John Deere claims its new X9 flagship harvester can clear a staggering 100t/hr. During summer 2020 the firm looked to verify the combine’s performance in winter wheat, and we travelled to the east German host farm to witness the mammoth machine in action
If you’ve ever operated a combine, you’ll be well aware of how many factors can influence its performance. Which is why John Deere asked profi to come to an estate near the Baltic Sea on August 8th to document the throughput, grain quality and losses of its new X9 1100 rotary combine as well as a T670i six-walker machine. And when Deere staff said ‘a long day’ they weren’t joking; they meant the full 24 hours, as long as Mother Nature played ball.
The firm had already fettled the combines on the day before the test and cleared the headlands of the wheat fields. The venue’s hilly fields would be classified by many as ranging from big to huge, as they vary in size from just under 20ha to over 150ha. The fields also contained clumps of trees, which had to be manoeuvred around. In total, the X9 would harvest three fields, all of which could be accessed without having to remove the header. The mature crop of wheat yielded between 8.8t/ha and 9.7t/ha. Harvesting started promptly at 9.30am in optimal conditions as there was hardly any dew during the night. The X9 1100 was equipped with a 12.20m Draper HD40X header and was able to romp along at speeds of up to 9.0km/hr through the tough wheat with the chopper engaged.
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