Case IH next-gen combine delivers the goods

It has been almost a year since Case IH released its innovative 250 series combine harvesters at the Wimmera Machinery Field Days and customers are already reporting returns on investment.

The McCauley family from the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia is one such customer who bought a Case IH 9250 Axial-Flow combine after realising the need for a bigger and better machine to replace the 10-year-old Case IH 7120 the family previously owned.

A prominent feature of the 250 series is the level of automation it offers, which takes a lot of the hard work out of harvesting for farmers, Case IH said.

“There are a number of new automated features that assist in maximising the efficiency and performance of the combine, which in turn optimises grain quality and grain savings,” said Case IH ANZ Product Manager for Hay and Harvest, Tim Slater.

“Ease of operation has also been enhanced, meaning operators of all experience levels can make the most of their time in the cab.”

Alex McCauley, who runs a 1620-hectare property in Yorke Peninsula with parents, Nick and Cherelyn, can testify to that statement after running the family’s new 9250 Axial-Flow during the recent harvest.

The McCauleys finished harvesting just before Christmas, with crops of barley, canola, wheat and faba beans. They were reasonably satisfied with the yields, despite limited rainfall through the season, but believe the potential of this year’s harvest was maximised with the 9250 Axial-Flow combine harvester.

“The wind had taken a bit of a toll on the barley, so it was laying down and not the easiest crop to harvest, but the header was up to the challenge,” Alex McCauley said.

“We’re so impressed with what we’ve seen from it so far. We started it off in some of our wheat to get an idea of its performance and the automation was fantastic – I mean straight out of the box it was reaping so well and doing a perfect sample,” he said.

“One of our blocks is very sandy so it’s pretty hard reaping, but the 9250 was outstanding – we’ve never seen a wheat sample like that coming out of a header.

“We even threw a heap of trays out trying to find grain out the back but there was barely anything on the ground which was really impressive out of a big machine like this.”

The McCauleys traded their old Case IH 7120 for the 9250, which they’ve paired with a 45ft front, going for the additional size after concerns it was taking too long to harvest the grain they had.

“Last year we took a bit of a hit through loss of grades – we dropped a few grades after rain and decided that with a bigger machine we could have got it in earlier,” McCauley said.

“A neighbour of ours had a Case IH 240 Series and he reaped through the night with it one time when we had to stop at 10pm because of moisture, so that ultimately sold us on the idea of a new machine,” he said.

At the time the McCauleys were ready to look at a new header, the 250 Series had just hit the market, and with the disappointment of the previous season’s downgrades still fresh in their minds, they decided the additional investment made sense.

McCauley said the family looked at a number of different brands’ headers before coming back to the Axial-Flow “for its simplicity, smooth operation and reliability”, and the “outstanding” service they’ve received from local Case IH dealer, Larwoods Ag Services.

“The 9250 is so smooth and very comfortable. The ease of use is fantastic – everything’s on the joy stick now and the Pro 700’s great,” McCauley said.

“I transferred all our data across to the new screen and it’s as easy as plugging the USB in and it’s all there.

“The service intervals on it are good too – every 100 hours you look it over, give it a grease and you’re good to go again. It’s a very easy machine to look after.”