Small combine rumor-Kubota

Not sure where to post this item.  Is not AC but is farm equipment.  Anyway, our local Kubota dealer who is in the early morning coffee group (5 am) says that supposedly Kubota is going to come out in the US with a small combine that will sell for under one hundred thousand dollars.  Not sure of the size...thought maybe a 15 ft grain head but then he also added a 6 row corn head.  I did not think those two headers wold really go on the same machine as I thought that the corn head was maybe 2 rows too big.  Anyway, he said that they are already being used overseas and that Kubota is building a new plant down south and along with other equipment, the combines would be made there.  Anyway, that's the rumor.  Den

KC,  I would tend to agree with you.  Not that this changes anything that you said...I wanted to add one other thing the dealer said and that this combine is being aimed at the 3 to 5oo acre farmers.  I would think that would really limit their clientele.  Just another part of the rumor.  Den 

Just to show you how bad that market is and how bad the mentality of todays ag sector is it was only 10yrs ago or so that you could still buy the smaller macines 9400 JD 1620-40 IH TR 86-7-8-9  gleaner R 50 etc but the market dried up so they quit building them now its all huge high tech bo ku buck machines

The question is, can a 500 acre farm pay for a new $100,000 combine? It depends if you have a family to feed or if you have another source of income so the farm income is just for the farm? LOL

A small rotary combine would be nice...  I have often thought about taking one of the rotors from a NewHolland twin and putting it into a gleaner F2 or M2 in a length wise direction.  I know - grain tank would not big enough for new capacity.

I'll stick to my F2.  It may be old, but ran like a swiss watch in the soybeans today.

Deere recently gave my school a prototype STS combine of some sort... with a 35 foot grain head. 

Thanks for the info, or rumor at least.  Hadn't heard anything about it.  I do think there is a market for smaller machines.  When the manufacturers quit building the smaller "big" combines, there were still plenty of used, smaller rigs around.  Ten years later, a lot of those smaller older ones are worn out or just sent to China because the scrap price is so high.  The only segment of the ag industry that is growing is small farms and most of those operators have an off farm job.  With crop prices so high, I think a lot of smaller operators will seriously look at a 12 or 15 foot combine.  With the way the dollar is these days, machines can be built here in the US and shipped all over the world to other areas where smaller machinery is in demand.  Being Kubota, I wonder if it will be orange?  Or maybe galvanized steel???  Hum, a few of the right decals and AC is back in the combine business LOL.

Around here, in the north east, we are experiencing a growth in the number of farmers, albeit small and many moving toward organic, who are committed to move from commodity farming to direct sales and often are banding together to manage/control the processing and distribution of food.  A small combine would be a good addition to the North American Kubota product line here in the North East, where the rainfall and good soil contribute to some excellent results. In fact I would like to see Kubota market other machines such as small forage harvesters and speciality tillage equipment for sustainable and organic farmers. I have been evaluating the Kubota "M" series of tractors and have done some extensive comparisons with Deere, Massey and New Holland. Kubota has had a small tractor tier 3 & 4 compliant engine for 2011, well ahead of Deere. The fit and finish of the "M" series cabs are significantly better than Deere, Massey and New Holland... when one compares dollar for dollar. Deere's ergonomics are rather primitive while Kubota's are excellent. Granted the "big three" have "economy" tractors that are directed at the Kubota market, but when you finish peeling the onion, you discover that Kubota is still the better engineered/manufactured product. The only reason I stick with Deere is for the service as my AGCO dealer, who also sells Kubota, is just this side of useless. If Kubota would concentrate on establishing a credible dealer network they would be a formidable competitor... and as soon as they have a reputable dealer within a reasonable distance I'll buy an "M100" series tractor... 

With that fan right behind your head, one wouldn't want to have long hair!  I imagine that one is a rice combine, with the tracks and all.  I suspect something for the NA market would looke more conventional, but who knows.
I've had good luck with my M110 so far, 8 years old with 1500 hr.

If they can do it for under $100,000, made in America and have good features and performance similar to an F2, and the heads aren't crazy expensive, I'd get one in a heart beat.

I like my F2 and it doesn't take much maintenance or money to fix up but something safer with a better head and nicer cab would be nice.  Right now I wear a full fledged dust mask while doing beans or I'd have constant hay fever.  My AC doesn't work and so I get covered with sweaty, dust and it wears you out.  Now I'm not a very big farmer but a nice relatively inexpensive combine is reallying appealing especially this time of year.

Dave,

Most newer combines are all rotary.  From my understanding you have to keep those buggers pretty full for them to work right and efficient.  While that may be possible some of the time, on my fields, a lot of the time it isn't.  This is due party to yield but also to the small size of my fields.  Anything larger than an F2 is really getting too big.  So, yes you can buy a pretty nice used combine for $100,000 but I doubt it would work very good for me and would suck a lot of fuel as most are over 200 hp now.

So, my .02 is to keep the combine conventional.

Kubota is a full line ag manufactering concern in Japan for the south aisan market. Quality, fit, finish and durability is unmatched. The tractors they sell in N.A. are excellent. The people at Kubota are not stupid, I'm sure if they decide to market it N.A. they will add a cab, and wheel drive. Will make a nice little machine, Trev.

Spud wrote: Before you bought a Kubota, I would compare the weight of it to a comparable horsepower other brand.  Kubota's tend to weigh a lot less then competitors.  In my mind, more metal and heavier built means more durable. Massey tends to be the heaviest built.  If you have too much of a hate-on for Massey then compare them to McCormick, Deere, or Case/New Holland. Having said that, I have run a lot of generators and light towers with Kubota motors and found them to be very durable in this application.

I went to the local Kubota dealer yesterday and he confirmed they are building a small combine capable of a 6-row head.  He said it'll be 4wd and the combine, (without heads), should be around $50,000.  I asked if they knew if it was rotary or conventional and he asked the Kubota guy on the phone during the conversation but I forgot to ask him again.   He said they'll be taking pre orders on it at next years convention which should be around a year from now.

Anyway, I'm pretty excited about it.