As of 2020, the world's largest combine is the Claas Lexion 8900, the flagship of the 8000 series. Thus, Claas launched the most powerful combine last year, proving to be the market leader in Europe. The 790hp Lexion 8900 model features a brand new blending system – APS Synflow Hybrid. Its technical solutions allow for threshing of a higher percentage of grain, providing superior separation efficiency. In addition, Lexion 8900, which has an impressive grain tank that can hold up to 18,000 liters of water and takes 100 seconds to empty, underlines its superiority.
However, the Claas above is not the single most powerful combine. The new Fendt IDEAL 10 continues to follow with enthusiasm. It also has an outstanding power output of 790hp. First introduced at Agritechnica 2019, this combine beast is now available in North America and is undergoing test drives in Europe. Fendt IDEAL 10 will be ready for the 2021 harvest. And it has the potential to lead the era of steeringless combines. Instead it features Fendt's joystick IdealDrive steering system. Thus, the driver is allegedly allowed to view the cutting head directly.
The new John Deere X9 combine is another challenger to unlock new horizons in harvesting productivity and efficiency. Alongside the aforementioned Ideal 10, the X9 1100 was created to be the brand's most powerful harvester. Both harvester giants were introduced at Agritechnica 2019, field-tested in 2020, and both are on sale for the 2021 harvest season.
The larger the build volume of the machine, the greater the increase in performance can be achieved. The X9's designers aimed to use the build volume and all its performance-defining subassemblies as efficiently as possible. That's why they prioritized profitability over size (Fendt Ideal outperformed the John Deere X9 in capacity).
