I need advice on choosing the right combine for corn/beans/barley/wheat. I will have 1000 total acres. If you would have $80000 to spend what would you get? I want one thats reliable with minumal downtime time during harvest.
I would look for a good 9610. It will easily do those acres and you will still have plenty of room for expansion. It is a lot more machine than a 9510 and not much price difference usually.
Check the classifieds in the High Plains Journal. There are several 9500, 9510, 9600, 9610s in reasonable shape (at least they read that way, need to check them out) with hours ranging from 1700 to 3500 and priced from 45,000 to $80,000. I don't know where you are at, probably up north somewhere if you are growing barley, but you can get a good feel for prices.
9610 or 9600 seems to be the way to go. My question is when looking at combine what do you first look for as far as wear and if it is still in good shape? 2200 sep hours or lower with contour master and yield montior is what i'll look for. I know a 9650 would cost more than 80k but would the rotor machine be worth the extra coin for what I need?
No. A 96x0 walker is plenty of capacity for 1,000 acres without the headaches of a rotor.
And, hours is not as important as upkeep. Look at and check all wear points, sheetmetal, augars, chains, belts, bearings, hydros and pumps. You could find a 1600 hour machine that needs $15,000 of work and you could find a 2,600 hour machine that is ready to go for a season with just a greasing. Use common sense when looking at machines and asking about upkeep and maintenance schedules. At the hours you are looking at the owner should be taking it through a JD shop, or his own if he has the ability and equipment, every year.
Well I do not have a combine yet ,so far have had a custom operater come in. Anyway I am kicking around the idea of getting one and maybe do some custom work as well. Here in PA we have a lot of small farms and most farmers do not have a combine.
i agree with kscombiner find yourself a good 9610 with about 2500-3000 eng hrs or less and it will last you a long time with proper care. i just bought a 9610 with 3100 eng hrs 2100-2200 sep hrs only paid $69K the only bad thing is it don't have contour master. i had a 9600 and usually run about 1200-1500ac/yr through it. you should be very happy with it!
Stay with a large walker, and also stay away from the 50 series, just too much new electronic gadgets to give trouble. The combine you are getting advice to buy on this thread is the way to go. You will get your 1000 acres cut in a timely manner and have plenty of time in most years to do a 1000 acres of custom work, if you want to.
Don't misunderstand my comments about rotaries, as they have their place, and 99.9% of the US new combine market. However, for the acreage you are cutting, the variety of crops and probably conditions, the walker would be my choice.
One of your conditions for a machine is for it to be reliable through the harvest season. In my experience the Maximizer combines are extremely reliable if they are maintained and start out the harvest season in good shape. We put over 2,000 acres on a 9410 last year, starting with wheat harvest in June and finishing beans and milo in December, and the machine never had a failure. We had tire trouble, but was not the iron's fault. We run it though the dealer this winter and spent $10,000 on it. It has 2,500 separator hours. Last year we spent $6,000. Still cheaper and less headaches operating wise, than a used STS. You will be spending money on maintenance and repair every year, but it will be reliable. Just do it before harvest starts.
For the budget you quoted, $80,000 or even less, you will be able to buy a machine that will serve you well. Don't be afraid to buy one from the midwest. A lot of corn and grain machines back there. The freight is insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
Thanks for all your posts. I have a better feel for what combine I need now but what about heads I am thinking about a 20' or 18' flex and a 6 row corn head ,any thing you want to share on what to get as far as the heads.
A 96*0 needs at least an 8row and 25' in my opinion and can handle a 12row and 30'
6row is possible, but is way too small. 18' and 20' are also possible but wayyyyyy wayyy too small.
The bigger the better; less going up and down the field. You can drive slower, but get as much done. Only down side is the bigger they are the harder they are to get from field to field.
If, for whatever reasons, you want to limit to a 20' head, then go with a 95x0. Still ample combine for your 1000 acres and whatever custom work you can do.
tractor8100, what are your reasons for so quickly dismissing a rotary with the crops he listed? As far as value, I purchased a 2388 with 4wd and 1160 sep hrs for less then 80k, which I think would also be great machine for what he is wanting. If he has a great Deere dealer that he wants to work with I respect that, and agree that the Maximizers are great combines, but if he is open to shopping around I feel like the Axial Flows will do just as good of job with fewer moving parts.
Well flat fields are not the normal around here thats why I was thinking 20' head, but I dodn't know, thats why I'm on here. Most guys around here run 20' heads some 30' also if I go bigger I'll have to take head off to go from field to field and have a header cart in tow. I can do that but that might be to much, this is PA ,it is differant from the midwest, a lot more traffic. If it takes a bigger head to justify having a 96*0 then I'll go with a 95*0 and still have 20' and 6row or 8 row. I see these machines run bigger heads than what I thought.
I mostly dismissed the rotary for 700kenny because of size of operation. I really feel a 96x0 is too much for him, expecially if he wants to stay at 20' and 6 rows. A 2388 would even be more machine. And for me, if a 96x0 size combine is adequate to get crops off timely, then I would stay with a walker, just more versatile over the wide range of conditions than a rotary.
If he were asking about rotaries, I would recommend an axial flow for the $80,000 and under price range. You got a great deal on yours. I noticed in HPJ 21-2388s are basically runnning neck and neck for prices with the 9600 for same year and hours etc. I see the early 50 series STSs are in the $80,000 plus range (saw one for $75,000), and I would not recommend those, if equal quality (year, hours, condition) axial flows are available. The JD rotary that would be ideal for 700's size operation is a 9560 STS, but the lowest price I saw for those on Tractorhouse was $98,000.
I am looking, also, but the price benefit over our current 9410 just does not justify getting a bigger machine, yet.
Penylvania.....Well, If I was you, I would have an 8820 or 7720.
. But you seem to want sometihing newer. In that case, a 9500 would be a good combine for you. You could get one cheap and then put the extra money into a grain cart, truck, etc.
~TREY~
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