This year marks 50 years since New Holland first introduced its twin rotor threshing and separation technology. In 1975, the brand unveiled its TR70 combine, the first machine fitted with such threshing technology – which today still remains a core design feature of the brand’s entire twin-rotor range, led by the latest CR10 and CR11 models.
The milestone will be celebrated globally, with special displays at shows and exhibitions.
The company says that over 70,000 TR and CR twin-rotor combines have been produced globally to date. New Holland’s Centre of Harvesting Excellence in Zedelgem, Belgium, has recently undergone significant investment and upgrading for production of the latest CR10 and CR11 models.
Where it started
New Holland entered the combine market in 1964 having acquired Belgian company Claeys, which had introduced its first self-propelled combine in 1952. Over the decade that followed, New Holland continued to develop the conventional straw-walker combine line it had acquired, but during the 1960s began to investigate new ways of threshing and separating grain to boost output, increase cleanliness and reduce losses.
To do this, New Holland says its engineers studied centrifugal force and its potential for separating grains, an innovative concept distinctly different from the drum/concave and straw-walker traditional method of threshing and separation. The first development machine, adapted from a 985 straw-walker model from the Claeys factory in Belgium, was trialled in corn in 1968, and wheat the following year.
The high speed of the rotors meant centrifugal force ejected much of the grain through the concaves, minimising grain damage when compared to conventional drum and concave threshing, and reducing losses when set against straw-walker separation.
The TR89 was the last of the TR series, launched in 1999.
First twin rotor
By 1969, a new combine design with these internal elements was under test, and in 1975 the first production model, the TR70 with a 145hp engine and 5,550l grain tank, was launched – the first New Holland combine built in the USA. For 1979 it was replaced by the upgraded TR75, and joined by a larger companion, the TR85. Over the next two decades the range evolved, with the 25,000th TR combine produced in 1997.
New Holland explained that European high-capacity combine development had taken a separate path with the development of the twin-flow combines introduced in 1983. These used a conventional drum and concave followed by a large beater and rotary separator and then a lateral twin-flow rotor that split the crop into two streams to separate the final grains.
By the late 1990s, New Holland noted that its engineers in Europe and North America began work on a totally new twin-rotor design that would meet the needs of farmers around the world in all types of combinable crops.
Introduced in 2002 and blending key features from the TR and TF machines with new developments and styling, the 333hp CR960 and 428hp CR980 were initially built in the USA, before production was transferred in 2005 to the Zedelgem plant in Belgium.
The CR960 featured twin rotors of 432mm diameter, with larger 560mm diameter units on the CR980, which had a 12,500l grain tank. Operators benefited from a new cab design. The range was gradually expanded, and introduced features including IntelliSense combine automation, Dynamic Flow Control remotely adjustable rotor vanes, Dynamic Feed Roll technology, Opti-Spread Plus residue management, IntelliCruise feed rate control and Opti-Clean cleaning technology.
The next development was the CR7.90, CR8.90, CR9.90 and CR10.90 models, with the latter machine in 2014 taking the Guinness World Record for the most wheat harvested in eight hours, at 797.656t, a record which still stands.
The CR range is now topped by the recently introduced CR11 (775hp, 20,000l tank capacity) and CR10 (634hp, 16,000l grain tank) models, which continue to incorporate the proven twin-rotor technology.
In 2014, the CR9.90 took the Guinness World Record for the most wheat harvested in eight hours, at 797.656 tonnes, a record which still stands.
The CR range is now topped by the recently introduced CR11 (775hp, 20,000l tank capacity) and CR10 (634hp, 16,000l grain tank) models.
This year marks 50 years since New Holland first introduced its twin rotor threshing and separation technology. In 1975, the brand unveiled its TR70 combine, the first machine fitted with such threshing technology – which today still remains a core design feature of the brand’s entire twin-rotor range, led by the latest CR10 and CR11 models.
The milestone will be celebrated globally, with special displays at shows and exhibitions.
The company says that over 70,000 TR and CR twin-rotor combines have been produced globally to date. New Holland’s Centre of Harvesting Excellence in Zedelgem, Belgium, has recently undergone significant investment and upgrading for production of the latest CR10 and CR11 models.
Where it started
New Holland entered the combine market in 1964 having acquired Belgian company Claeys, which had introduced its first self-propelled combine in 1952. Over the decade that followed, New Holland continued to develop the conventional straw-walker combine line it had acquired, but during the 1960s began to investigate new ways of threshing and separating grain to boost output, increase cleanliness and reduce losses.
To do this, New Holland says its engineers studied centrifugal force and its potential for separating grains, an innovative concept distinctly different from the drum/concave and straw-walker traditional method of threshing and separation. The first development machine, adapted from a 985 straw-walker model from the Claeys factory in Belgium, was trialled in corn in 1968, and wheat the following year.
The high speed of the rotors meant centrifugal force ejected much of the grain through the concaves, minimising grain damage when compared to conventional drum and concave threshing, and reducing losses when set against straw-walker separation.
The TR89 was the last of the TR series, launched in 1999.
First twin rotor
By 1969, a new combine design with these internal elements was under test, and in 1975 the first production model, the TR70 with a 145hp engine and 5,550l grain tank, was launched – the first New Holland combine built in the USA. For 1979 it was replaced by the upgraded TR75, and joined by a larger companion, the TR85. Over the next two decades the range evolved, with the 25,000th TR combine produced in 1997.
New Holland explained that European high-capacity combine development had taken a separate path with the development of the twin-flow combines introduced in 1983. These used a conventional drum and concave followed by a large beater and rotary separator and then a lateral twin-flow rotor that split the crop into two streams to separate the final grains.
By the late 1990s, New Holland noted that its engineers in Europe and North America began work on a totally new twin-rotor design that would meet the needs of farmers around the world in all types of combinable crops.
Introduced in 2002 and blending key features from the TR and TF machines with new developments and styling, the 333hp CR960 and 428hp CR980 were initially built in the USA, before production was transferred in 2005 to the Zedelgem plant in Belgium.
The CR960 featured twin rotors of 432mm diameter, with larger 560mm diameter units on the CR980, which had a 12,500l grain tank. Operators benefited from a new cab design. The range was gradually expanded, and introduced features including IntelliSense combine automation, Dynamic Flow Control remotely adjustable rotor vanes, Dynamic Feed Roll technology, Opti-Spread Plus residue management, IntelliCruise feed rate control and Opti-Clean cleaning technology.
The next development was the CR7.90, CR8.90, CR9.90 and CR10.90 models, with the latter machine in 2014 taking the Guinness World Record for the most wheat harvested in eight hours, at 797.656t, a record which still stands.
The CR range is now topped by the recently introduced CR11 (775hp, 20,000l tank capacity) and CR10 (634hp, 16,000l grain tank) models, which continue to incorporate the proven twin-rotor technology.
In 2014, the CR9.90 took the Guinness World Record for the most wheat harvested in eight hours, at 797.656 tonnes, a record which still stands.
The CR range is now topped by the recently introduced CR11 (775hp, 20,000l tank capacity) and CR10 (634hp, 16,000l grain tank) models.
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