AGCO’s New Fendt IDEAL Combine Makes North American Debut

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AGCO recently debuted its new Fendt IDEAL combine in North America at the 2018 Canada’s Farm Progress Show. (Photo courtesy of AGCO.)

Ag producers, dealers, and media members got their first look at AGCO’s upcoming Fendt IDEAL combine at the recent 2018 Canada’s Farm Progress Show in Regina, Saskatchewan. The appearance marked the North American debut for the combine, which according to AGCO features the industry’s first clean-sheet design of an axial combine in 30 years. IDEAL buyers will receive aftercare service support via the Fendt Gold Star Customer Care Plan. Besides Fendt, AGCO owns the Challenger, GSI, Massey Ferguson, and Valtra brands.

Years In Development

AGCO will offer the Fendt IDEAL in Class 7, 8, and 9 models. Compatible headers suitable for small grains and canola will include the Gleaner 9255 DynaFlex draper unit in 25-, 30-, 35-, and 40-foot (7.6-, 9.1-, 10.7-, and 12.2-meter) versions and the 15-foot (4.6-meter) Gleaner 4300 pickup head. The IDEAL is also compatible with Gleaner’s Command Series corn head.

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Featuring what AGCO claims is the industry’s first clean-sheet design of an axial combine in 30 years, the new Fendt IDEAL combine will be available in Class 7, 8, and 9 models. (Photo courtesy of AGCO.)

Caleb Schleder, AGCO tactical marketing manager for combines, says AGCO’s global design team developed the IDEAL with input from global producers who indicated they most desired “in-field efficiency, unrelenting uptime, radically simple operation, and better grain quality.” AGCO spent seven years testing the IDEAL, including in the “most extreme conditions in a variety of global crops,” Schleder says.

Real-Time Visualization

Designed with automation in mind, the IDEAL includes the IDEALharvest system that enables real-time visualization of crop flow from inside the combine. Usage of specialized sensors helps the IDEAL decide what is and isn’t grain and directs IDEALharvest to alter combine settings to stick to the operator’s pre-selected parameters. This “reduces the effort of the operator as conditions change throughout the day,” Schleder says. The system also adjusts for sudden changes in crop density, field slope, and other conditions.

The IDEAL uses a redesigned rotor that’s gentler on crops and straw and includes a new dual-helix processor measuring 2 feet (0.61 meters) in diameter and roughly 16 feet (4.9 meters) long. AGCO says that is nearly two feet longer than those in competing machines, which enables materials to “generate huge centrifugal force at a much lower speed and remain in the rotor for longer.” Elsewhere, the IDEAL’s Streamer 6.0 high-capacity unloading system includes a 485-bushel grain bin the combine can unload six seconds faster than competitors’ 350-bushel bins.

Source: AGCO

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