[Captain Crisp]

Looking to purchase another combine have run caseih headers for 20 years. Like the product love the dealership network basicly pretty happy. Cereals chickpea canola milo sunflower soybean are the main crops I harvest. Some in tough straw conditions, hence the interest in the Lexion. I know fuel usage is often better in the lexion straw quality for baling is also superior. There are a few things holding me off though so a couple of questions. Wide body or narrow I am in Australia and have heard sieve overloading with chaff in dry conditions can be a problem? Second the track system on paved roads does it hold up or do they have the same issues as the caseih quadtracks getting hot ect ( only what I have heard). Also rear wheel assist would be a big plus when turning with the terra track yes/no. The last issue is dealership network or very much lack of, but im guessing they are so well made breakdowns are a rarity. Also feeder house for chopping corn head are there two different options in power output at the feeder house for running a chopping head. Thanks for your opinions

 

[dustyaus]

having had a 750tt(narrow body) it would over load the sieves when it got hot then couldnt shut the rotor covers because they would block with straw,the tracks are nice on the road for smooth ride but they would get hot,and lift the bitumen if it was a hot day, didn't have many break downs, but when you block it and you will, have some belts, clutches on hand because you may need them,now having said that it was ok but nothing that special,not for us anyway, back to being a happy john deere owner.

 

[phantom970]

If you have money to burn and want bragging rights, get the wide body. (Sarcasm)

Now in all seriousness, its all hype in OZ. They arent a super header here.
The V8 merc (wide body) will overheat and drop valve heads or injector tips. After three engine failures in three 600's we went away from them back to the Cats. I hear now you can get wide body with a Cat now. The Cats dont like Hot days. Maybe the new dynamic cooling will help but as you know we have terrible hot dusty conditions at times. The tracks do get hot and the rollers can delaminate. The tread wears very fast on the bitumen. They throw tar and stones all over the machine and panels. Rear assist does not help turning unless your in mud. Their turn circle is disgusting compared to the american gear. I doubt you would be running 12 row corn head.?? 8 maybe?? The standard fixed speed wheat drive is fine for that. They are expensive to run pr/hr compared to what your used too. Once you have one, your stuck with it. No other brand dealer will trade it. Thats why we still have 5. We cant get out of them without a huge financial loss. Our biggest client has a hard on for them so thats why we stay with them. Cant do row crop spacings with tracks. To do 4mt centres with wheels is expensive but achievable.

They require alot of maintenance in our country. They are only as reliable as the other brands, no better, no worse. Sometimes worse. We have had some expensive repairs and much lost down time.

Dealer network is poor. Dealer support is poor.

I better give some pros otherwise the Lexion mob on here will lynch me.

They can eat alot of straw.
They like corn
Produce good baling straw
Good in legumes
Good chopper
Roomy engine bay

 

[SouthernSK]

Phantom I always appreciate reading your posts. In really dry conitions I would think a conventional rotor machine would be as good as anything. In your experience has the 70 series Deere combines been the most reliable and simple that you have run or is there something better? When the straw is really dry with a Lexion it can break up and overload the sieve making it difficult to set and get good capacity.

 

[phantom970]

Lets be clear SK, i certainly dont wear Leaping Deere jocks. I just work with the colours that some else buys. But yes, apart from a matching trio of 9760' we once had, the 70's are a very good package. Perfect for OZ, except for that pathetic size grain tank. Boss man got a quote on 1300hr 690 on another the same. lets just say his words would need to be censored here.!! looks like it will stay another year. I think i heard $190 per depreciated hour. certainly not what we were used too.
And yes, chaffy sieves are problem with claas here. And the repeat elevators limited capacity. It seems we always have tough thrashing wheats with heads every where down below, hence alot of straw cutting. We do alot of durum with strippers and its near impossible to get an average over 35-38 t/hr due to the chaff load on sieves and repeating white heads.
Certainly would like to see what they can do in europe or canada.

 

[SK Farmer]

why not MF or Gleaner.

 

[Don Boles]

Lets be clear SK, i certainly dont wear Leaping Deere jocks.

OK, I want your track shovel avatar back then!

 

[8850jd]

Captain Crisp... Most epic scream name!!!

 

[Old Farmer]

stay with Case way less moving parts and made in North America

 

[rod]

Lime green sensors will be after you

phantom, Sounds like the lime greens are giving you some (more) grief. I think most lime green owners will honestly say they are not a simple machine by any means & are high maintenance.
Biggest factor of all coloured machines is dealer support & service, as well as the major company support & service for both the customer & the dealership. Without those, the product is not worth a squirt of cats piss

 

[Don Boles]

made in North America

And that's an advantage how?

 

[cptusa]

Lets be clear SK, i certainly dont wear Leaping Deere jocks.
.

Well this could go many ways... Maybe a pair of antlers... I better stop.

 

[phantom970]

why not MF or Gleaner.

Dealer network and support is worse than claas. Big fan of the gleaners. We had a couple of R72's at one stage amongst the green ones. They were the best profit making machines out of all of them. Even had a couple of 8780 MF's. just not big enough. But even to this day, the simplest machine out there. We asked and asked the head honcho of harvester division, AGCO at the time, for the big demo MF9895 to run with our crew. They werent interested. Didnt even get an invite to see it.

Iam actually a fan of the bumble bee colour. Thats what i would buy if i was to be a machine owner.

 

[8850jd]

No dealers for gleaner.

 

[phantom970]

OK, I want your track shovel avatar back then!

How bout the BIG digging bit?? All 47 tonnes of it.

 

[Don Boles]

How bout the BIG digging bit?? All 47 tonnes of it.

Excellent!

 

[Land_Surfer]

having had a 750tt(narrow body) it would over load the sieves when it got hot then couldnt shut the rotor covers because they would block with straw,the tracks are nice on the road for smooth ride but they would get hot,and lift the bitumen if it was a hot day, didn't have many break downs, but when you block it and you will, have some belts, clutches on hand because you may need them,now having said that it was ok but nothing that special,not for us anyway, back to being a happy john deere owner.

The only way you cause damage when blocking / unblocking a Lexion is not knowing what you are doing. Too many think they can work it out by engaging / re-engaging the separator...wrong. Knowing what to do when it does block saves a lot of frustration.

 

[Captain Crisp]

Thanks for all the input. A few of my concerns seem to be verified certainly whatever combine you own will have its gremlins. Just a case of operating the one that can handle the majority of the conditions that you are likely to encounter. I certainly do harvesting in areas that the Lexions perhaps stand out. These been high yielding large straw volume cereals, often with cool moist winds. But the majority of work is in more typical Australian dry hot conditions. Certainly low hour second hand Lexions seem to be good buying. Maybe small tube rotor in a Caseih is the answer, or New holand twin rotor

 

[8850jd]

Thanks for all the input. A few of my concerns seem to be verified certainly whatever combine you own will have its gremlins. Just a case of operating the one that can handle the majority of the conditions that you are likely to encounter. I certainly do harvesting in areas that the Lexions perhaps stand out. These been high yielding large straw volume cereals, often with cool moist winds. But the majority of work is in more typical Australian dry hot conditions. Certainly low hour second hand Lexions seem to be good buying. Maybe small tube rotor in a Caseih is the answer, or New holand twin rotor

What u describe here screams gleaners bread and butter. You just need to know them inside and out.

 

[SWFarmService]

Go with the gleaner! I would rather own a thrashing machine than a lexion or a case after the 2588! I'm going to get a swift kick for this post but honestly it fits the bill well, most rounded combine you can buy for the diff crops