A COMBINE machine has smashed a three-year-old record for harvesting wheat.

The Claas Lexion 770TT established a new target to beat of 675.84 tonnes harvested after maintaining an average harvesting rate of 85.5 tonnes/hour over an eight hour period.

The endurance performance test, carried out in Lincolnshire on September 1 and 2, set a new record which is some 22.5% higher than the previous one in 2008.

The record was set as part of the endurance performance test during which the combine harvested over 1400 tonnes of wheat in 20 working hours, a feat made possible by its APS hybrid threshing & separation system which allows for continued high output in damp conditions.

The standard combine was equipped with Terra Trac rubber tracks and a 12 metre Vario cutterbar. It was driven by Claas combine demonstrators Jens Broer and Christian Mecmann, supported by a team of five tractors and trailers driven by staff from Claas UK and the local dealer Marsh.

The test was carried out on four fields of wheat totalling 183ha at Haugh, near Louth. Cropping was split between two varieties, Conqueror and Duxford, which between them averaged 9.7t/ha with a peak yield of 13t/ha, and moisture contents ranged from 16-18%.

It was overseen by machinery consultant Bill Basford, with the new world record confirmed by Guinness World Records adjudicator Jack Brockbank. The crop was harvested to a height determined by the farmer, all the straw was chopped and the tonnage recorded over a neighbouring public weighbridge.