Know How / Combines

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.

Latest combine articles

COMBINES

New Holland unleashes biggest-ever combine – the CR11

New Holland has pulled the wraps off its highest capacity combine harvester yet, which it hopes will leave the competition choking behind its chaff spreader. Dubbed CR11, the machine has…

COMBINES

New Holland introduces its highest capacity combine yet

The battle to build the highest output combine harvester is hotting up, with New Holland set to launch its biggest machine yet. Details are still thin on the ground, but…

COMBINES

Ultimate Guide to buying a combine 2024

There are few machine and model updates for this year’s Ultimate Guide to combine harvesters – but there are some subtle changes to the tables themselves to make some of…

COMBINES

Driver’s view: Claas Trion 750 rated after two seasons' work

The launch of the Trion combines two years ago represented one of the biggest-ever shake-ups of the Claas range. Slotting between the high-output Lexions and late-of-this-parish Tucanos, they promised something…

COMBINES

Brace of John Deere X9 combines gobble 170t of wheat an hour

In its quest to build the highest-output combine harvester on the market, John Deere came up with a machine that was also the most expensive. Commanding a heady starting list…

Combine reviews and tests

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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: 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

Driver's view: Clive Wreathall’s New Holland CR10.90 combine

The CR10.90 is still the biggest combine New Holland produces, but this machine has since been replaced by the Revelation model. Despite being located in an area that is a…

COMBINES

Brace of John Deere X9 combines gobble 170t of wheat an hour

In its quest to build the highest-output combine harvester on the market, John Deere came up with a machine that was also the most expensive. Commanding a heady starting list…

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…

MACHINERY

Combine users give their verdicts two years on

Two years ago we picked seven different makes of two-year-old combine and got a warts-and-all report from their owners and drivers. We’ve repeated the exercise again this year to see…

Driver's view: Claas Tucano 440

A bit of background How has it performed? Vital stats Farm facts Until 2000, MF red had been the colour-scheme of choice at the Cousins’ family farm in Essex. But…

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…

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

On test: Combine reversing cameras – which is best?

Clobbering the back of your combine harvester against an oak tree or backing over the boss’s pickup is no fun whatsoever. So the addition of a rear-view camera to keep…

Driver's view: Claas Cemos Automatic

  The Claas Cemos Automatic combine setting controller is due to be available next season. Andy Collings spoke to a grower who has trialled one this year. John Hawthorne Original…

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…

Combine guides

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MACHINERY

2019 Ultimate guide to buying a combine

Increased automation to help both experienced and inexperienced combine operators is the highlight of upgrades to the latest crop of machines destined for harvest 2019. New sensor technology can now…

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 –…

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

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 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…

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 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…

Combine buyers guide 2014

Tweaks and upgrades rather than major new model introductions characterise combine developments for the 2014 harvest. Click on each manufacturer to see their specifications. Case IH Claas Deutz Fahr John…

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

On test: Combine reversing cameras – which is best?

Clobbering the back of your combine harvester against an oak tree or backing over the boss’s pickup is no fun whatsoever. So the addition of a rear-view camera to keep…

MACHINERY

Compare tractors and combines with our buyers guides

Farmers and contractors looking to take several options into consideration when choosing a new tractor will find the new specification and price guide published on FWi this week a useful…

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…

Video

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MACHINERY

Monster John Deere combine in action

[fwi_vidyard code="dyrxMsd6xM87NQU70t8Yxw"] Boasting the largest grain tank on the market, the most powerful engine and new rubber track units, John Deere’s monster S690i rotary combine is out to impress. The…

Biso launches 12m header Ultralight 800

Austrian header company Biso demonstrated its latest 12m (40ft) header in Warwickshire last week. Made mostly of aluminium, the Ultralight 800 weighs in at just under 4t, a full 2t…

Harvest 09: First of your harvest videos arrives

As part of Farmers Weekly's Harvest Highlights coverage we are asking readers to send us links to any videos of the 2009 harvest campaign. The first to arrive is from Agricultural…

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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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…

MACHINERY

2019 Ultimate guide to buying a combine

Increased automation to help both experienced and inexperienced combine operators is the highlight of upgrades to the latest crop of machines destined for harvest 2019. New sensor technology can now…

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

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 –…

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 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…

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 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…

MACHINERY

Tips for buying a quality used combine on a £40,000 budget

Banging on about shiny new Lexions and the latest high-capacity New Hollands is all well and good, but there is still plenty of demand out there for smaller five-walker combines…

COMBINES

Retrofit combine yield monitor provides low-cost crop data

From decision-making on crop dryer settings to variety choices for the next cropping year, there is value to be had in being able to quickly access and make use of…

COMBINES

Retrofit fire suppresion kit could save combines

Isolated in an air-conditioned capsule at the front of the machine, combine operators are usually completely unaware when there’s an inferno slowly building behind them. By the time they do…

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…