NERIDUP (north east Esperance) farmer John Wallace doesn’t mind admitting to his penchant for crunching numbers.
It is almost an automatic response, particularly when the subject concerns money.
Which is naturally where we started as we discussed his new Lexion 770 header.
Equipped with a (six cylinder 15.6 litre) Mercedes engine developing 436 kilowatt (585 horsepower), a 13,500L grain tank and “shoed” with Terra Tracs and a (12.3) metre front, this model is a perfect fit for the variable crop conditions, for which it is designed.
But back to the money.
“We should finish this harvest in about 200 hours,” Mr Wallace said.
“That will be about 80 hours better than my other header and that translates to saving 8000L of fuel.”
It might be a bit more given claims by manufacturers that Tier Four engines are fuel savers.
Mr Wallace bases his ‘back of an envelope’ figures on the header’s capacity which he believes will be between 35 and 38 tonnes an hour.
“And being less than 20 kilometres from the coast, this header can handle moist crops better,” he said.
“It’s got two long rotors (4.2m), an impressive turbine jet fan system and a whopping sieve area.
“The APS threshing system will also hold up capacity in cold, hard harvesting conditions.
“The sea breeze brings in humidity which makes the straw tougher and ropey and harder to process but the threshing system on this header will handle that.
“And I’ll be able to start earlier and finish later (courtesy of an after-market HID light bar).”
It’s obvious Mr Wallace has put a lot of thought into his purchase.
It’s got a variable front which is terrific to adjust to crop conditions, especially canola, with a range of 700 millimetres
- John Wallace
“This has got a lot of grunt so there’s enough there to pull a 30 cubic metre capacity Tecfarm chaff cart, drive the choppers and achieve a consistent spread,” he said.
“At night, barley residue can bunch up and it’s difficult to seed through but with the even spread you get from this header I don’t expect to have any problems at seeding
“Plus we’ll get faster breakdown of the residue and I can put the stock in, which is something I couldn’t do with 5-6t/ha stubble residues.”
Mr Wallace’s first foray into crops was two weeks ago.
‘We just took a sample because I just couldn’t wait to try it out,” he said.
“The barley crop was at 25 per cent moisture, it was raining and I have never seen anything chop like a Lexion.
“It’s unbelievable”.
There are plenty of features which get the thumbs-up from Mr Wallace and his son JJ.
“It’s got a variable front which is terrific to adjust to crop conditions, especially canola, with a range of 700 millimetres,” Mr Wallace said.
“It gets the crop in fast with minimal grain loss and you can adjust on-the-go, especially when you’re cutting at beer can height.
“In the past we just slashed the stubbles, which is more cost.
“The tracks are sensational and they’re fully suspended so the ride comfort is brilliant and the tracks easily handle soft conditions.”
With so much going on, hydraulically, heating can become an issue, particularly affecting capacity.
But Lexion engineers have it covered with a Dynamic cooling system which Mr Wallace described as “second to none”.
Dynamic cooling incorporates a variable fan drive that automatically adjusts the cooling capacity as required by the engine, which CLAAS says helps save up to 15kW (20hp).
Located horizontally behind the engine, the radiator draws in clean air from above the combine through a 1.6m wide rotating sieve filter.
The air is directed downwards through the radiator and engine bay, before exiting through louvres that direct the air down the side of the combine, creating a curtain of air that prevents dust rising.
As a result, the engine bay is kept far cleaner, which in turn, means less maintenance.
The other good feature is the CLAAS Cemos Automatic System, which continuously adjusts features such as grain separation and cleaning.
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This feature is designed to have the machine always operating at maximum capacity and efficiency while still keeping grain quality at its best.
Components controlled by the automatic system include rotor and fan speed along with the sieves, which assists with the cleaning process.
These functions are shown on the system terminal so operators can keep a track of what adjustments are being made.
The rationale is to maximise throughput, minimise fuel consumption, maintain high grain quality and optimise balance of the machine.
The company also has introduced the ‘Cmotion’ control switch, which handles much of the operation of the header.
The system is designed to be as intuitive as possible with data accessed anywhere via the internet, and information such as yield mapping, viewed graphically for easier dissemination.
We might hear Mr Wallace exclaiming one day that taking his crop off is “money for jam”.