Modern combine pics.

[RAB__AR]

Hello all. I just thought I'd share some pics I took on our farm. I recently traded combines and managed to get the delivery and swap on film. I traded my 9 year old Case IH 2388 on a slightly used John Deere 9760. I know this doesn't really fit with the predominately hay/smaller tractor topics on the board but I thought you guys might be interested to see the combines we use for large scale grain farming. I grow rice, corn, wheat, soybeans and cotton in Arkansas.

Russell

The "new" combine arriving.

Swapping them in the shed.

The old one leaving.

The 9760 safely out of the weather. My shop area is 40' long but the front of the feeder house is only 4' from the back door while the end of the unloading auger is slightly over 1' from the front.

 

[redlevel]

Wow.

Those are a little bit bigger than the K Gleaner I used to own.
How many acres/bushels a day with one of those? Do you do custom work too, or just your own crops?

Thanks for posting the pictures.

 

[RobS]

Yeah, a tiny bit bigger than my little JD! Thanks for the pics though, I'm always fascinated by the big stuff. If you get really bored, how about a photo essay on how that monster works? I'll bet a few of us would be interested in that.

 

[scott_vt]

Mornin RAB,
Wow those are huge !

I will be willin to bet that the truck operator measured the height of that combo before traveling any distance ! I know I would !

Thanks for the great pics, and as Rob stated, a tutorial on operation would be great !

 

[RAB__AR]

These big machines essentially operate the same as the smaller ones. Take the crop off with the header, thrash it with the rotor/cylinder, and seperate the grain from the chaff with the seives. This combine has a max of 370 horsepower and holds 300 bu in the grain tank. I'm going to be running a 30' bean header, 25' corn head and 24' Shelbourne stripper head for rice.

The acres/bu per day will vary with the crop we're cutting and the ground conditions. In good conditions in soybeans its possible to get over 200 acres/day but you can't average that normally. In rice 80 acres would be a good day but 100 would be excellent.

I also have a CIH 2188 combine that I'm keeping around as a helper in the rice, the Deere will get the rest of the crop. This year I'll have 300 acres of wheat, 750 corn, 2000 rice, 850 soybeans, and 1800 cotton which I pick with a 9986 Deere picker (pic below). I don't hire out very often but will custom cut 200 acres of rice for a good neighbor who's nearing retirement and doesn't want to invest in another combine.

 

[jimg]

Rab
A question about your rice. Do you grow in flooded fields which are drained prior to harvest? I really dont know much about it.

 

[RAB__AR]

You're exactly right. We plant the fields in April when they're dry. After the rice gets about 6-8" tall we apply a flood. Shortly before harvest the water is drained and hopefully the fields will dry before we have to get into them. If we get an untimely rain or miscalculate the draining date we'll cut in the mud. Thats the reason for the big R2 rubber on most of our equipment.

 

[Fredex]

Hi Russell: I'm one who grew up in the "small farm" post WWII era, then moved to the city for 40 years. Since I moved back rural I have been told a story that, because of my unfamiliarity with modern, large machinery, I can't be sure if it is truth or "farm fable" - similar to urban legend. Goes like this: Regional farmer has a big JD combine with a 12 row corn head (narrow rows). Stated that he runs with a truck driving alongside with the unload augur dumping into the truck but eventually has to stop because the sheller is filling the hopper faster than the augur can unload it. Is that plausible?? I suspect the story because my neighbor has a machine with a 200 bu hopper which he unloads in something like 3 minutes. BTW I got the story second, third hand so who knows.

Possible or fable??
Fred

 

[Egon]

Thanks for the pictures Russell. Nice machines. Any more "Farming pictures" to share.

Could you elaborate on why the trade in and choice of combines?

Thanks

 

[jimg]

Rab,
Thanx. So you wind up flooding 2000acs! Wow, thats a huge area. To what depth is it flooded and where do you find that much fresh water to keep it underwater for so long? How do you move that much water in/out of your fields and how long does it take? Also how do you plant it, w/ 'spriggs' or seeds?