I guess the second part of my question is, what is the capacity of the 9870 relative to the 9120.

 

Here is a thread you may find useful it was a comparison between the big machines in the same field ,same day, etc.

Don gives a decent unbiased(although his undies are yellowing fast) account of things so if you can stand wading through all the B.S. to seek your answer its probably in there somewhere.

http://www.thecombineforum.com/forums/4-john-deere/30449-s690-cr9090s-770tt-same-field.html


I think the 9120 is compared in there, but was left in the dust.

 

I have talked to a farmer on the phone and he told me the s690 was not as big as the 590 in wheat. He is a green guy running 590's but would like to switch back as he loves green and is a long way from the toromont dealership. I haven't talked to him lately but from what I gathered he was having a tough time going to a bit smaller combine even though he likes green.

I must also add that our 9120 is only slightly slower than the claas if you don't compare apples to apples coming out the back end. Even traveling 10% slower the 9120 is still throwing over much more grain than the 760. Once the lease is up on the 9120 I don't think it will be sticking around. It's too hard to set in my opinion. Not to mention the .5 gallon per acre more fuel it burns and that's being generous. All the pure rotaries are pigs on fuel. Half a gallon doesn't sound like much but consider your doing 25 acres per hour so at $3.80 per gallon it's costing an extra $1.90 per acre. Multiply by 25ac/hour and it costs us an extra $47.5 a seperator hour to run the case, or the deere, or the NH. Even with the multies these companies are throwing around I don't know how anyone can warrant the extra cost or the fuel. Just some things to think about.

 

Maybe its just me but fuel is nothing, don't look, figure it out, or care(for now so enjoy it). That said I believe that at some point in 15-20 years I will but right now the difference between any machine is insignificant in the scheme of things. There are a least a hundred more ways to hang yourself financially 10x faster. It like not shooting your gun because of the price if ammo.

 

Remember, it is always the little things that we perceive to be insignificant that make the real difference when it comes to "make or break."

 

I guess I would rather put 27k in my pocket instead of the oil companies. Certainly using fuel to produce higher yields or something along that line makes a lot of sense but combining is combining and 27k is a lot of money to me. Hopefully someday I can have enough $$ that I don't need to care either but that day is a long ways away at this point.

 

I guess I would rather put 27k in my pocket instead of the oil companies. Certainly using fuel to produce higher yields or something along that line makes a lot of sense but combining is combining and 27k is a lot of money to me. Hopefully someday I can have enough $$ that I don't need to care either but that day is a long ways away at this point.

27k is a lot of money to me too, I guess all I'm saying is right now I don't believe it is a big enough expense to be dictating what machines will be on the farm. I don't zero till because in the area I'm in because I feel turning over soil improves the chances of maximum yield and of course you have to figure the price of fuel to realize if it is justifiable.

 

I agree with you Landsurfer, you have to be diligent but you can't let the "tail wag the dog" is my point.

 

I understand where your coming from and you certainly have to spend money to make money. I certainly don't believe in cutting corners especially on tillage or fertilizer etc. If I thought the S690 or the 9120 were as big or as efficient I would have something to consider but since they aren't, in my opionion, I'm certainly not going to burn 27k so I can drive my favorite color. Of course service still plays a big role as will fuel prices if they rise of fall. I try to watch my costs per acre as much as I can without costing myself money. Corn won't be 6$ forever.

 

I understand where your coming from and you certainly have to spend money to make money. I certainly don't believe in cutting corners especially on tillage or fertilizer etc. If I thought the S690 or the 9120 were as big or as efficient I would have something to consider but since they aren't, in my opinion, I'm certainly not going to burn 27k so I can drive my favorite color. Of course service still plays a big role as will fuel prices if they rise of fall. I try to watch my costs per acre as much as I can without costing myself money. Corn won't be 6$ forever.

Deere machines have been very good to us for literally decades, with almost no downtime to speak of and a dealer that I couldn't say enough good things about and only 5 min away. So I see no point in jumping ship to another color to save .5 gallon of fuel. However should the day come when things aren't so rosey I would have no issue with another color.

 

It depends on the crop but in 50-55 bushel spring wheat 1us gallon per acre would be average.

 

I understand the 9120 is class 9 and the 9870 is class 8, but not all class 8 and class 9 machines are equal (ie S690 vs 9120) That is all I am trying to sort out with this thread. So how does the 9120 run against the 9870?

The rethrasher solution: I know a neighbor running 8120's demoed a S680 and he thought the JD rethrasher was and did a much better job. Personally, with the Claas (small return elevator) and Case x010 and a120 (not an agressive rethrasher) the machine must do a better job threshing on the first go around.

Personally with the 70 series, the consensus among owners (locally) is that there is to much returns in the system because the bottom sieve is to small, leading to rotor losss.

 

What I am ultimately trying to figure out is capacity and the $ it will cost me to buy these machines. For example; on trade I can buy a used 11 9870 with 250 hrs or for another $20k a new 12 Claas 760. Conversly, for $50k less I can buy an 11 9120 with more features. I am trying to balance capacity, maintenece, and operating costs.

 

What I am ultimately trying to figure out is capacity and the $ it will cost me to buy these machines. For example; on trade I can buy a used 11 9870 with 250 hrs or for another $20k a new 12 Claas 760. Conversly, for $50k less I can buy an 11 9120 with more features. I am trying to balance capacity, maintenece, and operating costs.

If you have no brand preference and good support for all of them, then you have tough decision to make.

What acres do you cover, approx. how long to do it, ave crop yields, variety of crops etc.

I would rather ask my wife how her day was then try to tell you what machine would work/be best for you.

But believe me someone will and good luck with that.

 

If you can buy a new Lexion 760 for 20k more than a used 9870 then it's really a no-brainer.....especially if you are lucky enough to have a decent Claas dealership near by.

 

The case ih x120 series have all had rotor loss issues because they are very picky about settings.. if you would save that much money on the case ih... take 5k and have St. John welding do there rotor mod and that will fix a lot of ur rotor loss issues. Even the Deere can be helped... but it only takes an hour to pull a cih rotories... the create the 90degree threshing angle which allows for less fuel consumption. There are a lot of small things that can seriously help these combines as far as fuel consumption.. I know our next rotory is going to have this done.. tired of white caps and corn left on the cob..
Its kind of off subject... but the Gleaner guys do have it right in some aspect because they feed the cylinder where the rasp bars will make the best threshing angle.
It only costs about 2500 bucks and they will balance ur rotor too. They remove a lot of threshing elements to allow you to feed the rotor with less power requirements.
They patented it... so the major manufacturers wont do it because they dont want to pay for the patents... they are in Kansas... I will put my rotor on a Trailor and spend the week with them to do it.

 

Back to Don's comparo:
770-class 10
9090-class 10
S690-class 9
9120-class 9

 

I still don't see why everyone gets all tied up in the classing system, it's only a HP and tank size reference and means jack squat when it comes to the internals and the capacity of a machine, add a hopper topper and pump the power up in a 9600 or a TX66 and you gain a class or more, but in reality you just burn more fuel and carry more weight. Like one other thread asked can a 750 chipped out do a S690....... maybe it can and maybe it can't but does it being chipped re-class the machine?? Just my 2 cents

 

Because the manufactures price accordingly. S680 to S690 $20k spread based only on horsepower. Machine is identical otherwise. A steinbauer chip is $2,200, thats why i asked the question. I don't care about the class system, i do care about capacity and the $ it will cost me.

 

I would guess that all of these machines can be expected to perform well as long as the operator is willing to put in some time to perfect any machine. Every single brand mentioned above has pluses and minuses, and everyones conditions are different so what might be a problem for one guy is not for the next. I am positive that I could make the red, green, or yellow combines give very little losses and good capacity. What bushel per hour are you shooting for, and what crops?

 

Because with deere's system of numbering, an S6100 sounds dumb?

 

Until the industry is willing to re-classify these machines by their HP while taking into account the threshing, separating, and cleaning areas we will continue to compare apples to oranges. If they are unwilling to class them accordingly then perhaps the guys that own and operate these machines should?

 

Still waiting...

Don

 

Can someone tell me how the 9870 compares to a 9120 please?