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This is your go-to area for everything related to combine harvesters. We offer tips for keeping old combines running well, how to select a new machine and all the specs and prices for the UK market.

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COMBINES

Eight months with two custom combine crews

Each summer, an army of intrepid youngsters pack their bags, fly to the US and spend the following eight months piloting combine harvesters, grain carts and trucks throughout the Midwestern…

COMBINES

Ultimate guide to buying a combine 2025

Some major updates are included in this year’s combine buyer’s guide, not least New Holland’s all-new CR top-end machines. Existing CR Evolution and CX combines have also gained some improvements…

COMBINES

Plusher cabs and more tech for John Deere combines

Having splashed out on the development of its acre-gobbling twin-rotor X9 combine, John Deere has been making the most of the investment by filtering much of the technology down to…

COMBINES

Cropscan Ag 4000VT sensor analyses grain protein every 3secs

Cropscan Ag has launched a new combine-mounted grain sensor tuned to deliver more frequent analysis of crops. The 4000VT, which is initially available for the latest New Holland and Case…

COMBINES

Half-a-million harvesters – which Claas combine was best?

Hands up who hasn’t driven, or at least sat in, a Claas combine? Not many, surely, given the German company has now produced 500,000 machines, including 100,000 examples of its…

COMBINES

New Holland CR11 combine takes fight to Deere and Claas

While New Holland’s flagship CR10.90 was busy setting a combining world record in a 2014 Lincolnshire wheat crop, its engineers were already working on a machine that could beat it.…

Combine reviews and tests

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COMBINES

Driver's view: SB Farming’s Fendt Ideal 9T

The Ideal 9T is the flagship model of Agco’s new Ideal combine range that’s offered in both Massey Ferguson and Fendt guises. One of the first farming businesses to take…

COMBINES

Driver's view: John Roberts’ Massey Ferguson Activa 7240

We get the lowdown on the Massey Ferguson Activa 7240 combine run by Shropshire farmer John Roberts. Farm facts Napley Farm, Market Drayton, Shropshire Size 135ha Soil Sandy loam Crops…

COMBINES

Driver's view: John Deere CTS 9780i combine

A large output when crops are at their driest was key for Dorset farmer James Reed. After doing his research, the hybrid arrangement of the John Deere CTS was the…

Driver's view: Massey Ferguson Delta

Vital stats Twin-rotor hybrid threshing| 509hp Sisu 7-cylinder engine with AdBlue| 9.2m header| 9,500-litre grain tank| Made in Italy A bit of background How has it performed? Likes & gripes…

COMBINES

Driver's view: Nick Brown’s John Deere S790i combine

The biggest combine in John Deere’s line-up is the S790i, featuring a 617hp, six-cylinder engine, single rotor threshing mechanism and various header options up to 12.2m wide. It replaced a…

Driver's view: New Holland CR9070

Vital stats Twin rotor threshing| 490hp Fiat engine with AdBlue| 9m header| 11,500-litre grain tank| Made in Belgium A bit of background How has it performed? Likes & gripes Farm…

Driver's view: Deutz Fahr 6090

Vital stats Six straw-walkers| 310hp Deutz engine| 7m Biso VX header| 8,500-litre grain tank| Made in Croatia A bit of background How has it performed? Likes & gripes Farm facts…

COMBINES

Video: Claas launches biggest-ever Lexion combine

Claas has just won the most recent hand of combine manufacturer Top Trumps after it launched its most powerful Lexion machines yet. The headline-grabbing flagship 8900 is the biggest in the…

COMBINES

Retrofit yield monitor offers crop data on old combines

Canadian outfit Farm TRX has developed a relatively cheap retrofit yield monitor that is able to generate downloadable crop performance maps via apps that run on a standard smartphone or…

COMBINES

Articulating Tribine combine is king of the US harvest

Just two years ago, an Indiana farmer hand-picked a team of engineers from far and wide to set about his off-the-wall ambitions to build a colossal-capacity, bend-in-the-middle combine. We meet…

COMBINES

Driver’s view: Robert Floyd’s 1989 Laverda 3850 combine

A 1989 Laverda 3850 has been the combine of choice for Worcestershire mixed farmers Robert Floyd and James Kent for the past 13 years. The Italian-built harvester cuts about 80ha…

COMBINES

Driver's view: Massey Ferguson Cerea 7278 combine

Trading in the farm’s 15-year-old combine for one that’s both newer and larger capacity was a must for Fyfield Farm. Until last year a Massey Ferguson 36RS had been responsible for…

Combine buying advice

Combine guides

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MACHINERY

Combine buyers guide 2017

Having the right harvester can prove vital for any arable operation. If you are thinking of updating your combine, our tables break down the UK options so you can directly…

COMBINES

Ultimate guide to buying a combine 2023

New and improved models at the top and bottom end of the performance spectrum characterise the changes in this year’s Ultimate Guide to combines – along with the arrival of…

COMBINES

Updated Claas Tucano gets Montana levelling option

Combine market leader Claas has revamped its range of mid-ranking Tucano machines, aimed at farmers who want near-Lexion power, but struggle to justify the larger price tag.  Catching the eye…

COMBINES

Video: Claas launches biggest-ever Lexion combine

Claas has just won the most recent hand of combine manufacturer Top Trumps after it launched its most powerful Lexion machines yet. The headline-grabbing flagship 8900 is the biggest in the…

COMBINES

Ultimate guide to buying a combine 2020

With this year’s combining season well and truly put to bed, it’s time for some growers to look ahead and consider their combine requirements for harvest 2020. We detail the…

MACHINERY

Top tips to keep your combine running in the wet

August invariably delivers a spell of bad weather, so we’ve put together 20 top tips from the experts on how to ease the flow of damp crops through the combine.…

COMBINES

Ultimate guide to buying a combine 2021

Increased capacity potential with more sophisticated powertrains promising lower running costs are common themes among new combine harvesters listed in this year’s Ultimate Guide for harvest 2021. At Claas, the…

COMBINES

16 nifty retrofit items to fine-tune your combine

The internet is awash with bolt on bits of technology to improve your combine's harvesting performance. We've picked out some handy items used by farmers all over the globe –…

COMBINES

Lancs engineer modifies mint Claas and Deere combine fleet

Few combine harvesters leave a contracting business in better condition than when they arrived, but that’s usually the case for the cosseted examples run by Lancashire outfit A Johnson Agricultural…

COMBINES

Guide to buying a used hill-sider combine

True full body levelling on combines is not just a nice-to-have feature – for some farms it’s essential. And although the additional cost when buying new isn’t as much as…

MACHINERY MAINTENANCE

Latest technology for putting out harvest machinery fires

It’s hard to imagine given the sogginess of the past 12 months, but there’s always a chance we could be in for a tinder-dry harvest, à la 2022. That year,…

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Video: Is a 61ft header the largest in the world?

This video fascinating video filmed in December 2008 shows a Claas Lexion 600 with a 61ft (18.6m) header working in drought hit wheat in New South Wales, Australia. The cutom-built header…

COMBINES

Video: It's coming - Massey's huge 650hp Ideal combine

Claas and New Holland might reign supreme in European harvesting circles, but Agco is hoping to knock them down a peg or two with its highest output and most sophisticated…

COMBINES

Video: John Deere's monster £850,000 X9 combine

US firm John Deere has given its new X9 1100 combine and 12.1m HDX header a whopping £850,328 list price. The combine alone is listed at £725,908 and the HDX…

COMBINES

Video: Claas launches biggest-ever Lexion combine

Claas has just won the most recent hand of combine manufacturer Top Trumps after it launched its most powerful Lexion machines yet. The headline-grabbing flagship 8900 is the biggest in the…

Combine insights and practical advice

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MACHINERY

Combine buyers guide 2017

Having the right harvester can prove vital for any arable operation. If you are thinking of updating your combine, our tables break down the UK options so you can directly…

COMBINES

Agronomist-built combine attachment helps monitor losses

A novel Canadian combine attachment is helping growers calculate the monetary value of thrown-away grains by checking tailings as they fall from the machine. The Bushel Plus system was developed…

COMBINES

Ultimate guide to buying a combine 2023

New and improved models at the top and bottom end of the performance spectrum characterise the changes in this year’s Ultimate Guide to combines – along with the arrival of…

COMBINES

Updated Claas Tucano gets Montana levelling option

Combine market leader Claas has revamped its range of mid-ranking Tucano machines, aimed at farmers who want near-Lexion power, but struggle to justify the larger price tag.  Catching the eye…

Exotic and unusual harvesters: Sugar cane

The earliest sugar cane harvesters date from the 1920s and a single machine could replace up to 100 labourers. In Australia, mechanical harvesters first appeared in the 1950s and were…

COMBINES

Plusher cabs and more tech for John Deere combines

Having splashed out on the development of its acre-gobbling twin-rotor X9 combine, John Deere has been making the most of the investment by filtering much of the technology down to…

COMBINES

Ultimate guide to buying a combine 2020

With this year’s combining season well and truly put to bed, it’s time for some growers to look ahead and consider their combine requirements for harvest 2020. We detail the…

COMBINES

Machinery Milestones: History of the combine harvester

Threshing machines were an international success story for British manufacturers, and the companies involved became global leaders, but the combine harvester market proved a far harder nut to crack. Britain’s…

How Versatile's RT490 combine made it to UK farms

Versatile is a well-known name in the world of articulated prairie monsters and its recently launched four-track crawler has reignited UK interest in the brand. The Canadian maker’s machines have…

MACHINERY

Top tips to keep your combine running in the wet

August invariably delivers a spell of bad weather, so we’ve put together 20 top tips from the experts on how to ease the flow of damp crops through the combine.…

COMBINES

Ultimate guide to buying a combine 2021

Increased capacity potential with more sophisticated powertrains promising lower running costs are common themes among new combine harvesters listed in this year’s Ultimate Guide for harvest 2021. At Claas, the…