Combines setting the record straight on lexion vs sts

I'd call it closer than 12 row to 6 row, maybe 12 to 10.

The Cats seem to have better header drive with the larger pulleys. Too many STS shucking out there gearboxes since it also sends power to the feederhouse chain and to the header. That's the biggest weak link, next to their JD shoe losses on any kind of side hill.

No-one ever talks about how easy it is to fuel up the lexion with the tank way up there,not that the deere is much better. john

I agree the 480 will outperform the STS; - 365 hp vs 325, it should. Plus, I like their APS idea, especially in small grains, but I don't draw a similar comparison to an Axial flow like you do. Case and Deere are two totally different machines, and if you spent less time "in the cab" and more time "in the combine" you would know that. In addition, I have never recalled Deere "preaching the evils" against rotary combines; - they preferred to do a little research (like Claas_Cat) and try to overcome some of the problems the earlier rotaries had, like roping! What Deere HAS managed to do is build a totally rotary combine which accomplishes this, whereas Claas_Cat have relented to a system of conventional threshing (cylinder) and rotary separation. It would be interesting to know if the CAT has more moving parts than the STS and, if so, how many!

there might be some truth to cat having more moving parts, but there is a lot more things going onlike 3-d sieve, auto pilot, etc. If your worried about moving parts the silver ones are still the way to go. as far as my self, i have spent weeks physically tearing apart every color of combines, silver red yellow green and now another yellow, and that green combine is as close as you can get without calling it red. as far as me spendig time in the cab, yes i have and the cab looks like a red one too

As far as cabs are concerned, Deere commenced using their current cab before CaseIH changed theirs; - I'm told that one company produces the cabs for both CaseIH and Deere. I agree with you concerning CEBIS, and the 3D seives are neat. I have a problem drawing an exact comparison between the CaseIH and Deere STS though; - their feeding system is totally different. We demo'd a 9650 STS against a 2388 in weedy barley, both units pushing 25'. The field was as much green with weeds as it was yellow, and their was a huge difference in performance between the two machines, as far as feeding was concerned. Since the Deere only has about 20 horsepower on the Case, I can't say that it was power that made the difference. Since we dairy farm, straw quality is important to me, and again, the Deere seemed to deliver better balable straw that the Case, I believe mainly on account of the lobe-styled grates in the seperator stage of the rotor. On the negative side, I'm told that it is a huge job to pull the rotor from a Deere, and I can believe it. I think I'll stick with my 9610 for now!

A more realistic call, I'd say!

I remember last fall that we got a big brochure from Deere about their new STS combines. They clearly stated in there that the STS is a Single Tine Seperator and not a ROTARY. Kind of strange then that at John Deere day in Febuary that the Deere representatives specifically referred to the STS as a rotary combine. I have tried both the Cat 460 and JD 9750 STS and there isn't anything for the Deere to be comparable to the Cat.

Whats going to happend to the 9000-9010 combines. Are the conventional combines going to be weeded outIJ Can they profitably produce both combines at the number that they are nowIJ, especially with all the used conventionals sitting on the lotsIJ Ive heard of jd dealers trading even up for new jd combinesfor a 1 year old cat combines with 200 seperator hours. That doesnt say much for the jd's will definitley keep the used value of the cats up though.

Deere has the market edge in North America, so I don't see any reason why they won't offer both conventional and rotary; - other companies do. I farm in Southwestern Ontario, Canada and we don't seem to have the stale inventories of used John Deeres, compared to other areas of North America. If a Deere dealer wants to trade even for a slightly used CAT, I guess thats his business. I think Deere's used inventory problems can be attributed to their finance programs. For example, years ago when the engine in my 8820 bit the dust (at 4600 hours) in mid season, I decided to trade for a 9600 right then and there. I ran 300 hours on my 9600, then traded it on another new 9600 in the winter and came up with lower payments. In other words, two new combines within about 4 months. Now that I have more equity in my machinery, this benefit is no longer available to me. As far as CAT maintaining their value, I can only hope they do better than what ClAAS has done in the past.