Fendt Ideal 7T Combine Delivers Impressive Results in Norfolk

When a Norfolk family farm trialled a Fendt Ideal rotary combine last year, the farm’s owners and manager were so impressed by its performance and design that they placed an order within just two weeks of the demonstration. The Ideal arrived back on the farm in time to finish the harvest.

 

Trading as the MacGregor Farming Partnership, and based at Mill Farm, Great Witchingham, the family-owned mixed arable and livestock enterprise extends to approximately 500ha. Conventional crops include wheat, oilseed rape, barley, peas and beans, but organic crops grown for seed are a speciality including wheat, oats, barley, beans and Quinoa. Organic vegetable crops are grown within the rotation on land rented by a local producer, and the farm also has a herd of pedigree Beef Shorthorn cattle, and a flock of organic Poll Dorset sheep.

 

Advantages immediately apparent

“We hadn’t planned to replace our existing straw walker combine,” explained Farm Manager, Leigh Nobes. “But we have an excellent relationship with the team at Thurlow Nunn Standen (TNS) and have relied on Fendt tractors for more than 30 years, so when Area Sales Manager, Josh Taylor asked if he could bring the Fendt Ideal 7T to demonstrate mid-harvest we were keen to try it. In the short time it was with us we harvested wheat, oats and beans. Despite high trash volumes it performed well and was more relaxing to operate than our own combine.

“It was also exceptionally easy to clean. As a seed grower, ensuring the combine is thoroughly clean and free of residues when changing between different crops and varieties is always our priority, so we could see the Ideal 7T design would save us a lot of time during harvest.”

Growing for seed

The Ideal 7T is capable of much higher work rates than the previous combine. “We could clean crops when they enter the stores, but it’s easier and more efficient to use the combine’s cleaning ability in the field, even if it means we aren’t working at maximum speed,” said Leigh. “The Ideal 7T has more capacity than we require for our cropped area, but this allows us to prioritise separation and cleaning performance over speed of operation, while remaining confident that we can complete harvest in the good weather windows available.

“That was a benefit this year with weed populations higher than usual in some of our organic crops after the prolonged wet spring. Weeds remained green even when crops were ripe, so the combine had to separate the grain from large volumes of trash.  When conditions are particularly bad then I reduce the speed and give the separating system more time to release the grain,” he continued. “Some of our beans were particularly badly affected, but the Fendt did a great job and achieved an excellent sample, while losses remained well below one per cent. Our previous straw walker combine would have struggled to achieve a good sample and keep losses within acceptable limits in those conditions.”

 

Plenty of power

The Ideal 7T is never short of power. “We harvested conventional wheat yielding 9.5t/ha this year, while chopping the large amount of damp straw. The cab display indicated that up to 110% of the rated engine power was utilised, so we were relying on the engine’s phenomenal torque back-up, but this wasn’t noticeable in the cab. It never feels as if the combine is working hard. Without pushing it, we achieve average work rates of 35–36t/hr in conventional wheat with peak outputs up to 45t/hr. The Ideal 7T single rotor combine has a 9.2m header whereas our previous straw-walker machine had a 5.1m header, but we get more than twice the output from the new combine while losses remain lower.

“So far, the largest area we harvested in one day was 42ha of organic oats grown for seed. That was between five small fields where the header was removed and reattached for road travel each time. We didn’t start early or work particularly late, and we prioritised sample quality and low losses, so its capabilities are quite impressive.”

‘Brilliant’ header

Leigh describes the SuperFlow header with its rubber belt feed from the knife to the main table auger as ‘brilliant’, and he highlighted advantages for harvesting oilseed rape and peas. “Being able to adjust the header angle from the cab and pitch it forward means that we can push the knife and leading edge of the bed under crops and comb them off the ground. It significantly helps reduce table losses in laid and short stem crops and, checking afterwards, it’s hard to find anything it’s missed.”

Great dealer back-up

The back-up from the TNS Fakenham team has proved excellent. Any spare parts needed have always been available from the dealer’s stock. When a breakdown stopped work this harvest, Leigh called the TNS Fakenham service team and an engineer came out to do the repair. Just 75 minutes after stopping the combine was running again, and Leigh said that this included half an hour travelling from the depot to the farm.

 

“Fendt Ideal combines always impress during demonstrations, as the clever but simple design means they perform well in the widest range of crops and conditions,” commented Josh. “Having worked closely with Leigh and the rest of the Mill Farm team for many years I understand their priorities, which is why I was so confident that the Ideal 7T offered the features and capability they need.

“It was a big step-up in terms of performance compared to their previous combine, but the ease of set-up and use as well as the ability to quickly clean it between different crops and varieties to prevent cross contamination was just as important. I’m pleased, but not surprised, that Leigh finds it such a pleasure to drive.”

Comfortable cab

The Ideal 7T is the farm’s first tracked combine. Leigh finds it easier to move on narrow roads than the previous wheeled machine, and the rubber tracks and spacious, quiet cab provide a comfortable ride. “I have a bad back but with my feet on the footrests the driving position is extremely comfortable and I’m happy to sit in the cab and drive it all day.

“The Varioterminal touchscreen is like those in our Fendt tractors and shares similar operating logic and a familiar layout. It’s easy to navigate around the screen and change settings. The automation is excellent and being able to change almost every setting from the cab on the move means I can constantly adapt the combine systems for the conditions. HarvestPlus is particularly useful. It allows me to set parameters for sieve losses and the intake load and the combine then operates within these by automatically adjusting its speed. I just push the main joystick to the side to activate it. It’s like cruise control and reacts far more quickly to changing conditions than I can driving it manually using the stick.”

 

Happy with Fendt fleet

“We are very pleased with our decision to upgrade from our previous straw walker machine to the Fendt Ideal 7T,” confirmed Leigh.

“The support and back-up from Fendt as well as Josh Taylor and the rest of the TNS team is always excellent, and we remain extremely happy with our all-Fendt tractor and combine fleet.”