The first examples of John Deere’s five-walker T5 combines rocked up on farms this harvest, offering more output and greater levels of refinement that the T500 machines they replaced.

Most noticeable of the upgrades is a larger cab that’s filtered down from the firm’s twin-rotor X9.

Operator perks are plentiful, with easier-to-use displays, a Command Pro joystick and the option of a dedicated screen for radio and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto.

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

Ed Layton’s John Deere T5 600 Hillmaster spec

John Deere T5 600 © James Andrews

• Year 2025
• Engine Six-cylinder, 9-litre John Deere
• Max power 387hp
• Threshing system Five walker with 1,400mm channel width
• Header 7.6m (25ft)
• Grain tank capacity 11,500 litres
• Price paid £400,000, including a 7.6m header and four-year warranty

In addition, grain tanks have swelled and there’s an automated system that alters both fan speed and sieve opening according to the terrain.

Grain tank capacity is 11,500 litres © James Andrews

Second largest of the five-walker line-up is the T5 600, an example of which made its way to Herefordshire grower Ed Layton, of WS Layton & Son in Leominster, this season.

Kitted out with Deere’s Hillmaster levelling system, it’s tasked with cutting 400ha of cereals on the farm’s undulating terrain, most of which is grown as seed for Wynnstay.

On top of this, it has to saw its way through another 300ha of contracting work.

Ed Layton © James Andrews

Why a T5 600 Hillmaster?

We started running John Deere combines in the 1990s, having switched from Laverda, and have generally got on well with them.

There’s the odd one we haven’t liked, such as a six-walker 1188 that was plagued with niggly problems.

The main downside was that it was just too wide for the lanes in this area, which made it a pain to move between fields.

Hybrids and rotaries have never been an option as we need good-quality straw for our livestock, and the farms we sell to, so we’ve stuck with five walkers ever since.

In the past, a second combine has had to be hired to cover the workload, but we hope the extra capacity of the T5 will allow us to manage without. If it can, we’ve immediately saved £20,000/year.

To help it get over the ground a bit faster, we’ve nudged up from a 6.7m (22ft) to 7.6m (25ft) header. The levelling system is so good that this is no more difficult to manage, even on steep ground.

Most losses occur over the five straw walkers © James Andrews

As the straw chopper is rarely put into gear, we didn’t feel the need for the top-of-the-range 421hp T5 700.

The T5 600 was cheaper and has the same 9-litre, six-cylinder engine tuned to 387hp, which has proved ample so far.

Another reason for us sticking with John Deere is that we’ve always got on well with Tallis Amos Group (TAG) and its Leominster depot is right on our doorstep.

Chris Bufton deserves a specific mention as he’s gone out of his way to get the computer systems set up correctly and even goes to the trouble of printing off job records and yield data for me.

What extras has it got?

There’s some fairly hilly ground around here, particularly on the farm we do contracting work for, so it’s fitted with the Hillmaster system.

This comes into its own on steeper fields, but it’s surprising how active it is on those that appear reasonably level.

There’s a tilt indicator on one of the cab screens and it’s constantly making small adjustments that you don’t notice as the driver.

The version on this combine is controlled by GPS rather than a pendulum, which makes it much smoother – there’s none of the bobbling around that you’d sometimes get with the T560i we had before.

Because this was one of the first T5s to be sold in the area, we were given a good deal on extra cab kit.

I thought some of them were gimmicks to begin with but I wouldn’t want to give any back now that I’ve got used to them.

The electric door closer is a particular highlight as it puts an end to having to slam it shut.

On the old combine you really had to put your back into the task, so much so that the pressure could make your ears pop.

Having a seat with cooling and massaging functions is another bonus.

The former is so good I think it should be on all seats and the latter is great for getting your circulation going after a long day of sitting down.

Stand-out T5 improvement is a larger cab © James Andrews

How has it performed?

It’s a different animal to the T560i and can manage spot rates of just over 40t/ha, which is about what John Deere claims it can do.

The new system for adjusting the fan and sieves definitely helps with this as it prevents losses going up on slopes so we don’t have to slow down as much.

That said, like all John Deere combines we’ve had, you can get grain going over the walkers when really pushing it on.

Another big improvement is the software on the new screens.

The older versions on the T560i had pages and pages of menus that could be tricky to navigate, but these ones are a piece of cake.

I’m not that good with technology and I can easily find my way around.

Less enjoyable are the teething problems, which seem to be a regular occurrence on new machinery these days.

TAG has had to come out a couple of times when the tank opening system jammed and a fan belt snapped that caused it to overheat.

That said, they’ve always been quick to send a mechanic and we haven’t been stopped for long.

What could be improved?

John Deere has been making these combines for a long time now and each version tends to be a bit better than the one before. This latest model is no exception.

But having spent a lot of money on a new machine, it would be nice if it went without fault for at least the first couple of seasons. And it would help with output if there were fewer walker losses.

One minor inconvenience on this combine is the new integrated rear ladder which replaces the clip-on aluminium one.

It might look smarter, but you can’t take it off and use it to check around the rest of the belts, pulleys and chains.

Would you have another?

As a general rule, we buy our combines with a four-year warranty and trade them in on the fifth.

That means we’re protected against any major breakdowns and shouldn’t have too much downtime. It isn’t that big a machine for the amount we’ve got to cut, so it needs to keep going.

When this one’s time is up, it’s unlikely that there will be any major changes to the range, so we’ll probably end up with exactly the same model.

© James Andrews