We started shelling corn the last day of August. For the most part, the corn tested in the 16 to 17 range all through corn shelling, which lasted through Sept. 21. Corn yields for the most part were in the 140's, with a few exceptional fields that caught some spoty rains coming around in the high 160's, even a few tests as high as 180's. VERY surprising yields for the bone dry summer we had. The new 9760 performed flawlessly through the corn. The only problem we had was with a small switch on the chopper drive that wouldn't work properly causing a buzzer to go off for no reason. It was replaced and there were no more problems after that in corn. I am not convinced yet that the Deere cornhead is as good as the 2208 CIH we had, but it still did a pretty good job. The variable speed drive for the header is a pretty nice feature in corn. In greener stalks, the speed of the head could be increased to do a beter job of chopping the stalks while keeping ground speed up. We had some corn that was down pretty flat in places, and didn't have much trouble getting it picked up without having a corn reel.
Here are some pics of shelling corn...
We cut Milo the weekend of the 23rd. We only had 116 acres of the nasty crap, but we did a lot of hauling to keep it away from the combine. All of our milo was contracted to Hassard Elevator at Monroe City, MO, so it was hauled out of the field the 20 miles to the elevator. We had some extra man power that wekend, so we decided to go ahead and blow through it before cutting beans. The milo tested 14% pretty much straight through, and made ~135 bpa. Again, a pretty pleasant surprise as far as yield. We never had a breakdown cutting the milo, which was really nice. I hate working on a combine in milo. There is no possible way to not get that crap all over you to the point you dig your eyeballs out from scratching. They don't call it "Itch Berries" for nothing. This was also the first test of the 35 foot 635F platform head, which worked great. I will say this... 35 feet of green leafed milo is a LOT of material for a combine to handle, and the new combine handled it pretty well I thought, averaging only about 2.2 mph, but we never got much over that with 25 foot 1020 on the 2388 last year.
Here are a few pics of cutting itch berries.
After the milo was cut, we started straight into the soybeans. This was the crop I was most anxious to see how the 9760 would perform. I was not dissapointed one bit. My lord that thing will flat roll through the beans. 5.5 mph taking out a 35' swath, and you couldn't hardly tell anything was going through it. I honestly think if we had the high speed pulley on the sickle drive, we could have been running in the mid 6's. No noises, no feeding slugs, just a plain amazing piece of machinery. We had to do a lot of learning to cut out terraces without leaving beans in the channels, but after a while, we were slicking them off like we had a 10 foot head. The hydraflex feature of the cutterbar is awesome. It follows every little contour and never hardly misses a bean. We did have a couple breakdowns in beans. The first was a post that rubbed the sickle drive belt and threw it off. We were only a few minutes geting that going again. The next one was not quite so simple. A slug of foxtail in a sprayer skip got wrapped on the table auger and slipped the clutch on the auger. When dad reversed the header to turn it loose, the auger spit the slug out the front, taking one of the stainless bottom sheets of the platform with it! The foxtail got under a small lip at the back of the sheet and popped the sheet up, breaking some spot welds that hold it at the front. We had to remove some pieces and I took them back to the shop and re-welded it back together. All in all it was about a 30 minute breakdown, the worst of the season, and didn't have to buy a single part. The bean yields were also pretty good for the dry summer we had. I really don't know where they came from. Average on beans was in the mid 40's, with moisture for the most part being in the 10% range. There were a few super hot days that the beans got down to 8% moisture... dryest I'd ever seen...
Here are some bean cutting pics I took...
That is a nieghbor's 9650 on the road there. I thought that made a pretty neat picture.
All in all my opinion of the new combine is two thumbs waaaaay up. Now all we need is some more acres....
By the way, here are some pics of some BINDERS!! The 856D on the auger, and the IH 9100 dumping corn in a bin...
Awesome pics. Been a while since I've seen Milo farming. I've noticed this and mentioned it on another board, but it seems the folding auger on the new Bullet Rotor combines isn't that popular. I haven't seen any pictures of anyone running them. Why did you guys pass on it.
BTW love the pic with the combine comming up the road.
We would have loved to have the folding auger, but it wasn't worth the $10K price of the option. I just about stroked out when the dealer told me what that costs. I just can't believe it costs anywhere near that much...
I guess maybe the dealer was trying to hose us or something, because my original pricing sheet where we still had the folding auger selected shows the price at $10,230 for the option, which included the high wear auger. The folding auger can only be ordered on combines with the high wear auger package. If it had been $4k, ours would have it....
Great pics Binder. That machine looks different with those Rice and cane tires. How does it ride? Everyone around here runs radials. The dealer in your area wouldn't be Sydenstricker would it?
Noticed that you are in Shelbina. Been through there about 2 years ago. My great-grandmother was from around Paris and Mark Twain lake area. Also had a relative that lived in Mexico. Nice countryside, as my 81 year old grandfather still wants to move back up to that area to farm, though I don't think it will ever happen.
Isn't there an ethanol plant near you? I think I remember seeing one on the south side of the highway that runs from Hannibal to Macon. I could be wrong about location. What kind of price do they give over market for corn?
We would have loved to have the folding auger, but it wasn't worth the $10K price of the option. I just about stroked out when the dealer told me what that costs. I just can't believe it costs anywhere near that much...
Thanks for the compliments on my pictures...
Bill
10K!!!!!!!!!!! No wonder I haven't seen them. Even the Garnetts passed that up. I can see deere trying to make that price go a little lower soon if no one buys it.
Never knew that milo was itchy. Very few still grow it around my home town.
Quote:Binderpower, what do you do with the milo stalks after harvest? Shred them, or can you disc them or plough them standing?
Thanks a lot for the compliments on my pictures. I try my best...
As for the milo stalks, they are sprayed now with Canopy EX, and will be no-tilled into soybeans this spring. Milo stalks are heck to deal with. They keep the ground covered so no sunshine can get in, which keeps the ground wet all the time. If I wasn't going to no-till them, I'd hit them with the disk chisel this fall, then one pass with the field cultivator next spring. I've never shredded stalks before, but several around are starting to do it. Not very many people around grow milo anymore because it's nasty to handle.
8820,
I live right on higway 36, the road from Macon to Hannibal, just east of Shelbina about 5 miles. The ethanol plant you saw is NEMO Grain, and is a farmer owned coop just east of Macon.
This combine was bought at Sydenstricker's store at Palmyra, MO, about 20 miles east of me. Typically harvests here are muddy, which is why we went with the rice and cane tires. They are 18.4-42 duals on the front, and 28L-26's rear. The combine rides really smooth on the road, although it does sound a little different than one on regular tread. Luckily this year, we never had to "try out" the R&C's, which was well worth the price of them!!
If you are ever back in this area, look me up. I'm always ready to shoot the manure about machinery....
I live right on higway 36, the road from Macon to Hannibal, just east of Shelbina about 5 miles. The ethanol plant you saw is NEMO Grain, and is a farmer owned coop just east of Macon.
This combine was bought at Sydenstricker's store at Palmyra, MO, about 20 miles east of me. Typically harvests here are muddy, which is why we went with the rice and cane tires. They are 18.4-42 duals on the front, and 28L-26's rear. The combine rides really smooth on the road, although it does sound a little different than one on regular tread. Luckily this year, we never had to "try out" the R&C's, which was well worth the price of them!!
If you are ever back in this area, look me up. I'm always ready to shoot the manure about machinery....
Bill
Thanks for the response. It seems ethanol plants are popping up everywhere since gas prices went to $3 a gallon. Have you ever taken any corn to NEMO grain? If so, how much more $$$ did they give for your crop? The reason I am asking is that we are getting an ethanol plant in my hometown that is supposed to be up and running by Oct. 2007.
I love the area up there. 36, Thats the road. I couldn't remember. I just remember there was a ton of construction between Macon and Chillicothe. Not alot of people living up there compared to around here. I think that we actually stopped in Shelbina to eat lunch one day and we were told the only place in town was a bar. I could be mistaken. But I remember that we found the place and then decided to keep on looking. It might have been Shelbyville. Now that I am thinking about it, I think it was. You might know of the place I'm talking about. You said something about Monroe City in a earlier post. My granddad said he remembers his mom and dad getting the Monroe City newspaper down here in his younger days. I believe when we went through there, someone said that there wasn't a newspaper anymore.
If by some chance that we get back up that way, I'll let you know.
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