Not to be outdone, fellow Phelps County farmer Blake Johnson of 37 Ag decided to put one of his two class-8 CLAAS LEXION 8600TT combines to the test against the higher-horsepower machine.

“Blake called to ask what I thought of the demo and how his CLAAS combine would do against the Deere,” said Ross Martin, Sales Representative at Nebraska Harvest Center. “Given the fact that the combine in question was two class sizes larger with 66 more horsepower, I told him it would be close, but I thought we could hold our own.”

Blake and Ross quickly came up with a plan to test the theory. Blake would talk to the local elevator, arrange for the trucks and knock off the ends of one of his fields, just like the Deere X9 demo. Ross would enlist the help of a CLAAS product specialist and be on hand for the event.

On November 5th at 9:07 a.m., an eight hour countdown clock was started and Blake’s CLAAS LEXION 8600TT entered the field. The combine got off to a quick start, easily keeping pace with the bushel counts recorded by the larger combine and keeping six trucks and three grain carts busy; hauling grain to the CHS elevator in nearby Loomis, Nebraska.

Matt Smith, the CLAAS Territory Manager who covers Nebraska, was able to witness the event and spent a good amount of time in the trainer seat. “For the first five hours the combine was on pace to beat the 8-hour record by a pretty good margin; averaging over 7,400 bushels an hour in 265-280 bushel corn. . . then we got a reality check. “The combine hit a deep irrigation track left by the center pivot at six-and-a-half miles an hour. We planted one of the snouts on the corn head into the ground and snapped it off.”

The setback shut them down for about 15 minutes. Then, about an hour later, they hit another.

“After breezing through the first half of the challenge, we got a bit overconfident,” said Ross. “We should have backed off a bit when we ran across the uneven ground. Instead, the field repairs to the snouts really cost us time we didn’t have.”

When the countdown clock hit zero, the team shut down the combine and emptied what remained in the tank. It appeared that they had beat the 8-hour bushel mark set by the class-10 in spite of the setbacks, but the numbers were close. The team held their breath as the last truck dropped off the final load and the elevator tickets were tabulated.

When Blake Johnson returned to field, he had the third-party proof that everyone was waiting for: 57,926.76 dry weight bushels had crossed the scale – 500 bushels more than the larger Deere. In spite of the time lost, the team at 37 Ag and Nebraska Harvest Center had done it.

Watch the Video

Congratulations to the Johnson family and the entire team who helped put the CLAAS LEXION 8600TT in the spotlight!

The patented APS HYBRID SYSTEM, a combination of the accelerated pre-separation (APS) threshing unit and the ROTO PLUS residual grain separation system, was a world first at the 1995 Agritechnica show. It became the global benchmark for throughput and grain quality as well as multicrop capability in the high-performance combine harvester segment. With the APS threshing unit and two smooth-running axial rotors for gentle residual grain separation, this technology enabled grain throughput rates in wheat of more than 1378 bu/hr (35 tons per hour), which increased to more than 1575 bu/hr (40 tons/hr) when longer rotors were introduced in 1996. Other trend-setting features were the active swivel-action spreaders capable of spreading straw across the entire cutting width of the front attachment and the advanced VISTA CAB with a CEBIS screen.

In 1998, the LEXION 480 again pioneered new technology by becoming the first large combine harvester to be equipped with front-axle rubber tracks. The TERRA TRAC system reduced ground compaction significantly as headers were becoming ever wider and heavier — and they did so while keeping the transport width within the 11' 6" European road restrictions. Another breakthrough came in 2011, when road travel on crawler tracks at speeds of up to 25 mph became possible — a record at the time!

In 2002, CLAAS celebrated the production of the 10,000th LEXION combine — a 480 TERRA TRAC. In 2008, the LEXION 600 set a Guinness world record: harvesting 19,547 bu (532 tons) of wheat in 8 hours with a single combine harvester. And in 2011, a LEXION 770 TERRA TRAC broke this record by threshing an incredible 24,802 bu (675 tons) of wheat in 8 hours in the UK.

2019 saw CLAAS launch the latest generation of its successful large combine harvester lineup with the new LEXION 8000-6000 model series offering more performance, more throughput, more intelligence and even more comfort — as well as the largest grain tank in the market at 510 bushels* and an impressive unload rate of up to 5.1 bu/sec. This award-winning LEXION lineup — including two Machine of the Year 2020 awards for the APS SYNFLOW HYBRID threshing and separation system — has once again set standards for fuel efficiency with the most advanced MAN and Mercedes-Benz engines. One unique feature offered in the latest series is the CEMOS AUTOMATIC machine optimization system. Still the industry leader, this self-learning system continuously optimizes areas such as primary separation, cleaning, secondary separation and engine load.

"With so many positive characteristics, it is clear that CLAAS will continue to rely on the APS SYNFLOW HYBRID system in the upper performance classes," explains Jan-Hendrik Mohr, CLAAS executive board member in charge of Business Unit Grain Harvest. "The LEXION is better equipped than any other combine harvester to face the diverse needs of the global market. Satisfied, loyal customers all over the world are the best proof of this. However, the pressure of costs and time as well as expectations regarding comfort continue to increase, which drive our engineers to work every day on the further development of CLAAS combine harvesters."

Incidentally, wheat is not the only crop in which the LEXION combine excels. Just recently, a class-8 CLAAS LEXION 8600 TERRA TRAC harvested a record 57,926 dry bushels (2,041 tons) of corn in 8 hours, averaging 7,240.75 bu/hr (255 tons/hr). In addition to its impressive performance in corn by 37 Ag and Nebraska Harvest Center (link to story), the LEXION proved to be extremely capable in delivering superior grain quality in side-by-side soybean tests.

Corn Video

Soybean Video

CLAAS has never rested on its laurels where records are concerned — so the development process continues…

DataConnect enables the exchange of essential machinery data among different platforms, allowing users to view all of their mixed-brand fleet information within the single data platform of their choice. Previously, viewing such information required duplicating effort by using each manufacturer’s corresponding but separate platforms or web portals.

The structure of this new direct, cloud-to-cloud solution enables a seamless and automated data flow without any effort required by the customer. The real-time data exchange allows a live overview of the whole machinery fleet. Furthermore, DataConnect works without any additional hardware or software components and ensures secure data handling.

With this new approach, customers can view five different machinery data sets for their fleet:

• current machine location
  
• historical machine location
  
• fuel tank level
  
• status of the machine in the field
  
• machine speed
  

Customers can decide which company’s digital platform they prefer to use to display all the data. As soon as they are connected, other manufacturers’ machines appear automatically. Machines are either displayed with icons in the respective brand’s color combination or are visible in the icon’s information panel. Customers can expect additional partners and enhanced functionality to follow at a later date.

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Your CLAAS Dealer has an even wider selection of toys, models, apparel and merchandise available through our global distribution network. Flip through our latest catalogs and order them directly through your dealer. Your gifts will be available for pickup at your dealership!

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Be sure to talk to your CLAAS dealer about our recently added tractor lines, our powerful new 8000-6000 Series LEXION combines, our industry-leading JAGUAR forage harvesters and much more! You’ll find great purchase and lease options on all of our products now through December 31, 2020. See your CLAAS dealer today!

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