On your marks … ready to go! Great enthusiasm reigned on Grootpan where the big names in the harvesting industry once again competed against each other. The combine harvesters are judged on speed, wastage, and the weight or volume harvested.

Shining bright red, Case had two strong entries at this year’s competition. In the class 6 division, the Case 6150 showed its mettle, and in the class 8 division, the Case 8250 made a clean sweep to walk away as the winner of the day.

Jaun Pieterse, Product Specialist from Case IH, was behind the wheel of the 6150 and Tommie Scholtz, a farmer from Bergville, KwaZulu-Natal, drove the Case 8250.

Case 6150

Jaun Pieterse highlights some features of the Case 6150 harvester: “The 6150 has four chains at the feeder, and also the special rotor we call the Axial Flow rotor, with a diameter of 76,2 cm and it is 274,32 cm long. A unique point that I can highlight is that the grain works against the grain, which results in a very good threshing action.

“The harvester has an 8,7-litre Iveco engine, its grain tank holds 10 500 litres, and your sieve box is adjustable from your cabin,” adds Jaun.

Case’s 6150 harvester took third place in the class 6 division of the race.

The 6150 also showed its mettle in the class 6 division.

Case 8250

Tommie Scholtz, who was behind the wheel of the class 8 Case 8250 winner, tells more about the combine: “The reason why we decided on this harvester was its simple operation. When you have to work on the harvester, you have room to take out the concave and to get inside the machine.”

Tommie tells more: “We also harvest soya beans, and this harvester is one of the few harvesters that the seed companies recommend for harvesting seeds for replanting, because it works thoroughly but gently so that the seed does not split. Of course, this harvester is also strong and works much easier in the green beans as well.”

This combine is equipped with Harvest Command, which makes harvesting easier for you. When you have set up the combine to your specifications and settings, you turn on Harvest Command, which means the machine will adapt to the conditions of your fields, the sieves will open and close automatically, and for operator convenience everything is adjustable from your cabin.

User friendliness

“It is a user-friendly harvester, and as they say, almost any man on the street will be able to get into it and ride it!” said Tommy.

“Another advantage for our farming is when switching from soya beans to maize, you do not have to take out and replace concaves. After harvesting the beans, we clean the stopper, hook up the corn head and we are ready to harvest maize – really simple and easy to skip from one crop to another; nothing complicated.”

Axial Flow

“What also makes the Case unique is that it does not have four accelerators like the other harvesters; it has a large feeder which results in better action in the green material and ensures that grain does not split so easily. So, the material flows in evenly, threshing happens at the front and the material is divided at the back, with minimal waste,” adds Tommie.

“The combine also offers higher capacity, improved efficiency, and better productivity with the help of the integrated tilting sieves and fan adjustments,” says Tommie.

Spacious cabin

Tommie says: “The cabin is comfortable and spacious; nothing is in your way, and you can clearly see where you are working.”

With the standard equipped Advanced Farming Systems (AFS), farmers have first-hand information of everything that happens in the field, virtually in real time.

“We are all here at the harvesting competition to see what the machines can do. I think it is important for a farmer to be able to see what the combine does in the field and how it works,” says Tommie.

“Look, if a machine is so special that you have to get on top of one to ask your wife to marry you, then you should know that you have made the right choice,” concludes Tommie confidently.

The friendly people at Case IH are ready to help you choose the best combine for your farming needs. Find your nearest dealer on their website at www.caseih.co.za.