In the world of combine harvesters, all the news seems to revolve around ever-larger machines or confident assertions that the straw-walker combine is going to disappear – as rotary separators move down the ranks.

This is not the prevailing view over at Deutz-Fahr. The company appears determined to offer “small” straw-walker machines in a bid to provide a more budget-friendly alternative to the giants that are appearing elsewhere.

Smaller machines

The Deutz-Fahr C5000 Series represents the smallest combines in the company’s range.

Now powered by a 180hp engine, the C5305 has – like its smaller sibling (the C5205) – a conventional five-element, straw-walker mechanism that is fed by a 600mm drum.

The C5000 Series is described as a “small, easy-to-handle combine”. The company claims that it was designed to be “a simple harvester with reduced fuel consumption and low-maintenance costs”.

Simplicity need not mean that it is totally bereft of modern harvesting aids though.

The ‘AutoControl’ system is claimed to keep a constant cutting height by following ground contours. The header position can also be adjusted manually or set to respond to cutter-bar pressure.

Details of the machine’s performance, such as grain loss, ground speed and area covered, are presented on an in-cab screen.

Rapid discharge

Header widths range from 3.6m to 4.8m. The grain tank has a capacity of 4,600L which, the company claims, can be emptied in less than a minute.

These are not large combine harvesters by modern standards. However, they may offer a “budget-friendly option” on acreages where larger rotary machines might struggle to operate efficiently.

Deutz-Fahr also says that its combines are “renowned for their gentle handling of straw” – a vital consideration in this part of the world.