Thanks for this report. The negatives are only "cosmetic" stuff, and that will not be a negative for most guys when they buy this new S-series. Will be interesting to see if there will be issues with this new models ? Talk to the dealer here in Humboldt Friday and no problems so far with that S690 we had. AND it impressed everybody here.
I saw on Thursday a Case IH 8120 sitting at the used lot. You do not see that very often here in Humboldt. Sounds like the guys will not be able to get enough new combines next year to sell.

 

Good review Don! How do you think they would compare in wet tough conditions with lots of straw? And any idea what the price difference it would be between them?

 

I found the noise levels in the new S series cab to be quite pleasant. Maybe I'm going deaf or something.....

 

who still uses a steering knob?What is it a 1086 international stupid thing to ***** about.

 

Went from the 400 series (steering knob) to 500 series (No Knob) to 700 series (Knob). You don't realize how handy and how much easier it makes steering it is until you have used it and then lost it. I love the steering knob.

 

CONCLUSION: Don would miss his knob if it were gone.

 

I bought a steering knob through JD parts...cost me I think 10 or 20 bucks....even came with the JD logo on it! Anyway, I'm sure if the knob was a deal breaker they'd throw one in for you....

 

Funny you should say that. I changed to a Deere spinner because the Claas one is right on the outside diameter of the steering wheel, the after markets ones are inset, it steers so easy anyway you don't need the leverage and being inset keeps it away from certain body parts.

Don

 

I run a steering knob on all tractors and combines and it's standard on Claas.
How noisy something is or isn't depends on the last thing you ran.
I also ran with a CX 880 for a couple of weeks, when the straw got tough it gave up nothing on the 9090's which would fall back a bit from the 770.
There will be issues with any new model, hey, it's built by man and used by different men (or ladies), bound to be a few small things.
With the 770 having the least power in this group yet best throughput, that should translate to less fuel use/tonne.

To get back to the noise thing, I suspect the 770 has the quietest cab now and the contrast between it and the S690 was alarming.
Doesn't matter.
Deere will sell thousands of them.

Don

 

alarming contrast...i really must talk to our CEO immediately and ask him to supply ear plugs for next harvest season,or we all turn deaf since we still run 9870s and that cab is even noisier...

 

had 770tt and s690 out here in MN in corn, about 13-15% moisture, 180-200bu/a, both the same header, 770tt defiantly out did it in capacity, 1000+ more bu/hr from what i heard. residue management were about equal as how good they are, personally thought the 770 was better for residue management. about equal grain quality, the 770 was maybe a tiny bit better but both were good, when dry corn its not hard to get good grain quality anyway. cant say much about the loss but can imagine about equal. both good ride. the 770tt tracks were defiantly favored.

 

Reeeeeally...

 

What was the moisture,yield,swath width,which speed could youy go?Except harvest smart,all your dislikes are minor stuff/personal preference.Surprised the 770 didnt run circles around the Deere...

 

The straw was well cured and dry, as was the wheat. Much more useful info follows:
On that day in that field with that crop, the 770 rated at 100, the 690 would be 90 to 95, the 9090 85 to 90.
So close, no runaway winner or dog in the group.

As to noise as a minor thing, you have at her.
Like I said after running the 770, the 690 was unpleasant to run.
This was further aggravated by Cruise Pilot controlling feed rate better than I can and
having to run the 690 manually as HarvestSmart is garbage.

Overall, all in, all things considered, if I rate a 770 at 10 I'd rate both the 690 and 9090 at 8.5

Your results may vary.

Don

 

Don, you going to give us the likes and dislikes of the other 2 machines ?

 

WHAT!
And derail a thread?
The CX880 acts like the conventional it is, loss limited all the time but narrows the gap on both the 9090 and to a lessor extent, the 770, as conditions toughen.
The 880 was an 04, good straw chopper for the time, crap now.
The 9090 cut the straw slightly finer than the 770 and when straw got damp I think it did slightly better job of a perfectly even spread. But in that area, they're very close.
I didn't raise that brake thing Claas has in the chopper, it was good enough without it.
Straw chopper performance was one of my main reasons to move to 700 series and on that, it was money well spent. Turbo Chop BTW.
I'll address capacity on another post.

Don

 

Will be interesting to see what Claas comes up with in the future,since they introduded the 480 they raised the bar step by step and stayed ahead of the competition,and it seems to me that there is still room left in that design.

 

OK look forward to it.

 

Don, the real question is this. Is the 690 or 9090 good enough to trade away from the Lex? Really, that is all that matters from Don's point of view. Telling him that his cons are cosmetic won't change his mind at all.

How does the 770 cab compare to the NH -arguably the best cab since the turn of the century ?

You saw enough of a difference to trade out of Deere/NH and go to Claas, is there any reason to go back (to either one) for your farm?

 

Don, the real question is this. Is the 690 or 9090 good enough to trade away from the Lex? Really, that is all that matters from Don's point of view. Telling him that his cons are cosmetic won't change his mind at all.

How does the 770 cab compare to the NH -arguably the best cab since the turn of the century ?

You saw enough of a difference to trade out of Deere/NH and go to Claas, is there any reason to go back (to either one) for your farm?

No.
No Andy, as an overall package, not enough here to change.

Funny you should ask, had a few NH guys in the cab, one suggested it was AS quiet as his 9070.
One thing Claas seems to suffer from is a rattly feeder chain. He said if it wasn't for that, it might be quieter.
Any Deere guys had trouble with the silence.

Don

 

Thanks Don for the post. Like the simple likes and dislikes way you get the message across. How about unloading augers and folding hopper comparisons. I think as we get older the noise levels become more important. My kids tell me I'm in the older column.

 

Your welcome.
If you mean unloading auger controls, Deere is great there.
Claas is ****ing stupid beyond belief in the way they control the auger swing.
New Holland is good.

As far a hopper extensions go, the 700 series Claas is about 4 times as fast up or down folding as the 500 series was.
Never tried Deere or NH hopper extensions, sorry.

I have never liked anything loud, even more so as I get older.

Don

 

I know you mentioned the auger movement. And about the steering knob. One year my uncle requested I get him one in one of our 8820s. I was like why? Lets just say the sts has one also.

 

Is the unloader still crazy loud on the S series... I know it was on the 60 series I drove, I thought something was broken

 

Sounds like you may have an issue with the auger swing

 

What makes you say that?
Far and away the worst feature on the combine!

Don

 

Only the hp feederhouse is loud. Standard feederhouse runs silent. Just thought I'd throw that in there, not sure why the difference.

 

Only the hp feederhouse is loud. Standard feederhouse runs silent. Just thought I'd throw that in there, not sure why the difference.

Thanks, didn't know that MB, wonder why?
My neighbor put plastic feeder chain slats on, two were standard one was a HP, but I didn't ride in any of them. These are the ones that are entirely plastic, no spring steel brace bar.

Oh, another thing about Cruise Pilot, standard feeder speed, and Claas doesn't measure the PTO speed, is 420, variable speed is 280 to 450.
I ran the pickup header at the bottom of the scale and set the 10 to 150 scale on Cruise Pilot material depth higher, which helped make the feeder chain quieter and in tough or waddy swathes and also feeds the cylinder much smoother.
As a side benefit, not thought of until you see it, is far less material was thrown on top the feeder house by the slow running table auger.
Your somewhat limited on what you can do with a straight cut header, although with MacDon hydraulic knife speed is adjustable, but the drapers and cross draper would be slow. I ran 380 feeder speed with the MacDon.

Did you run MacDon this year MB? The AHHC on the 700 series/MacDon worked perfect with the new electronics and setting system, hope it worked that good for all.

Don

 

how come i cant write D&mn and yet can write ****ing?

 

So can you.

Don

 

Yes I did Don. And yes it worked great in flex mode. That is until I hit an anchor for what must must have been a guy wire from an old telegraph line running along the rail road tracks. Wrote the header off!!

 

Yes I did Don. And yes it worked great in flex mode. That is until I hit an anchor for what must must have been a guy wire from an old telegraph line running along the rail road tracks. Wrote the header off!!

Ouch!!

 

If you mean unloading auger controls, Deere is great there.
Claas is ****ing stupid beyond belief in the way they control the auger swing.
New Holland is good.

Don I have allways enjolyed reading your post I have allways believed your post are the least biased post as humanly possibele as can be. I however wish you would keep beating around the bush and once and all tell us how you really fell about the class controls and turning radies.
Cant you just switch wires around for the controles?

 

Don I have allways enjolyed reading your post I have allways believed your post are the least biased post as humanly possibele as can be. I however wish you would keep beating around the bush and once and all tell us how you really fell about the class controls and turning radies.
Cant you just switch wires around for the controles?

Thank you.
If can't tell the truth here then your into a sorting the wheat from the chaff job, pardon the expression.

Actually I've got good news for you on turning radius. Sorta.
I removed the steering stop bolts completely from the axle, and slightly relocated the two rear lights, with full hydraulic cylinder travel, turning radius for tracks is about as good and as much wheel cut as should be used.
BUT!!!
This is with 620/75R26 Michelin's, smaller than 28L/26's, and the right tire slightly rubs the return elevator cover on full right turns.
So, don't try this at home!
This however made the handling pretty nice one, of my riders said I thought these Lexion were supposed to turn poor, had to explain Don's mods.
No way to change switches around, the way it's setup, your screwed.

Don

 

Don, just thinking about your steering mod. and wondering if when the rear axle pivots when on uneven ground do you still maintain enough clearance.

 

Actually backed it into a ditch to check that, the left tire would slightly rub the toolbox door full left turn, left wheel as high as it can oscillate. The right tire rubs the return cover the hardest on level ground.

Don

 

Of course, one could just buy an S690 as the controls already work properly.

Don

 

What if you take the hydro handle appart and change the wires on the switch?

 

It's all circuit board and Can bus electronics.

Don

 

In that case it probably goes through a processor before the valve, I wonder if claas could whip you up a magic software update that would allow you to change it? I'm sure they won't, but it might be possible.

 

If thats the case, they probably could do it pretty easy. The hard part and quite possibly the most difficult, and probably the most expensive part would be making a new sticker for the controller.