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"Kuchar-Built" Deere Combine
“One of the best investments we’ve ever made to produce excellent grain quality and to increase the performance of our combine was to buy a Deere 9600 with a Kuchar concave, filler plates and aggressive walkers,” say Brian Flom and Lorn Manthey, who farm near Kenyon, Minn. (ph 217 854-9838; www.combinehighperformanceparts.com).“We purchased the 9600 six years ago and it did a great job giving a clean sample of corn and beans, when conditions were tough or when they were real good,” Flom says. The elevator where Flom sells his grain commented that his corn had the least amount of cracked or broken kernels that they had seen. The grain could be sent directly to the poultry producer who had purchased it without cleaning.
  In 2012, Flom and Manthey sold the 9600 and bought a used Deere 9760 equipped with Kuchar high performance parts. “We’d heard that a Kuchar rotor was better in tough conditions because it’s heavier and built different than a bullet rotor,” Manthey says. “Two people we talked to said it took less power, didn’t break up material as much to load the shoe and put cleaner grain in the hopper.” Their 9760 also had a Kuchar concave and separating grates, which reduces grain cracking and does a better job of cleaning the grain before it reaches the chaffer.
  “We started the 9760 on 25 percent high moisture corn and the machine had no problem going 4 1/2 to 5 mph with the 8-row head,” Flom says. “After about 10 acres, I noticed a vibration that seemed to be getting worse.” Two experienced Deere combine dealer mechanics spent about an hour each evaluating the machine and reached the same conclusion – something was wrong with the rotor or the main rotor bearing.
  Manthey called Kuchar, who said he’d be there within a day to fix it. “George has stood behind his equipment in the past, and this was no exception,” Manthey says. “He showed up with his motor home and his tools and the two of us spent about 12 hrs. pulling that front bearing out, re-installing it and putting in a new set of concaves. George tested the machine for vibration, checked bearings and went with us to the field just like he said he would.”
  During the two days of downtime, Flom and Manthey rented a 9660 Deere without Kuchar equipment to combine beans. “It worked great when the dew had burned off, but as soon as dew came at dusk the machine was laboring. Even though the grain was at 11 percent moisture, we had to stop,” Flom says. “When we got our own machine back, we started earlier in the morning when conditions were tougher and ran 3 hrs. later in the evening. We could get a lot more through the 9760 with George’s parts and still get clean grain in the tank.”
  Manthey says, “Kuchar has been around combines all his life and knows what he’s doing. His parts make a good stock machine better. His accelerator beater, the heavier rotor, concaves with a different pattern opening and the discharge beater improve thrashing, let the machine run smoother, and put better grain in the tank.”
  Flom said he’s also impressed with Kuchar’s ability to solve a big problem, even if it means driving 14 hrs. to do it. “George stood behind his parts, showed up when he said he would and fixed the machine without complaining. I like that kind of service.”


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2012 - Volume #36, Issue #6