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Central, WI | I'm in the market for a new or well maintained SPFH to reduce my time spent in the field and I'm also short on good hired labor to run multiple pull-type harvestors at one time. I harvest about 250-300 acres of haylage per year and about the same amount of 30" row corn. I have run NH 900's and FP240's the last 20+ years and besides minor issues, they have been reliable for me but are getting a lot of wear and it is time to replace them. I have several good NH dealerships within 20 miles. The closest Claas dealership is a 1.5 hour drive away.
Local NH dealer is quoting near $275K new and estimates $1000/year maintenance costs with the acreage I run thru it. He said larger operators easily spend near $10K per year in maintenance costs. I'm assuming Claas has similar or higher numbers than this since I have heard they are more reliable machines and parts will cost more also.
My question is, is there a major difference in the cost to operate a NH FR9040 (14' hay head and 6 row kemper head for 30" rows) compared to a Claas of similar size? How is the reliability and ease of use between the two brands? I have never run a CNH FPT motor so I am not familar with their reliabilty compared to say a Cummins or CAT motor.
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Which SPFH?
