[albertafarmer]

hello there I am in the market for a good used combine and was looking to buy a case IH 2188. Went looking around dealerships for combines yesterday and came across a j.d. cts with 1800 hrs in panoka Alberta. I had a very informative conversation with a sales man there and kind of got me thinking that this would be a good machine to buy,plus the price is around 60,000 but i have zero hours in a john deer and am a little apprehensive on the cts. is there any one out there that has this machine, and would it be a good fit for me. I grow wheat barley and canola in central Alberta.

 

[stewart7225]

Any more info on the 2188 that is the other option? CTS will be better choice if you are baling straw after harvest.

 

[ninety420]

The CTS is a bugger to switch from dropping straw to chopping it. Other wise a very good capacity combine for the $$$. It really shines in cereal crops and will keep up with a 9600 in canola.

For maintence the coupling between the two rotor gearboxes wears out and needs to be checked every season. The front end is just a 9500 body, so typical conventional wear points.

I always kept a spare beater belt in the combine because it would glaze up and need to be changed if you made the old girl snort for to long.

 

[albertafarmer]

the 2188 has 2800 rth and 3400 engine was just put through the shop has new tires
new feeder chain,
chopper blades,
clean grain elevator chain
all new belts
new pickup belts, (victory pickup)
had the pickup rollers straightened
they are asking 70,000 for it ,not the first 2188 i have looked at and for the hours, it seems a little high.
I don't usually drop my straw so not an issue. the good old 1682 really used to grind up the straw, some custom balers could make a really nice bale with what she ground up( usually a j.d) and some could not. and it had just a beater, not a chopper.

lol

 

[ninety420]

So for 10,000 less you get a comebine with 1000 hrs less? I don't want to tell you what you should do but the capacity of either combine is about equal. And if you usually chop the straw chopper issues with the cts are moot.

 

[jd95guy]

We had a CTS II for 10 years and put 1,500 sep hrs on it. It was a good combine to us. In small grains the CTS was equal to the 2188 and better in some situations in terms of capacity and grain samples. In canola and crops like peas, seems the edge went to the 2188. Another thing is to keep the bars on the beater in real good shape because the material goes over it, not under it like on a conventional.

 

[albertafarmer]

ya first time I have seen a lower hour j.d for less money. Is that because they no longer make the cts? and does it do a good job in hard red spring wheat, the 2188 i rented last year really shined in my wheat really clean sample.

 

[farminflyboy]

I know our 2188 can really lay it to a 9600 in our conditions, in wheat and milo. When the 9600 starts throwing over the walker we just keep pushing up the hydro

I would think you could either negotiate the 2188 down or keep looking for one that is in the money, or go with the CTS if it fits your needs.

 

[ninety420]

How do I say this? The cts is definately allot more finnicky to set then the rotary. I personally love rotors because they are so easy to set. The cts with its adjustable precleaner can give amazing capacity, but it's another adjustment to mess with.'

 

[rubberduck]

I would go for the CTS anyday, and they are not that hard to set up! you gotta drive them like a rotary though. open the concaves up a bit and send it up into the rotors and let them do the work! keep the precleaner open enough so you with ease can put that big thumb of your through the louvres, keep the forward part of the top sieve on 14 and the back part on 12, and then the wind between 12-1300 rpms or so. Now the important part, drive it like you hate and really forcefeed her with the stuff. You can easily drop the rpms on the engine by 200, and let her suck up the juice. If the fuelpump shot off mechanism kicks in and gives you the E47 error code, youre doing it right! You will get spotless samples and nothing on the ground

If its a ricemaster you are looking at you are in for a real bargain. Those thing (if set up right) will run in circles around a 9760. In fact, if its a standard maximizer you are buying, see if you can find some second hand rice-concaves and shove them under the two rotors, then you can open the forward part of them a bit more than the back part, allowing for better cropflow and seperating. Then you should be able to do about 40 ton an hour.

They are the most awesome bit of gear you will ever find. The logic behind deeres descision to take them of the production line is beyond me!

 

[jaydee]

I agree with you rubberduck.Too bad they dont offer that machine anymore in northamerica.The european buildt,improved CTS
http://www.deere.com/region_ii/media/app....es_specs_en.pdf
would outperform the 9770/9760 STS by far in small grains,and this is the problem:
Mother Deere in Moline with their "world combine STS" fears to loose some deals against the european Deere guys.Imagine what would happen,if the guys from Zweibruecken/Germany would be allowed to transfer the CTS design into a wide body(6 walker),install a 550 hp engine and a large cleaning shoeeere would be able to keep up with the 590/600 Lexions.
The good thing is,that Deere has all the necessary technology already in the pipe.

 

[ninety420]

So true lol. Can you imagine what it would do if it had a high speed feederhouse like the STS?

 

[albertafarmer]

thanks for the input guys, really sounds like the cts is a good one. What about rub bars how often do they need to be changed, are they expensive and is it a big job to change them.

 

[rubberduck]

So true lol. Can you imagine what it would do if it had a high speed feederhouse like the STS?


It would have the wheat running scared of the field and into the truck... It would be an absolute monster. that and another 200 hp and it would be unstoppable

 

[jaydee]

That was a very good point you made rubberduck,and thats the main advantage about those hybrid combines like the CTS or the Lexion(threshing cylinder in front of the rotors),the rotors can take over a part of the threshing process and support the cylinder in front,AND separate the grain much better with their higher centrifugal forces caused by the smaller diameter of the rotors.And the threshing cylinder supports together with the beater drums the feeding process into the rotors.Thats the reason why they shine in small grains,especially when it gets tough,a skilled operator is required though,knowing the "secrets" how to set up a machine like that.And as mentioned before by rubberduck,use your precleaner,open it wide enough and speed the fan up,and then feed the whole system as much as the engine is able to handle.
When Deere released the CTS concept(long before Claas came out with the Lexion),its main purpose was rice,and a combine that shines in rice should be able to able to handle a wide range of conditions.You will run circles around a 2188 during the late hours,when it gets tough,which is not uncommon in the canadian praries,those single rotor combines(the STS included) just suck in those conditions.

 

[albertafarmer]

I agree, and know from experience that when it gets tough hear at night the rotor does bog down and i would lose about 2 mile hour. However the grain sample was always excellent

 

[albertafarmer]

I agree farminflyboy i would like to get the 2188 if i can get the sales man to lower the price and i have a good while before i need a combine, (usually last week of Aug, first week of September) so not getting to excited yet. the main reason I'm looking at this cts is because of the less hour less money of the machine. Plus all the 2188's with lower hours are still in that 75, 80,000 dollar rang . guess I'm always looking for the best deal

 

[greentech]

I have zero cts experience but this sure gets me thinking. It seems to me a cts II with a hi-inertia cylinder and a power chip would be a very decent machine.

 

[ninety420]

Add this to a 50 series cab and you would have a very nice comebine. guess what there was a few made

 

[farminflyboy]

If you're getting into changing things, put everything PF Parts makes $5500, turn up the fuel screw (for free), extrude hone the injectors $200, and the 2188 will do just as much or more... my point is any combine can be modified to fit your operations better. Some will require more some less. But at the end of the day a similarly modified 2188 will do the same work with alot fewer parts then the CTS. just my $.02.