Terry Snack, Case IH Combine Product Specialist for Illinois, Missouri and Eastern Iowa, joins us again to share comments from two of his Case IH customers about the performance of their Axial-Flow combines.
We’re hearing positive reports about how well-accepted the new 30-Series Axial-Flow combines have been for power and fuel efficiency. Case IH follows up with customers to ensure their new 30-Series combines perform up to expectations and if they don’t, we get right on it to make sure everything is working as it should. The customers I’ve visited with can’t say enough good things about the Efficient Power of their new 30-Series combines and the SCR technology system that allows all of our combines to meet Tier 4A emission standards for 2012. We’re seeing an increase in fuel efficiency by an average of 10 percent on all six of our combine models.
Terry Snack, Case IH Combine Product Specialist
One of my Missouri producers has a new Case IH Axial-Flow 7230 combine with a 3408 corn head. He’s running in 150 bu/acre corn at 5 mph. He is tracking fuel consumption to see if he really is getting the 10 percent greater fuel efficiency we promised him when he bought his combine. As a matter of record, he is only using .74 gallons of fuel per acre harvested. Most customers would agree that one gallon of fuel per acre harvested is the mark of a well-performing combine, and Jason’s 7230 uses less than three-quarters of a gallon of fuel per acre. While he isn’t able to use his 7230 to its full potential because of the conditions in which it is operating, the combine still is proving to be very fuel efficient even at the lower throughput.
Another customer in Kansas has a Case IH 5130 Axial-Flow combine running a 3406 corn head. He was concerned when he bought his new 5130 that going from an 8.3-liter engine down to a 6.7-liter engine would not give him the cubic inches to develop the power to which he was accustomed. This customer called his salesman and told him, “This combine has plenty of power and is easy on fuel.” He ran his combine for two full days of harvesting on 100 gallons of fuel, and he couldn’t be happier.
As you go through this harvest season, remember what we told you in the previous blog post about maximizing performance in drought-stressed crops: TIGHT and SLOW. Tighten things up because of the smaller stalks and cobs. Run things slow to be as gentle as possible and to keep the combine as full of material as you can to achieve maximum grain-on-grain threshing.
You want the best machines available when dealing with stressful crop conditions, and Case IH Axial-Flow combines are helping farmers Be Ready this harvest season. To hear what other producers have to say about efficient power and Axial-Flow combines, watch this video.
The Harvest Reports from our Case IH Combine Specialists are part of our efforts to help you Be Ready for the challenges and opportunities in agriculture. Watch for more Harvest Reports in the next few weeks, and let us know how the harvest is progressing in your area.
