[cotton2grain]

I'm sorry to keep beating you guys over the head with what I'm sure some of you think are silly questions. As my handle states I'm new to the whole combine scene. If any of you ever want to start growing cotton maybe I can help.
Anyway, we have been looking at several combines (9600-9610 9650). We have found several nice 9500-9510's, but everyone says they are just lacking in the horsepower department. We will be harvesting about 1300 ac. of grain (corn and soybeans). Will these be "hoss" enough to handle that amount of acres in a timely manner? Or should we be looking for something bigger?

 

[deck05]

A 9500 or 9510 would be big enough to handle those type of acres. I will say our first JD combine was a 9500 and then went to a 9600 a few years later and I thought there was alot of difference in the two combines. When running at night and in tougher conditions and the 9500 would have to shut down, the 9600 was able to keep going with the extra HP and capacity.

 

[johndeereinsask]

We take off close to 2500 acres of Wheat, Barley, Canola, Flax, and Oats with our 9500 and we do fine. Im sure it will be big enough. I would go with a 9600 tho if i had the option. The bigger the better.

 

[Bundy Bear]

I think you will be ok as well. Out of interest are you switching to 30 inch rows or staying wide?

 

[pj9510]

it wont be long and you will have considered every model JD offers.......the 9500-10 will eat these kind of areas, we often did 4500 to 5000ac with ours when we ran one, nice machines, they all have their limits but are a very versatile machine suitable to a wide range of crops and conditons

 

[cotton2grain]

bundybear, we are staying at 38 in. for now. Everything we have is set up that way. Iguess when or if we throw cotton completely under the bus we may switch width. Pj9510 just a few more and I think we will have at least looked at every combine JD has had. I think a neighbor down the road has a 95r in the shed. May have to go visiting..... I guess it is best to have weighed all our options first than to buy something we will not be satisfied with. I apologize for the constant petty questions but you won't know until you ask.

 

[robmgrig]

I farm around 1400 acres with a couple hundred acres of custom harvesting also. We have 300-400 acres of cotoon with the rest grain. We get all the grain off with a case ih 1660 which is comparable in size to a 9500. You can do it all with a 9500 but may be pressed for time some falls when you have to stop to harvest cotton. As I'm sure you know cotton harvest is a little slower than grain harvest, especially if you have a 4 row picker like me. But do you have a 6 row or plan on running a separate crew for cotton harvest. Also adding a grain buggy will at least be like adding more capacity to any machine. Also consider how grain is being carried from the field. A bigger combine is useless if it is sitting still cause you can't keep the grain hauled away. It is useful to get a grain cart that is bi enough to almost fill a truck and then top it off with the combine. I have a j&m 875 and have been very happy with it

 

[cotton2grain]

Thanks for the info, rob. We plan on getting a grain cart also when we find a combine that isn't junk. As far as the cotton, we are hoping to be able to pick it between the time our corn is harvested and before our soybeans get ready. I think we can pick all of our cotton in 4 days if we push the 9996 hard enough. If push comes to shove we can always put dad to cutting beans while we finish our cotton. Like you stated a grain cart is a must. A combine without a cart is like running a cotton picker without a boll buggy.

 

[robmgrig]

I bet you can cover some ground with a 9996. About 40 acres a day is all I can cover with a 9965. I don't know where you are located at but here in west TN, late grp IV beans always seen to get ready the same time as cotton, maybe a week earlier if I'm lucky. But spraying a fungicide seems to push them back a week. That's why I plant half of my full season beans in grp III and the come off right before corn and usually yield close to the same as grp IV if you plant them early enough

 

[deereman]

I would think that size machine would be perfect for your operation

 

[tractor8100]

If you are finding some nice 95x0 corn and soybean machines up in the midwest corn belt, you will be ok. There should not be any down in rice country. HP is not an issue, and you should be finding the ones with the higher hp option, 235 or 240. You did not say, but "everyone" who was telling you they were underpowered, were they all rice farmers? A 95x0 should run neck and neck with a 96x0 in all conditions if the headers are properly sized.

 

[tractor8100]

My point which you confirmed, is there are no 95x0 models in rice country or used for rice, at least very rarely. You will find the 95x0s in corn areas. And the reason they were not used for rice alot, was power.

I will have to defer to a tech or someone else to help confirm the higher hp models. They all used the same engine, but they came in two power options, 215 and 235 for 9500, and 220and 240 for 9510s. If they are corn machines, they probably have the higher hp for unloading on the go and the extra hp corn uses over the wheat or small grain models. A dealer or service dept should be able to run the serial number and build specs for you and tell you the hp, or they could probably plug into the computer and find out.

 

[tractor8100]

To follow up on the rice issue, JD built the CTS for the rice market, which was a twin rotor hybrid instead of walkers, built on the 9500 frame with a 9600 hp engine.

 

[cotton2grain]

Yeah, was told at the local Deere store that alot of the unsold 9500's were taken back to Deere, hulled out and made into cts combines. Sorry 8100, to skirt the issue on the 9500 in rice. I have lived in rice country here around Jonesboro all my life and have seen very few 9500's in rice. As far as finding a slick 95=9600 around here, it would be like finding a needle in a stack of needles(not a misprint).

 

[riceman]

Not a lot of 9500's ever sold down here. I think you're going to have a hard time finding one. Roads lead all over the US too so get out of rice country and find a nice 96 or 97 model 9600. Hang a 30 foot flex on it and haul butt! A little extra shipping up front is worth a lot to get a nicer machine than you are going to find locally.

I assume you are dealing at Greenway?

 

[cotton2grain]

Well, riceman, we asked Greenway if they could find us a nice 9600-9610-9650-9510,heard nothing, that has been 3 weeks ago. They could really give less than a crap if they sell you anything, especially used, if you are not farming 5-6000 acres and doing multi-unit deals every year. Anyway, they aren't the only one that sells used combines. We'll continue our search elsewhere.

 

[riceman]

I don't deal with Greenway either except for parts on our air seeder and our old 7520 tractor. I drive past you and on to Hoxie for combines and tractors. Call Looney Implement in Hughes. They are still independant in the sea of Greenway and usually have quite a few 9600-9610's on the lot.

Yep, Greenway likes those customers who deal in multiple units each year. That definetly ain't us either. You might try Norman Implement in Searcy or Damascus. A good friend that was our local JD salesman went to work for Norman Imp. when Greenway bought our local store.

 

[cotton2grain]

We just missed a really nice 9610 at Hughes last week. They also had a 9600 but it was a little rough. We made the round trip back by Hobbs at Colt. They had a 9650 for 89000. Ther was something fishy about that combine though. It had a lot of broke places on it and for some odd reason every bearing on the right hand side had been replaced, most of then required some form of welding when they were fixed.

 

[rickylh3]

I am just across the river from you in West TN. I run a '92 model 9500 that my grandfather bought new. It has plenty of power for our crop conditions, 40-50 bu. beans and 150 bu corn, but lugs sometimes while climbing hills. That should not be a problem for you. You might try looking at Castleman Equipment west of Dyersburg. They post their inventory on tractorhouse.com. They usually have a good inventory of nice combines.

 

[cotton2grain]

I think since it has rained we are going to head over that way. They have got some really nice looking combines and the prices aren't too bad either.