While this year’s grain harvest continues, combine manufacturers are already making plans for next year. New Holland’s line up for 2007 will include a new two-model range dubbed the CSX range.

Considered by New Holland to be a logical replacement for the phased out TX combine harvester range, the new CSX line-up will be available for the 2007 season and is aimed at the 400ha (1000 acre) cereal grower.

The five straw-walker CSX 7060 and the six walker CSX 7080 have a power rating of 272hp and 300hp respectively. An engine management system increases power by about 9% to 303hp and 333hp should engine speed drop from 2100 to 2000 when the machines are under load.

The primary separation area utilises the manufacturer’s four drum system with its adjustable concaves but new for the CSX is an extra beater which, positioned at the end of the drum sequence, rotates against the flow to prevent straw being thrown beyond the start of the straw walkers.

Innovation is also to be found in the sieve department where a system is in place to allow the combine to work on slopes of up to 25% without the loading on the pre- and upper sieves becoming uneven.

Smart Sieve, as it is called, does not use a self-levelling system but changes the direction of the fore and aft sieving motion from directly in line with the combine when on the level, to an angled left or right movement when on sloping ground. The system is controlled by a tilt sensing monitor and has also been designed to adjust its action when the fan speed is changed.

Conscious that a high capacity combine needs to be able to cut and load sufficient crop on board to be fully employed, New Holland is keen to point out that the CSX can also be specified with the Varifeed header. An ability to move the knife up to 50cm forward of the auger is designed to speed the entry of the crop into the machine – long stemmed crops clearly benefit from the extra distance between knife and auger.

A New Holland-built – rather than out-sourced – straw chopper provides the choice of spreading chaff and chopping the straw or mixing the chaff and straw before it is chopped. Similarly, straw can be baled with or without the chaff being included in the swath.

Up in the cab, the operator has a new console to get to grips with – the IntelliView11 colour monitor which records and displays engine and combine performance in some detail. Matters such as grain loss, shaft speeds, concave gaps are just for starters. This unit includes tonnes harvested, yield and a myriad of other details.

The CSX 7060 has a grain tank capacity of 7000 litres and the CSX7080, 9000 litres. Headers of up to 20ft and 24ft (6.1m and 7.32m) are available.