[Jason Hildebrand]

So we are looking at these maurer Tip-up kits to expand our hoppers 60 or 120 bushels. We have 9870s with 20.8x38 duals. Everyone loves the thought of a bigger hopper but at what expense? What is going to give out, axles? tires? frame? Or are they perfectly fine and the combine can handle it. We used to add hopper extensions(total volume 300bus) to our 9600s and we had no problems except the clean grain auger belt would wear out more often. So it makes me wonder if this is a viable option for a STS. Opinions anyone?

 

[ststech]

i know that grain tank legs have been an on again and off again issue since the begining. the 06 and early 07's front grain tank legs were buckling with the factory extensions. i am pretty sure they took care of that issue, however, they had to redesign the left front leg to make room for the new 5-speed, they removed a lot of steel to fit that beast up in there. so it is yet to be seen what will happen there

why only 38" tires, it may be a concern, especially with a larger head
the next thing may be final drives, but i haven't seen many problems with them lately

with the new clean grain drive and auger these parts will last a lot longer

i agree that the STS grain tank is undersized for what is going on with the machine, especially the 98, but i don't think that anything other than factory should be used

 

[jeremy3]

People used to take their original extensions off a CTS and put on a bigger extension. Using the tip up kit as a blueprint, I made my own with those previously removed extensions.

This was the first year with them on 9760 and no problems up to now. I did not fill it all the way up every time, only when needed, like trying to make pass through middle of field, or when had everything full. When it is full, I treat it like a baby because I know it is carrying more load than it was made for.

I think it holds about 370bu now. The tip up kit looks much better than mine but I spent about $20 and some time to make mine and thiers was almost $800 if I remember right.

 

[a2zharvest]

do it......they're worth it. the 9870 will handle it easy with duals.
the only problem you'll have is the grain tank auger wearing thin....but, i think jd is finely hard surfacing the edges on the auger now.

 

[Jason Hildebrand]

What kind of kit is that? Got any pictures? I assume that is 500bu of wheat?

 

[jdmidwest]

You'll be fine. Since 2004 I've been carrying 500 bu. on 9860's and last year on a 9870 and have never had any problem or signs of stress anywhere. Common sense still plays a big roll but you'll be fine.

 

[jdmidwest]

No that is 500 bu. of corn. We started out with the standard Maurer bin extension that had the 5" tip up sides the we added 12 more inches to the top of that. Have used the same extension on 4 different combines and still looks fine. I have a few pictures but not sure how to put them on here so send me your e-mail on a private message if you want and I'll try and e-mail them to you.