While developing the new Fendt combine, engineers ran hands-on lab studies of every manufacturer’s rotors, watched how they handled various crop mass under different conditions, and picking the best qualities, combined them in a single machine called IDEAL, noted Maksym Dmytrenko, Fendt product specialist at ABA “Astra”.
This isn’t the first time the Fendt IDEAL combine has shown off its capabilities in Ukrainian fields, and this year AGCO decided to focus on grain harvesting to prove: a rotary combine can be versatile. So this time, the flagship’s performance was demonstrated during the seventh Fendt IDEAL Tour event, on rye, wheat, barley and rapeseed at the “UIFK-Agro” farm in Kyiv region. Traktorist.ua also attended the event. Did AGCO manage to break the stereotype?
The combine with the largest rotor on the market: the 2021 demo tour
Dear friends and partners, today we’re running a demonstration tour of the Fendt IDEAL combine. This isn’t the machine’s first tour of Ukraine, but in 2019 we noted quite high interest in the machine and decided to repeat it in 2021. On the first demonstrations, we drove across almost the whole country, from south to north. From the north we’ll head west, where we’ll wrap up the tour on grain crops. But that’s not the end, because later we’ll meet you again for a combine demonstration on corn. We have more to surprise you with!
1 – Marketing Director, AGCO Corporation, Eastern Europe
Anton Kostyrko, Marketing Director, AGCO Corporation, Eastern Europe
The flagship demonstration was run directly by AGCO Corporation product specialist Vitalii Panicherskyi. We were curious how a combine with the largest rotor on the world market would handle rye, wheat and barley, since, as far as we know, since time immemorial, that is, since the first rotor came into being, rotary combines have been intended purely for corn harvesting.
With this machine we’re not just changing the view on the harvesting process, we’re firmly breaking the stereotype that a rotary machine is unsuitable for grain crops. In this field where we are, harvesting conditions are quite tough, caused by partial lodging of the crop, and even with the best will in the world, the machine won’t show high output here. But these conditions are excellent for demonstrating all the advantages of the PowerFlow header. It feeds crop material evenly, which guarantees clean grain output. By the criteria of picking up material from the field and grain quality, our combine has shown excellent results and you can see that for yourselves.
Vitalii Panicherskyi – AGCO Corporation product specialist
Vitalii Panicherskyi, AGCO Corporation product specialist
Convincing evidence means concrete results. For combines, these come down to two main indicators: yield and loss level.
Fendt IDEAL results harvesting rapeseed, wheat and barley
During the earlier sixth tour on grain crops and rapeseed, the Fendt IDEAL showed positive results in the ratio of yield to grain loss, which on average didn’t exceed the 0.5% mark, an acceptable norm.
Rapeseed yield came to 2.43 t/ha at a combine output of 4.9 ha/h. Fuel consumption at that rate was around 10.8 l/ha. For wheat, yield results were 5.8 t/ha at an output of 4.7 ha/h. Fuel consumption — 13.1 l/ha. The barley yield figure was recorded at 8.9 t/ha at an output of 4.3 ha/h and fuel consumption of 15.4 l/ha. These are genuinely good results, and the PowerFlow header made a major contribution to achieving them, but the header isn’t the only thing that’s earned IDEAL its reputation.
Harvesting
Fendt IDEAL engine and threshing system features
The combine engine’s main job is threshing. That is, the engine has to put all its power into threshing, separating and cleaning the grain, at a minimum cost to the hydraulics that drive the combine. For efficient power-transfer distribution, the combine is fitted with the DriveCenter transmission.
Vitalii Panicherskyi – AGCO Corporation product specialist
The combine’s distinctiveness is also driven by its MAN engine, 12.4 l in displacement, with up to 538 hp. The engine runs at low revs, with a working speed of 1,900 rpm. This delivers economical fuel consumption of around 2.1-2.2 l/h.
Still, the biggest standout features of the IDEAL are its threshing, separation and cleaning system. Specifically, a 4.84 m rotor. Overall, the threshing zone consists of two rotors and 4+4 concave sections. The front section has a special cover at the inlet for more aggressive threshing, which can be removed to increase the threshing area.
At the 2019 Fendt IDEAL demonstration on corn, we achieved output of 80 t/h, whereas on grain crops it was 40 t/h. Why is that? Because grain crops give an even split between grain yield and straw. So, passing through 40 t of grain, we’re also passing through 40 t of straw. But our combine performs very well on grain crops, as shown by the harvest loss level. With a rye yield of 6 t/ha, accounting for crop lodging, losses came to 0.25%. I believe we’ve fully debunked the myth that a rotary machine is only suited to corn harvesting.
Mykola Harmash – AGCO machinery specialist
Overall, according to Mykola Harmash, across all Fendt IDEAL demonstrations, harvest losses never exceeded 0.7%.
Service support for Fendt machinery users
This machine can fully cover all of a farm’s harvesting needs, which is why it’s in exceptional demand among our thousand-plus-hectare customers. Of course, the Fendt IDEAL sees greater demand among large operations, but from our experience, farmers with a land bank of 1-1.5 thousand ha are interested in it too.
Maksym Dmytrenko – Fendt product specialist at ABA “Astra”
Maksym Dmytrenko, Fendt product specialist at ABA “Astra”
On service and spare parts, ABA “Astra”, the official dealer for AGCO Corporation machinery, has service bays, spare parts, and a sufficient number (more than ten in each region) of service engineers in every region, ready to reach a farm promptly and fix any faults.
ABA “Astra”‘s service staff gain their knowledge directly at the manufacturer’s plants, and then undergo specialized training from AGCO Corporation in Ukraine.
Every new machine delivered to a customer arrives accompanied by a service engineer, who spends several days at the farm and trains the operator. For all its innovation, the Fendt IDEAL is simple to operate and service. For instance, when it comes to lubrication points, this needs to be done, in most cases, once every 50 engine-hours.
Maksym Dmytrenko – Fendt product specialist at ABA “Astra”
Fendt IDEAL
The machine got positive feedback from farmers, chief engineers and machine operators present at the demonstration. For farmers, the combine’s defining positive feature was its low loss rate at harvest. For Volodymyr Khodiun, a machine operator at “UIFK-Agro”, the main plus alongside its harvesting qualities was comfort.
Sitting behind the wheel, you immediately notice the combine doesn’t vibrate, moves smoothly and doesn’t make noise. I’ve had experience with Fendt-brand tractors, they’re quality machines. I think this combine will keep up the brand’s reputation.
Volodymyr Khodiun – machine operator at “UIFK-Agro”
On that positive note, the IDEAL combine’s summer demo tour wrapped up: rye and wheat yield around 6 t/ha and an average loss level around 0.5%, satisfied event guests, and no less pleased AGCO Corporation representatives, since the seventh tour lived up to their expectations and once again confirmed the manufacturer’s word to farmers: a rotary machine that’s suited to grain harvesting.
