John Deere F8500 [F8] in Maize | Operator Review

My dream forage harvester. The F8500. It's a really nice machine. I'm Lukas Schneider from the contractor GSR Ernteteam. We're a contracting company from the Allgäu region and have 6 of our own John Deere forage harvesters. This season we're also operating the new F8 from John Deere, which we've already used for a few hours in grass. It's proven itself very well. We clearly noticed the small changes in the crop flow during the grass harvest. Today we're in corn. We're chopping to 5mm with the extreme cracker and achieving a very high level of processing. This is extremely important for dairy farms here in southern Germany. The corn must be short and every kernel cracked. We benefit from being able to achieve higher throughputs with the extreme kernel processor while maintaining a consistent quality. Thanks to all the automation, the work is very relaxed. With GroundSpeed Automation, Active Fill Control, and RowSense, you mainly monitor the operation and only step in when the trailer is filled. The most useful and latest feature for me is ground speed automation. It saves you the work of keeping the machine constantly under load. You press a button, set the desired engine speed and load, and it works flawlessly. If there is a gap in the corn, the forage harvester does not accelerate immediately but starts up gently. With more crop, it reduces speed again and runs consistently at full capacity. This works very well. In combination with Active Fill Control, you can perfectly fill the trailers even on long days and generally have no problems. All Michael needs to do is activate Active Fill Control, AutoTrac, RowSense and ground speed automation, and then he can sit back and relax while chopping corn. Together with the new manoeuvrability of the F8 thanks to the modified steering angle of the rear wheels and the narrower frame, the handling is significantly better. Turning at the headland is easier and manoeuvres are simpler. Overall, you're slightly faster and can coordinate more easily with your trailer drivers. The Xtreme processor does an excellent job. In combination with the tyre pressure control system of the F8, you can get deeper under the corn, even if it's lodged corn. Overall, the machine delivers very clean performance. The header works excellently. The compact design allows for easy manoeuvring around curves. The small drums are brilliant during operation. In combination with the manoeuvrability of the F8, this is unbeatable. The new drive lever also fits very comfortably in the hand and is pleasant to operate over longer periods. It also allows very precise control when reversing. It offers significantly more functions than the previous hydro handle. All buttons are freely assignable and can be easily configured via the display. The armrest is also new. The smartphone holders are particularly practical. Everything is easily accessible and tidier than before. The G5 display in the armrest is the perfect size. You can always keep your eyes on the header and still see all the important information clearly and neatly on the display. The response is quick and precise. Another positive feature is the pillar that stops the sun from shining on your neck all day. It only has benefits. With soft close, the new seat, and the massage function, it's very pleasant to work with the chopper for extended periods. Two wide-angle mirrors on the exterior mirrors are new as well. This significantly improves all-round visibility. On narrow roads or in residential areas, you can clearly see how wide the forage harvester is and whether you can pass through safely. The lights of the F8 are also excellent. Everything is illuminated, very brightly lit, almost like daylight. The full LED package is definitely very good. In the ProDrive menu, you can also now set the front wheel lead and torque distribution of the all-wheel drive. On hilly terrain, more torque can be applied to the rear axle if required. This allows the forage harvester to push harder from the rear and prevents damage to the grass sward during grass harvesting. Hello, my name is Martin Graf. I'm an operator at GSR and I'm also from La Garde. Oh, the same town as the contracting company. We've been using the F8500 since the second cut. I've already operated the machine a lot. The noise level in the cab has been significantly reduced. The drive lever feels very high quality. Small features such as saving two speeds and the sensitive control of the drive lever make work easier. The high-resolution G5 display also perfectly complements the cab and the machine. The radio is high-end. It's hard to imagine a better system in such a machine. The hands-free system works excellently and is easy to pair without complicated setup. Manoeuvrability is significantly improved thanks to the narrower frame. With a standard 4-row swather, you can easily move into the next pass without the wagon driver to adjust position. Even with a 10-row header, the driving behaviour is fantastic. You no longer have to swing wide or make wide turns. Just turn in fully and you'll be perfectly positioned.