Combine class size

[Klause]

A Claas 470r is easily the same as a class 8 rotary.


Ours did 1472 acres in 103 threshing hours... That's peas, barley, lentils, wheat and canola.

Doesn't help how many acres/hr you can do when you don't get the hours to run.


Longest stretch of harvest was 4 days in peas.... Other than that, 1, 2, maybe 3 days before more rain.

[Tucker]

Yes. I bought my first dryer and dried grain from one hopper bin straight into a grain truck. Two batches and go dump it. Far better setup now that I can dry grain all night and have 5000 bu room for the next day. Worth every penny invested.

[highwayman]

Running 3 green class 8 machines on 11000 acres. Have been harvesting since august 15 and have 520 acres of standing durum to go. All grain harvested to date was taken off dry but remainder won't be. Grain cart has been without a doubt the most important piece of machinery in the field as it has allowed combines to run non stop efficiency when weather permitted. Looking back, perhaps could have pushed the hours a little harder on a few occasions to have finished but employees and family needed much deserved rest. Confident that we will get an opportunity to wrap it up. Sincerely hope every one else does as well. Good luck, keep your chin up and your stick on the ice!!

[Tucker]

Amen highwayman about not pushing family and hired help too hard. Wife runs one 9600. I'd be sleeping on the couch still if we went as late as I wanted to...

[HappyFarmer]

I have been told numerous times that you need a class 8 combine for every 3500 acres with a grain cart with aeration for 1/2 your crop or a drier.

Seems reasonable to me.

[farmaholic]

Does anyone take into account the possibility of minor and major breakdowns.

I think if you operate with your capacity on the upper edge...yikes

Better to be over equipped than under equipped. ....at least that's what she says!

[tweety]

Acres seem almost irrelevant. What you should be talking is bushels per hour.

[highwayman]

Breakdowns will happen no matter what the color stripe you choose to run, that a given. It's just part of the equation. Having a good relationship with your dealer goes a long way to mitigate the risk. In the past when the need arose we have been fortunate and grateful to have dealers with outstanding support as well as providing replacement equipment in waiting to help one through those challenging times with very minimal downtime. Machinery plays a vital role in harvesting capacity requirements however qualified human resources plays even a larger one. The latter definitely being the biggest hurdle. I'm positive Mother Nature will reset the rules to this farming game all over again next year.

[farmaholic]

It's all irrelevant under the current conditions. ....capacity, whether bushels per hour or acres per hour, is greatly diminished now.

Even a thin crop can make capacity appear big in acres per hour but not bushels per hour...you can only drive em so fast and picking up swaths or straight cut feeding suffers.

Wet lumpy swaths don't go through easy or downed crops with wet ground don't cut well....then the grand-daddy of capacity killers....the plugged solid-won't budge-belt burning-horror story.

[furrowtickler]

We ran 4000 AC per yr with a class 6 , then class 7 for years. Had to push things a bit at times but only needed help 2 times out of 12. Each area is different and every year is different. 15 miles north or south and you would be lucky to get 2000-2500 AC out of any combine .
We now run 5800 with two class 7's , and tweety is right , it's more about bus/hr now. We run a lot more BPH now than 10 years ago .
At $500,000 per average machine now , they "should " do a lot more APH but in general crops are or have been bigger if you can get them off. So maybe it's all relative in the big scope of things , but these big machines need to and should do a lot more acres per hr than they do regardless of crop. They cost 2-3 Times more and we as farmers are not making 2-3 times more .
End of the day , Mother Nature runs the show regardless.
This whole area here has enjoyed years of almost endless harvest days - that changed in a hurry this year, as did most areas in western Canada .
There are a few bigger acre guys done here , and that's impressive considering the fall. There are also big, medium and small guys not even close depending on location . It's been a strange harvest season to say the least .
Everything here still soaked and cold with a slight glimmer of hope in the forecast but very very slim at best. Good luck to all regardless of your situation .
There is still complete heavy snow cover south and north of here.