and labour will be on top.
Hope that makes sense.
A good extra man at harvest can be worth a lot!

 

[T Hectares]

Have to remember with a contractor the price will include an extra man and probably the fuel as well and need to be put into the equation when working out a budget to buy a machine machine rather than a contractor.

If your spending 30k a year on a contractor it won’t mean there’s 30k a year to put toward a finance package as fuel and labour will be on top.
Hope that makes sense.
A good extra man at harvest can be worth a lot!

Yep, pretty confident in how machinery costings V contractor works thanks
You’ll notice I used the word “run” rather than “purchase” as £37.50/acre should be achievable to run a combine on 800 acres
The first one with no trade will be the worst but it’ll improve with a trade in on the next one, that’s without any of the timeliness considerations…

 

[principal skinner]

Got a ten year old Tucano 480 (single rotor machine) does about 800 acres a year no bother. Normally do anywhere from 50 to 80 acres a day.

 

[ollie989898]

Axial flow if you are that way inclined or New Holland CR. Extra man at harvest is worth considering though.

 

[tinkerman]

to answer your questions, we have drying and good haulage, north yorkshire, 70% chopping and would get the dealer to check it over after the first few years.
thanks for all the replies. we dont think there is a lot of saving having your own combine over a contractor but obviously timeliness is improved.

 

[Lincsman]

In the past a 20' tx66 would be the norm, but as with tractors it needs to bigger to do the same job now, so you are in CR territory.

 

[Speedstar]

Your contractors invoice must be frightening. That's an envelope I wouldn't want to open.

His contractor invoice will not make the first yearly payment on a new combine

 

[ollie989898]

His contractor invoice will not make the first yearly payment on a new combine

Be a fudging lot of zeros on it mind. 5 years of that and you could buy something half decent, probably not new but not a scrapper either.

 

[mf7480]

His contractor invoice will not make the first yearly payment on a new combine

Would that be a cashflow consideration rather than a real consideration of the actual cost of buying one?

 

[melted welly]

Buy a tidy 2nd hand one that someone else has taken the hit on.

Buy the biggest one that fits the budget and is realistic for your situation. You won’t regret having too much capacity. I’m an NH fan, depend also what your local dealers are like, that would be a major factor.

 

[ollie989898]

Buy a tidy 2nd hand one that someone else has taken the hit on.

Buy the biggest one that fits the budget and is realistic for your situation. You won’t regret having too much capacity. I’m an NH fan, depend also what your local dealers are like, that would be a major factor.

Can't argue with this- more money spent on additional combine capacity may save a lot of money in a few catchy seasons as you can avoid too much drying.

 

[T Hectares]

In the past a 20' tx66 would be the norm, but as with tractors it needs to bigger to do the same job now, so you are in CR territory.

Not sure I agree with that 100% as someone cutting 1500 ac with a CX !!
The last one was cutting up to 1800 and went at 10 years old
6 Walker CX should cruise 800 acres given sensible drying, field size, access etc ??