The Combine Factory Tour

• October 29, 2019
• Paul Neiffer

I have had several readers ask me about the combine tour that I took last week and this blog will recap the tour.  Although photos were allowed on the tour, cell phones were not allowed, therefore, I did not take any photos.

The factory is located on the south side of Grand Island and the main building is about 14 acres under one roof.  This factory makes both New Holland and Case IH combines plus some hay equipment.

During the day, the factory will produce about 12 combines with a mix of NH and Case IH.

Many of the parts are made in the factory using sheet steel and then cutting out the parts with a laser cutter.  These parts along with all of the other parts made by other companies are then put on a conveyor system that is about two miles long that will then move it through a cleaning and painting system.  Almost every part is painted.

The combine is assembled from two main components – the bottom half and the upper half.  Each of these assemblies involve robotic welders plus human welders to get what the robots can’t get to.  These halves then move down a system about six steps adding parts on each step.  Once the halves are finished, it finally meets together and one person “attaches” the two halves together by lining them up and dropping them together (it actually happens very quickly).

The engine is attached at that time, plus the grain bin and the cab.  At this point, the combine is finally started to make sure the engine is running and a series of qualify control steps is performed.

The next step is to add the grain auger.  Combines going to Australia almost always add the extended grain auger since they can get an extra combine on the ship and save on freight costs that more than offset the extra cost of the auger.

The new few steps involve trim for the combine, guards, etc. and finally the combine comes off the floor and then heads out to the back field to be stored.  I saw about 200 combines out there and during May there may be closer to 500 combines in the field.

It was a great tour.  Although, I did not take any photos, here are some shots of old time combines from my younger years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every one of the photos shows the harvesting of dry peas.  Back in those days, the cutting platform had a “pea bar” attached to the frame that replaced a normal wheat sickle.  This pea bar would float on the ground and as the peas were cut guides would push the peas up into the auger.  The use of these “pea bars” today are about extinct.  Instead of peas spreading out on the ground, they are now bred to stand up similar to soybeans.

I am teaching most of this week and next including a stop in Reno, Nevada for the American Angus annual conference.  I think by the end of this trip I will be at about 125 days in a rental car this year.  

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