A record breaking performance.

A CLAAS LEXION 8600 combine reigns supreme in Phelps County Nebraska.

Blake Johnson uses one of his two class-8 CLAAS LEXION 8600TT combines to break the record set by a higher-horsepower machine alongside teams at 37 AG and Nebraska Harvest Center.

LEXION 8000-7000

A record breaking performance.

A CLAAS LEXION 8600 combine reigns supreme in Phelps County Nebraska.

Blake Johnson uses one of his two class-8 CLAAS LEXION 8600TT combines to break the record set by a higher-horsepower machine alongside teams at 37 AG and Nebraska Harvest Center.

The most productive 8 hours in a class-8 combine. Ever.

At a recent demo in Phelps County Nebraska, a class-10 John Deere X9 combine harvested 67,639 bushels of corn in 9 hours and 20 minutes – 57,426 bushels in the first eight hours. An impressive feat by all accounts.

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.

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

 
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