Near Intersection of I-35 & I-90 Southern Mn. | My last combine trade was to go from a 9650STS to a 9770. Part of my motivation was to go to a chopping corn head and a newer bean head. I looked at several 9770s. I felt that having the multi-speed 5 speed feeder house drive was a must with the 608C chopping corn head.
If the dealer had one they agreed with me. If a dealer did not have one, they would say "never saw a problem with the single belt arrangement". I kept looking and found one that had the 5 speed. It had RWD and the standard 3 speed with hydro for ground speed. I understand that the 5 speed feeder house and the Pro Drive were separate options but generally were ordered together. My combine is a bit rate in that respect.
I'm happy with my choice. I have not had any problem with the 5 speed feeder house drive. When connecting to the bean head the electrical code in the single point hookup informs the combine that it is connected to a bean head and the feeder house transmission changes to Gear 1 and cannot be changed. When the corn head is connected, the code allows me to change to any Gear of my choosing.
I didn't think that I needed RWD but it has come in handy a few times. The somewhat standard 3 speed transmission with Hydro has been fine also. I typically harvest in Gear 2 for ground speed. Gear 3 is for road travel.
When RWD is engaged, some of the oil that normally all goes to the front is split off to power the rear. This results in a slower ground speed since the fronts are getting less oil. This can be handy to use even if RWD is not necessary for traction. For example, if I need to drive a fair distance across the end of a field to reach a driveway to go home, I can put the 3 speed transmission in Gear 3 and engage the RWD. This means the ground speed is a comfortable speed between Gear 2 front only and Gear 3 front only. Once on the road, I switch the RWD off and obtain full speed for the trip home. |