John Deere’s combine-harvester offering is to be bolstered by the addition of a completely new range. 

The T-series has been introduced to fill a gap in the company’s line-up which has developed as the demand for higher output machines has grown. 

Although Deere has large rotary harvesters that can cover vast acreages, these aren’t popular where straw is to be baled.  

T-series models are effectively straw-walker based machines with some additional threshing components. 

“We believe we’ve now got the highest capacity walker combine in the industry,” says JD harvester marketing manager Ed Stephenson. 

“We’ve increased output but managed to ensure the machine is gentle on straw.”

To do this the company has added to the threshing set-up what is described as a ‘Tangential Tine Separator’ – a laterally mounted toothed rotor that combs the straw to extract grain prior to it reaching the straw walkers. 

Now that might not sound all that revolutionary – and it isn’t. Makers like New Holland have had such systems for a number of years but where Deere says it has been clever is how it handles the straw as it is propelled through the machine. 

Rather than using a conventional ‘under-shot’ beater as the crop leaves the main drum and concave, an ‘over-shot’ unit is used.
 
And this is what is said to be key to gentle straw handling. Material follows a meandering S-shaped course through the machine instead of making sudden 90deg turns – hence, the straw doesn’t end up smashed. 

Having passed through the separators, the crop ends up on the straw-walkers. These have just seven steps, compared to the 11 of Deere’s current WTS  machines (now re-badged W-series).    

As yet Deere remains cagey about pricing but confirms that T-series machines will be more expensive than W-series harvesters but cheaper than hybrid C-series harvesters. 

2008 John Deere Combine Line-up
Model	Power rating (maximum hp)	Platforms (ft)	Grain tank capacity (litres)
1450*	205	16 – 20	6000
1550*	250	16 – 20	6000
W540	255	18 – 22	8000
W650	318	18 – 22	9000
T550	290	18 – 20	8000
T560	350	18 – 20	10,000
T660	350	18 – 25	11,000
T670	400	18 – 25	11,000
C670	400	25	10,000
S690	530	30	11,000
*5 & 6 straw-walker machines built in Brazil

How it works
1. Conventional drum and concave (85% of threshing capacity) 2. Overshot beater drops straw into TTS 3. Tangential Tine Separator (TTS) combs straw (10% of threshing capacity) 4. Undershot beater draws straw onto walkers