John Deere X9 smashes 1000-tonne-per-day challenge

John Deere has put one of its most intelligent machines, the X9 1100 combine harvester to the test, where it successfully harvested 1000-tonne in a single day in Victoria’s Wimmera region in December 2023.

The challenge, titled ‘Harvest X’, was documented in a four-part series on John Deere Australia’s YouTube channel that has attracted hundreds of thousands of viewers from across the globe.

It all started when fifth-generation farmers and contractors, Chris and Dale Bartlett, received their X9 amid a particularly tough season.

The brothers run Bartlett Brothers Harvesting as well as continuing the 150-year-old family tradition of growing wheat at Pimpinio and nearby Dimboola, where Harvest X took place.

In addition to the X9, the brothers’ fleet also includes John Deere’s S-series combine harvesters.

“I’m keen to see what this X9 can do,” Chris Bartlett said.

“This year has probably been one of the best crops we’ve grown, but we’ve come to December with the worst conditions.”

With a four-day window set aside for the attempt, the challenge got off to a shaky start with the first day rained out. On day two, temperatures soared into the high 30s, helping to dry out the crop, but it triggered a fire ban for day three, again stalling the attempt.

The John Deere team, led by Production Systems Manager, Ben Kelly, launched into the challenge on the final day, with John Deere 8RX 370 and 9R 490 tractors and chaser bins supporting the effort.

“1000 tonnes is a huge benchmark to hit,” Kelly said.

“The main things we want to look at are maximising the tonnes per hour, keeping grain loss below one per cent, maintaining a good cut height and spread width for next season’s seeding, and achieving efficiency and fuel economy because the X9 not only has a greater capacity than the S790, it also uses 20 per cent less fuel.”

The Harvest X journey was published to John Deere’s YouTube and Facebook channels in four instalments across April and May 2024. To date, the series has recorded more than 650,000 views.

“We have been blown away by the response to Harvest X,” Kelly said.

“There has been so much interest in the challenge, the machine and the results, which we were monitoring in the field in real-time through John Deere Operations Center.

“We would like to thank Chris and Dale Bartlett for their hospitality in helping us offer a glimpse of the realities of farming and harvest in Australia’s unique conditions, the shortening windows for harvest and the capabilities of the X9.

“It really has been a team effort and the X9 proved how exceptional it is even in the toughest of real-world conditions.”

Tonnes harvested: 1000
Throughput: 72t/hr
Harvesting time: 13:53.12
Total time: 15:03,04 (including downtime)
Average yield: 5.1 t/ha
Average moisture: 10.2%
Area harvested: 196ha
Losses: 0.7%
Productivity: 14.1ha/hr
Total fuel: 1,598l
Fuel efficiency: 1.6t/l
Fuel per hectare: 8.2l/ha
Temperature range: 13.1 – 23.8 degrees Celsius
Humidity range: 48%-92%