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Small Scale Combines Are Hard To Find
Small acre farmers have few choices when it comes to combines, notes Eugene Canales, Ferrari Tractors. Canales imports smaller scale equipment that’s popular in parts of Europe and Asia. He has long provided FARM SHOW with information on unique pieces of equipment (Vol. 24, No. 3) including small combines. Recently he gave us an update on harvesting equipment.
  “The Mitsubishi VM7 walk-behind combine has been discontinued,” says Canales. “A riding version is available from Mitsubishi, but it costs $55,000, nearly twice the price of the walk-behind. The Cicoria ATX pull-behind combine is the same price.”
  Canales adds that 2 smaller combines from Mitsubishi are also available. The V211C at $36,000, and the V214C is priced at $43,600. All 3 Mitsubishi are head threshers; that is, they harvest the heads of the grain, leaving the straw standing.
  Explaining that such prices tend to be too high for most of his customers, Canales recommends stationary threshers as a better option.
  Cicoria makes a small plot thresher with 6 sieves priced at $13,704, FOB San Francisco. It is suitable for a wide variety of grains, even Emmer wheat with its very tight hull. It is equally suited to a range of legumes and even vegetables. It can also be used to separate leaves from aromatic and medicinal plants, such as thyme, oregano, nettle and sage. The design leaves no residue behind, which makes switching crops as simple as swapping out sieves. The variable speed drive lets the operator adjust drum speed to the crop being threshed.
  He has also sold several Trexia threshers made by Colombini of Italy. The company has built threshers since 1875. The simple design is meant for grains of all kinds, but it can also be equipped to thresh soybeans and other small beans. Prices are available upon request.
  Given the low price of grain and the high price of equipment, Canales recommends shared ownership when possible.
  “I believe that is the best way to reduce the costs of new machines,” he says. “New machines are not going to come down in price, nor is grain likely to go up much in value.”
  Due to medical reasons, Canales requests contact be made via posted mail or email.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ferrari Tractors CIE, P.O. Box 1045, Gridley, Calif. 95948; sales@ferrari-tractors.com; www.ferrari-tractors.com).


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2018 - Volume #42, Issue #6