LEXION combines protect grain quality

OMAHA, Neb. — Not only do LEXION combines provide grain handling capacity, but they also protect the quality of the grain during harvesting.

“The LEXION 7000 and 8000 series combines represent a significant change in the design of the combine with nearly 75% difference from the 700 series,” said Jeff Gray, field support product manager for CLAAS of America.

“We’ve been known for our capacity since we introduced the LEXION in 1997, and now we wanted to focus on the logistics,” said Gray about the combines introduced last year that now feature the green and white colors just like all other CLAAS products.

“To improve logistics, we upped the grain handling capacity with a 510-bushel grain tank, and our unload rate is at 5.1 bushels per second,” Gray said. “We can push a 12-row corn head in 250-plus bushel corn over a half mile.”

This type of capacity, Gray said, is what farmers have asked for.

“They want to make the initial pass through the field without having to stop and cut their way in to make room for the auger cart and knock corn down,” Gray said.

“Our clean grain handling capacity is upwards of 6,000 bushels per hour on the 700 series, and now we’re almost to 8,000 bushels per hour capacity,” he said.

“By being able to allow the grain to flow more freely and unrestricted through a larger auger and elevator, that gets the grain out of the cleaning chute faster and you gain capacity through efficiency,” Gray said.

“We enlarged the cylinders and concaves to allow the threshing system to run slower, which really protects the quality of the grain,” he said about the series of combines that includes the 7400, 7500, 8600, 8700 and 8800 models.

“We were so confident in the potential of the system for quality that we wanted to do a benchmark test,” he said.

The Illinois Crop Improvement Association analyzed two varieties of soybeans that were harvested by the LEXION 8600, John Deere S780 and Case IH 8250 combines. The soybeans were evaluated for splits, coating damage and germination.

“Splits are usually how we gage how well the combine is set.” Gray said. “It is the physical thing that customers look at.”

None of the three combines went over 1.5% splits.

“We were at 1.3% splits, right in between the other combines,” Gray said.

Preventing coating damage is important to keep moisture from entering the soybeans during storage.

“That moisture will affect the storage, as well as damage the soybean’s ability to germinate.” Gray said.

“We scored the lowest on coating damage at 4% and our competitors were at 5.1%,” he said. “Our combine was very gentle on the crop.”

It takes about a week to determine the germination rate of soybeans. All three of the combines harvested soybeans with similar germination rates with the soybeans from the LEXION combine at 98.9% germination compared to 98.8% and 98.6% for the competitors.

“So many farmers today are planting seed beans as an additional revenue source, so we knew we needed to give them quality with our combine,” Gray said.

“The previous LEXION combine did a really good job for quality harvesting, and this one is even better with a lot less effort by the operator,” he said. “This is a user friendly combine.”

Combine operators have the ability to make the majority of changes from the cab.

“You have the ability to shift from high to low speed on the threshing system,” Gray said. “In prior models, you had to exit the cab to do that, so we made it an electronic function from the cab because customers have been asking for that.”

The combine features a tri-cylinder threshing system and a dual rotor separation system that allows the operator to fine-tune the threshing and separation speeds independently.

“All too often the threshing speed is too slow for separation and the separation speeds are too fast for threshing,” Gray said. “So, by adjusting those two systems independently, the operator can match the conditions of the crop he is harvesting.”

The LEXION 8600 is a wide chassis combine.

“It is ideal for the customer that wants more capacity, but doesn’t need the extra horsepower of the Class 9 or 10 combine,” Gray said.

For more information about LEXION combines, go to www.claas.com.