#Farm Machinery & Equipment
Revolutionary combine IDEAL for all harvesting conditions
New Massey Ferguson IDEAL combine debuts at Wimmera and bags prestigious machinery award
With its striking graphite livery and mind-blowing array of technology built in, AGCO’s IDEAL combine commanded worldwide attention the moment it was released at Agritechnica about two years ago.
The combine harvester, badged with the Massey Ferguson logo in Australia, is the company’s first axial combine with a “clean sheet” design in 30 years.
To date, the machine has bagged numerous awards overseas namely a silver medal and a Machine of the Year award at Agritechnica; the coveted Red Dot: Best of the Best design award; and an AE50 Award by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) for new innovative technologies.
Making its official Australian debut at the Wimmera Machinery Field Days in March, the Massey Ferguson IDEAL combine also snapped up the prestigious Machine of the Year award at the show.
According to Steve Graetz from AGCO dealership Traction Ag, the IDEAL combine was the result of years of research and development to create a “game-changing” combine that offers maximum efficiency and superior grain quality.
Traction Ag's Steve Graetz holding up the Machine of the Year award the Massey Ferguson IDEAL combine won at the Wimmera Machinery Field Days
“From the drawing board, (AGCO) has looked at all of the technology available in the industry and they've used the best of what they could find to put into this machine,” he said.
“It has produced a machine that is easy to use and provides a very good product in the harvesting as far as the sample goes.
“It also treats the straw very gently too to enable baling following the harvesting operation.”
There are three models available in the IDEAL range, namely the IDEAL 7, IDEAL 8 and IDEAL 9, offering up to 650hp for the class 9 unit.
With the brand new design, AGCO claims to have a number of industry leading features in the IDEAL combine, including the longest rotors in the industry at 4.84m. It also claims to have the largest threshing area in the business at 43.7 square-feet, offering 31 per cent more space in the main concave area than the nearest competitor.
The grain tank has a whopping 17,100 litre capacity and the auger has an unloading rate of 210l/sec, which means the full tank can be emptied in just 1.4 minutes.
The new IDEALbalance grain-pan design catches and manages material gently and efficiently for a better and cleaner sample regardless of the terrain.
“There are also mass acoustic detection sensors that sense grain weight and it means that you're able to, from the cab, determine exactly what sort of grain and what load is going through right from the front of the elevators all the way through to the chopper at the back of the machine,” Graetz said.
For improved residue management, the new combines are able to treat straw and chaff either together or separately through the chopper housing and spread them evenly over a wide area.
The combines can be optioned with either track or tyre options depending on the terrain operators will be working on.
The cab has also been given a facelift to provide a comfortable environment for operators spending hours in the cabin.
Some new features include a new ventilated seat, a fridge unit, extra storage and new information dashboard.
“It's very spacious and it's got very narrow pillars to allow vision right through to the end of the comb,” Graetz said.
An optional IDEALharvest app adjusts combine settings automatically on-the-go as variations occur, such as change in crop density and field slope, hence maximising harvesting efficiency.
The IDEAL combine has undergone a series of demonstrations in Australia and has received positive responses from farmers so far.
“One of the most frequent comments that we receive is how quiet the machine is, it's just incredible,” Graetz said.
AGCO's IDEAL combine was badged with the Massey Ferguson logo in Australia
“Even when the machine is fully engaged and in full load, the machine has been said to be so quiet, people can hardly believe it's at full revs.”
