An American farming operation and its Claas Lexion combine harvester has set two new Guinness World Records
Looking to break the eight and 12-hour harvesting records, the Stewart Farms Partnership harvested 43,740 bushels (1,224.7 tonnes) of corn after eight hours, and 63,770 bushels (1,785.6 tonnes) after the 12-hour mark, taking them to the win.
Despite 12mm of rain falling the previous day, harvesting commenced at 9am in a field in Illinois.
Brothers Bob and Brad of Stewart Farms managed the task. Bob drove the combine while Brad managed the logistics.
It wasn’t an easy task, with Brad having to keep three grain carts and 10 trucks running at top speed to keep up with the Claas Lexion combine.
“The machine is very impressive – it’s incredibly reliable and just eats corn,” Brad says.
“Our biggest worry was having enough trucks so that we didn’t keep the combine waiting,” he adds.
Compared to its 2010 counterpart, today’s Lexion 760 offers plenty of ongoing improvements to the platform, all of which Claas attributes to these new records.
But, the standout is the Cemos Automatic, the new flagship technology available as an option on 700 Series Lexion combines.
The word from Claas is that the Cemos Automatic automatically and autonomously optimizes ground speed and system settings throughout the combine, based on changing conditions.
“The Cruise Pilot [part of the Cemos Automatic] will actually optimize its own speed and make the adjustments for you on the back end. It’s a big deal,” Bob says.
“A lot has changed in the last eight years on the Lexion 760 Terra Trac,” Claas America product manager/field support Jeff Gray adds.
“More engine horsepower, a higher capacity feeder house drive, a larger grain tank, faster unloading, a more efficient Dynamic Cooling System and higher capacity sieves made this challenge easier than the one we did in 2010.”
The Stewarts also knocked off the unofficial 10-hour harvest record, which they claimed eight years ago.