Is Bigger Machinery Always Better?

Farm equipment continues to grow in horsepower and physical size. Shorter windows to complete farmwork and the challenge of finding enough qualified operators make covering more acres in less time more important than ever. 

2024 saw the introduction of the 830-hp John Deere 9RX, the Class 10+ Case IH AF11, and New Holland CR11 combines, and a range of other large implements, from planters to air seeders. But is bigger always better? 

“It really depends on your operation and what fits best,” said Blake Bullinger, senior marketing product specialist for Fendt. “If you’re in Canada or out west, with wide-open spaces, your needs are going to be different than if you’re out east, where you don’t have rectangular fields. Maybe you have odd-shaped fields, with tight corners or the roads are more winding. A feedlot would be another setting where something more compact and maneuverable would provide greater benefits.”

The Advantages of Bigger Equipment

“The main benefit we’re trying to unlock is efficiency — how can I cover the most amount of ground in the shortest amount of time?” said Michael Porter, large tractor and tillage marketing manager for John Deere. “It goes back to Mother Nature and the agronomic benefits that come with hitting prime seeding windows, or getting all the stalks ripped up in the fall before the ground freezes.”

Smaller windows of time make every day matter when it comes to profitability, said Derek Reusser, tactical marketing manager for Massey Ferguson tractors. 

“Our farmers have 12 suitable days or less every year to maximize their yield potential,” he said. “We want to make sure we deliver that planter pass, tillage pass, fertilizer pass, at the right time.”

David Brennan, planter marketing manager for Case IH, said he sees two ways to increase productivity: Get bigger, or get faster. 

“Some growers aren’t as comfortable going faster, so there is a segment that has gone wider,” he said. “Others have increased their speed, sometimes even close to doubled it, but are using a smaller width of planter.” Although faster speeds can be accomplished with smaller equipment, often it still takes higher horsepower or weight-to-power ratio to make it work, Porter added. 

Larger equipment can also help save time and manpower.

“If you look at going from a 12-row corn head to a 16, for example, you immediately get a 33% bump in productivity,” said Leo Bose, Case IH harvesting segment leader. “So just do the calculation. If you go the same speed but increase the number of rows and capacity, you can figure out how much time you can save.”

Manufacturers constantly update their technology offerings, and while most offer new features up and down their product lines, larger equipment can often reap the bottom-line benefits faster. 

“If you’re a large farmer and you put an autonomous solution on your biggest tractor, you’re going to get a lot more done in a day,” Porter said. “It’s adding more hours to your day and helping you hit those windows.”

Other features available on multiple models, such as tire inflation systems, provide the most benefit when considering the increased weight of the largest tractors.

Considerations Before Going Bigger

While purchasing larger equipment might be the right decision, keep in mind other factors when expanding the size of your machinery.  

For 26 years, Brian Guth has farmed with his father around central Illinois. While he said having larger equipment would help him be more efficient, smaller equipment is what works best for his operation. 

“We have quite a few fields with terraces, and those were built for four-row planters, and our 16-row planter with shutoffs works pretty good,” he said. “Then, there’s waterways and creeks, and several spots where those come together and make a small triangle that you have to back into. We also have a bridge that’s just 20 feet wide, so we can’t get a semi across there; we have to use wagons.”

Although physically bigger equipment isn’t Guth’s best fit, he said he can gain some efficiencies by adding new technology to his existing equipment.

Infrastructure

In many areas, rural roads are wide enough to accommodate today’s largest equipment. However, where roads are narrower or have infrastructure restrictions, such as bridges, sometimes equipment has to be disassembled to move between locations. 

“When you think about infrastructure — road width, power lines, trees — those are going to be really limiting factors,” said Anthony Styczinski, John Deere’s go-to-market manager for planting and air seeding equipment. 

Bose said with combines, it’s not only the size a farmer needs to consider; it’s also the header that goes on the front. 

“We have up to a 61-foot MacDon head that requires its own transport package, and when a customer looks at that, a lot of things go through their head,” he said. “Who’s actually driving that down the road? Are my field entrances wide enough? How do I attach it in the field? A lot of different problem-solving areas play into that decision.”

Integration

Sometimes, upgrading to one larger piece of equipment can mean challenges within the rest of your operation. 

“We call it the whole harvesting system,” Bose said. “What else do they have to do to match that combine? They’ll add another semi truck, but ultimately, do they need a wet bin increase? Is it an in-line dryer capacity increase?”

Implement size matters, too. 

“We’re rarely just driving a tractor through the field,” said Lena Patton, North American product marketing manager at New Holland. “There’s almost always some sort of implement behind it. The weight of the tractor starts to make a big difference, and so does the geography you’re in, if there are lots of hills, or if it’s relatively flat.

“We can rake a double windrow and use a high-capacity round baler, but now, our tractor has to sit higher off the ground. So we need to add bigger tires to make for a better haying operation,” she added.

Other Implications

The potential for soil compaction increases with heavier axle weights. Research by Iowa State University (ISU) found that deep compaction below 20 inches occurs when weight exceeds 10 tons per axle. For reference, researchers noted a combine loaded with 400 bushels of grain carrying a 12-row header weighs 31 tons per axle; a grain cart carrying 1,100 bushels of grain weighs 26 tons per axle; and a self-propelled sprayer, with a 120-foot boom, carrying 1,200 gallons of product, weighs 12 tons per axle. (See the sidebar for more information about controlling compaction.)

Curtis Hillen, cash crop segment lead for New Holland North America, said a farmer shouldn’t go bigger just to go bigger. 

“A sometimes overlooked aspect of going bigger is the [potential for] downtime,” he said. “If you have a number of smaller machines running and one goes down, your loss of productivity is significantly less than if you have one big machine that goes down and you essentially lose all productivity during that downtime.”