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Suffolk farmer with an ‘i’ on harvester output
Harvest 2008 will be one that many UK combine operators won’t forget – despite wanting to put it to the back of their minds. But the only drama Suffolk contract farmer James Nott experienced was a camera crew filming his new John Deere S690i combine at work.
James Nott farms 1100ha growing seven different combinable crops on eight separate farms from his base at Ovington Hall near Sudbury, and has run John Deere combines for the past 20 years.
“The new combine replaced a 2003 model 9880 STS and I was always confident it could cope with the area,” he says. “We managed to harvest all the crops without having to call on contractors, and in fact I reckon it is capable of much more – I would say it’s a 1200ha plus combine.” Total harvesting cost for the new machine worked out at £47.50/ha, including fuel, insurance and labour.
“This new model has all the bells and whistles in the form of the ‘i’ specification and actually it’s quite a different beast to the previous John Deere 9880 STS,” James adds. “Last year it was very easily achieving around 50 tonnes per hour. As well as the new electronics, it also has more power and an improved rotor, and the new cleaning system is a massive improvement, especially the sieves.”
The ‘i’ designation means the combine is equipped with AutoTrac assisted steering, HarvestSmart, which adjusts ground speed automatically to match capacity or loss settings, and HarvestDoc, which records information such as yield and moisture content.
James Nott operates the combine himself, with the cab doubling as his farm office during harvest. AutoTrac obviously eases his workload – as well as not having to concentrate on steering straight, he says it always takes a full 9m swath. The S690i combine is also equipped with John Deere’s SF2 GPS satellite signal, and James confirms that the system accuracy really is down to within 10cm.
“Once you have used AutoTrac, you will never want to go back to manual steering again. It’s not just about steering in straight lines, but increasing overall efficiency by always taking a full cut and ensuring each bout always matches up,” he explains.
When starting out James uses the combine’s standard Automatic Combine Adjustment system. This selects the most appropriate rotor setting and speed, as well as cleaning fan and shoe adjustments. “The initial factory settings are very, very good. I then tweak these as I go along to further increase the output,” he says.
Although the new S690i is equipped with the latest electronic technology, James Nott feels it’s the fundamental single rotor design that helps to achieve the output and sample he requires. “I think the whole principle of using centrifugal force to separate grain from straw is a very important consideration. The sample is perfect - there are no cracked grains.”
He is also impressed by the cleaning and separation system on the new combine. “It is a massive improvement. The top sieve is about 30cm longer than the previous model and this, as well as a more balanced airflow over the shoe, really helps to lift output,” he says. “It not only produces a cleaner sample, but it is also not as overstretched and you don’t get any sieve losses – in fact you don’t get any losses at all.”
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