One Combine to replace 2 calculation?

[Pilatus]

If one has two combines, 30ft and 25ft cut(55ft total) and they both travel at approximately the same speed, and one decides to replace the two with one 39ft 4”cut machine ,how much faster , in percentage terms will the one combine have to go to cut the same area as the two combines in a day.
For this exercise imagine one large field and the two combines always worked together.
All a bit theoretical but a start on my the real life calculation/ situation.
Thanks

 

[Highland Mule]

55/39 = 1.41 - so 41% faster.

 

[Oliveau]

As a very rough calculation, if the 2 combines were travelling at 8.8 kph, the single one would need to travel at 12.4 kph or about 40% faster.

But you have to factor in breakdown time on the 2 versus potential reliability/unreliability of the singe machine. In other words a single NH would eat 2 Masseys..........[I'll leave now].

 

[Oliveau]

55/39 = 1.41 - so 41% faster.

Ah, beat me to it!

 

[Combineman]

As a very rough calculation, if the 2 combines were travelling at 8.8 kph, the single one would need to travel at 12.4 kph or about 40% faster.

But you have to factor in breakdown time on the 2 versus potential reliability/unreliability of the singe machine. In other words a single NH would eat 2 Masseys..........[I'll leave now].

Harsh !

 

[Pilatus]

Many thanks for the info

 

[Clive]

it's not just about total header width - tank capacity, turning time and breakdown will all add to the calculations

 

[rob h]

Harsh !

Don’t worry it’s comments like that that keeps used prices down.ive just bought another Massey

 

[Adeptandy]

Harsh !

But true

 

[Flatlander]

We went from 2 to one. It’s no faster but man power factors into it.going to one big combine speeds up many things. Only one combine to keep grain cart busy one to service and breakdown one header to transport between fields and the list goes on but overall acres a day isn’t much better. If I had the extra manpower I’d run two smaller or older combines. going wider cut is better to keep the combine maxed out for capacity but if the rows of straw get soaked 49 ft takes some drying. Straw choppers at 40 ft struggle to cover evenly in a breeze,in rolling hilly fields 40 ft doesn’t fit the terrain well in lodged crops. But I did see you said one flat field. At the end of the day I think you’d be hard pressed to get one 40ft to outcut a 25 and 30 ft regardless of colour.

 

[BBC]

What you are currently running? Straw Walker or rotary/hybrid? If straw Walker and replacing with say a Lexion Hybrid they can be pushed far harder and earlier/later in day. Add in a Convio Draper header for a better feed into the combine, especially in wet straw crops (see what @ollyblogs was doing with his Lexion), plus technology like Cemos Automatic so it’s always working at optimum efficiency then probably not too far out.

 

[betweenthelines]

Isn't drum size more important than header width?

 

[hel123]

Half the time on the headland as only one is turning around instead of two?

 

[Two Tone]

I remember going from a 12’ NH 1530, plus a 15’ NH 1545 to a 17’ NH 8080. There were so many other advantages to having one machine and harvest got done just a quickly with 2 less staff, 1 combine and one tractor a trailer less carting. There was also a lot less moaning!

 

[Lincs Lass]

But what happens if the only one big combine breaks down when the weather is perfect ,,Nothing gets cut untill its fixed where as ,two not so big ,should one of them conks out ,atleast the second is still going even if not at any great speed.
Swings and roundabouts ,,run one and risk downtime or two with a 50% chance of something going wrong

 

[Flatlander]

What you are currently running? Straw Walker or rotary/hybrid? If straw Walker and replacing with say a Lexion Hybrid they can be pushed far harder and earlier/later in day. Add in a Convio Draper header for a better feed into the combine, especially in wet straw crops (see what @ollyblogs was doing with his Lexion), plus technology like Cemos Automatic so it’s always working at optimum efficiency then probably not too far out.

I went from a 1680 at 25 and a 2388 at 25ft to a 500hp lexion at 40ft. No advantage in daily out put except only one combine driver. Less servicing and less fuel. I prefer only one combine rather than trying to get thru to another driver to set the combine and pace it rather than just hammer it thru and have high losses, the efficiency term is bounced around a lot with combines but being over the top with capacity on the combine scene isn’t one I’d be concerned about. Between being able to do shorter day whike crop is dry saving drying costs to better quality getting done before potential rain and getting next years cropping underway are all factors associated to combine capacity.but funding help here is tough. Given your running two now with enough drivers I’d stick with what you have. Demo the biggest you can find and see how it works on your farm. Everyone has a different set up. But trying to run a combine at 8kmh isn’t something I’d want to do let alone having to go to 12.

 

[benny6910]

I would try and work it out in tons per hour output rather than forward speed. If your 2 combines can cut 70 tons a hour then you’ll need to get a rather large green yellow red or black one to cut the same.

 

[Pilatus]

I went from a 1680 at 25 and a 2388 at 25ft to a 500hp lexion at 40ft. No advantage in daily out put except only one combine driver. Less servicing and less fuel. I prefer only one combine rather than trying to get thru to another driver to set the combine and pace it rather than just hammer it thru and have high losses, the efficiency term is bounced around a lot with combines but being over the top with capacity on the combine scene isn’t one I’d be concerned about. Between being able to do shorter day whike crop is dry saving drying costs to better quality getting done before potential rain and getting next years cropping underway are all factors associated to combine capacity.but funding help here is tough. Given your running two now with enough drivers I’d stick with what you have. Demo the biggest you can find and see how it works on your farm. Everyone has a different set up. But trying to run a combine at 8kmh isn’t something I’d want to do let alone having to go to 12.

So stripper headers are not that popular in your area , as they take the speed of combining into a new dimension.
I speak from experience of using one in the Uk, in barley, some as flat as a pancake.

 

[cousinjack]

Would using the second man on a chaser bin to keep the one combine rolling continuously improve harvesting ?

 

[Flatlander]

So stripper headers are not that popular in your area , as they take the speed of combining into a new dimension.
I speak from experience of using one in the Uk, in barley, some as flat as a pancake.

Not in this area. Traditionaly this area would swath small grain to dry out any green tillers or low patches to even out maturity. Work surprisingly well. In the last five years it Gone mainly to desicate and straight cut. Further west into dry regions straight cutting has been the norm for longer. I still swath oats as the market is stronger for swathed as opposed to using roundup. I’ve never seen a stripper header here but I know in Alberta on dryer areas the are more common. Much of the cropping has been evolving here for the past 15 years. Canola used to be a break crop with the odd field of beans or maize, niw wheat is my break crop with canola and beans taking the lions share of the acres. the stripper header would work here but the straw would have to be dealt with as a separate operation.