Tim McClelland amongst his canola crop.
Reduced grain loss is the main advantage of Case IH’s AFS Harvest Command automation on his 7250 Axial-Flow Combine Harvester, according to Victorian southern Mallee mixed farmer Tim McClelland, who achieved sub 2% grain loss at harvest in late 2020.
Mr McClelland, a long-time O’Connors customer, purchased the new machine in November 2020 just prior to harvest.
The AFS Harvest Command is designed to improve grain quality and grain savings through sensing and optimising machine settings. Rotor speed, engine load, federate control and sieve settings are all monitored and adjusted as conditions change, without driver intervention. The AFS Harvest Command automatically adjusts based on feedback from the sensors and targets the maximum ground speed and engine load as set by the operator.
The high level of automation enables less experienced operators to achieve similar levels of productivity and performance to those more experienced. Mr McClelland had an employee for harvest 2020 who had no experience with combines. “The AFS Harvest Command requires much less knowledge about harvesting to achieve great results,” said Tim.
Mr McClelland added that it was helpful to have a moderate level of computer literacy to enable correct set-up to ensure the machine operated as efficiently as possible.
O’Connors, the largest Case IH dealer network in Australia, focus on staff training to ensure they are well positioned to assist customers to maximise the potential of the technology.
“The O’Connors team are very knowledgeable and helped us set up and understand the new system. We were working with a new machine and new technology and were learning along the way,” Tim said.
“O’Connors are great to work with, which is why we have done so for many years.”
To learn more about the AFS Harvest Command on the Axial-Flow 250 Series, contact your nearest O’Connors branch.