Lots of power, yet easy on fuel

One of the newest additions to the Blindauer farm is a CR960 rotary combine. "Even when the beans get dry, the CR doesn't split the beans nearly as much as a conventional combine," says Chad Blindauer.

Switch to rotary combines

Chad Blindauer and his father, Don, farm just under 7,000 acres of corn, soybeans and winter wheat in Mitchell, South Dakota. They've been no-till farm managers since the early 1990s and they also run a herd of 275 commercial cows.

Traditionally, the father-son team did their harvesting with a conventional combine. They start straight-cutting wheat in mid- to late-July. They're doing soybeans in September and October, and corn after that.

Chad had heard and seen good things about New Holland Twin Rotor® combines, but had been comfortable for many years with conventional combines. As the 2003 wheat harvest approached, Chad and his father reached a decision: it was time for them to try a New Holland rotary for themselves.

"For all the power they have, they don't use very much fuel."
—Chad Blindauer

"We tried the New Holland CR960 and liked it," he says. "We ended up buying the same demo unit and have used it two seasons now. We traded a couple John Deere combines for the CR960." Lower fuel consumption is one of the big changes.

Easy on fuel

"It's really easy on fuel," Chad says. "Considering the amount of horsepower it has, I thought it would take a lot more fuel than it does." The CR960 is rated for 330 horsepower, about 65 horsepower more than the larger of the two combines that were traded.

As a guy who also does spraying using GPS, Chad is comfortable with detailed records. He makes a note on the amount of fuel each time he fills a tank.

"The surprising thing is that for all the power they have, they don't use very much fuel. That's what I couldn't get over. The most fuel the CR960 ever used was 8 gallons an hour. It always took just a little more in corn than in beans. Consistently, it just took a lot less fuel than I thought it would. That really made me happy.

"The lowest amount that it used, that I checked, was 6.2 gallons per hour. For a machine with 330 horsepower, to me that was unbelievable. The old combine that I had before this didn't do that well, and it didn't have nearly the horsepower."

In the past, when their crops were heavy, Chad and his father wished for more horsepower as they struggled to keep the conventional combines from getting bogged down or plugged up. It wasn't an issue for the past two seasons.

"I was real happy with the power," Chad says. "I never got to a point where I ran out of horsepower. You can't beat the engines they put in those combines. They've got all kinds of power."

Heavy bean crop

Last year, Chad challenged his CR960 in some heavy soybeans, straight-cutting with his 36 draper header.

Again, he says, "The capacity is unbelievable."

A good working relationship keeps father and son Chad and Don Blindauer coming back to their New Holland dealership for their equipment needs.

He says, "We had some poor beans. We also had some areas that were getting up to 80 bushels an acre – that's unheard of in our area. We might have a field average of 60 bushels, and some spots in the field actually were 80-bushel beans. That's going by the yield monitor, and it was always very accurate.

"The fact that you could do such a nice job, get such a clean sample, and still be able to move as fast as I was moving was surprising. I didn't really track how fast I was moving, but I could sure get a lot more done — let's put it that way."

In a sense, the job had been only half done when his beans were in the tank with the conventional combines.

"Before, you'd have a mix of beans and bean pods. They're hard to keep out in certain conditions, but it wasn't that way this time. There was no trash in the tank. Even when the beans get dry, the CR960 doesn't split the beans nearly as much as a conventional combine. Usually, when beans get dry, a conventional combine has a tough time keeping a clean sample and a tough time keeping it from splitting the beans. This rotary did such a nice job; it's such a nice grain sample."

Add one other detail to the economy, horsepower and cleaning capacity — rear-wheel assist.

Rear-wheel assist on the CR960 saved a lot of grief for the family when wet conditions set in during the last part of the 2004 harvest. "With that, I was able to get some of the corn off that I wouldn't have otherwise," he says.

Rear-wheel assist is an option that they've chosen before. Chad says, "There are not a lot of times when you need it, but when you do need it, it's a life saver. This combine didn't have it when we did the demo, but they offered it, so we had them put it on."

The Blindauers had good working relations with the New Holland dealer long before this combine purchase, he notes.

Chad's grandfather had Ford tractors. Chad and his father still use a little 1962 Ford 601 with a loader nearly every day. They added a New Holland 115 PTO-hp TM140 tractor with front-wheel assist to the yard for the heavy loader work earlier this year.

"The TM140 is right in the size we wanted. We'll use it year-round. The thing I like the best about it is the suspension cab. Going down the road, it's just as smooth as can be. That's the first thing I really noticed about it," Chad says.

Sales, service and parts are all interwoven in their relations with the New Holland dealership. There's a good attitude and an understanding they're in it together for the long haul.

Chad says, "Any time I have a problem, they're always right there. Particularly the salesman I've dealt with. He goes above and beyond what I would expect. If you have a problem, he doesn't hesitate to help you out."


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