NEWS RELEASE 28 May, 2026
Wider HDR and HDF draper platforms provide productivity boost for Australian farmers
Productivity improvement with Additional Wider HDR and HDF Draper platforms for X9 Combines.
Crestmead, Queensland (28 May, 2026) — Broadacre farmers can now cover more hectares more efficiently in crucial harvest windows with John Deere's announcement of updates to its front-end equipment line-up, including two new 60-foot (18.3m) hinge-draper platforms.
John Deere's HDR and HDF platforms are already proven performers in Australian harvesting conditions, and the addition of the higher-capacity 60' (18.3m) HDR60 and HDF60, combined with harvest automation advances, delivers a highly efficient, productive harvesting system for small grains.
The new HDR60 and HDF60 also deliver the same hinge-draper performance and crop-feeding advantages of the HDR50 and HDF50, including the 3 piece Cam Reel, while increasing cutting width, and when paired with the X9 combine, provide a powerful boost to harvesting capacity.
The HDR60 and HDF60 can be matched with the latest Predictive Ground Speed Automation updates and Harvest Settings Automation, technologies that continuously align machine performance to changing crop, ground and yield conditions to maintain throughput, grain quality and loss targets.
The HDR60 and HDF60 are suitable for the Model Year 2027 X9 combine harvesters which feature a longer unloading auger and increased grain tank capacity. Additional features of the MY27 Combine provide further enhancements in productivity and efficiency, and now with the HDR60 enable the performance to be fully realised.
"Australian growers are always looking for productivity improvements and the additional width of the 60' HDR and HDF platforms coupled with the MY27 X9 combines provides an unparalleled harvest package," John Deere Production and Precision Ag Marketing Manager, Royce Bell, said.
"The wider fronts and the MY27 automation updates will help deliver successful harvests under more diverse crop conditions and across more crop types, while minimising the level of intervention required by the operator."
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The 60' HDR/HDF 3-Piece Reel features dense pack fingers and Cam Reel to provide better reel-to-cutter bar feeding in varying crop conditions.
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The new HDR60 and HDF60 when paired with the X9 combine, provide a powerful boost to harvesting capacity with increased cutting width.*
Key features:
- Three-piece reel maintains constant reel finger to cutter-bar height through full range of movement of the hinge draper
- Dense pack fingers on the reel
- Cam Reel – engagement
- Ground Following capabilities with HDR and the additional ground following performance of the Flexible cutter bar in the HDF
Combine Harvester automation delivers additional impact
The MY27 Combine expanded automation, threshing, grain handling, and operator features allow automation under a wider range of crop and field conditions, while minimising the level of intervention required by the operator.
Harvest Settings Automation helps operators into the field faster by automatically setting concave clearance, fan speed, rotor speed, sieve clearance, and chaffer clearance, based on the combine model, crop type, and geolocation. For MY27, it has been expanded to apply to oats, lentils, peas, rye, triticale and sunflower crops.
Predictive Ground Speed Automation controls the combine's ground speed based on crop height and biomass measurements taken pre-harvest from satellite scans and from on-the-go measurements made by cab-mounted cameras. For MY27, Machines equipped with Predictive Ground Speed Automation will also be capable of using an operator-defined crop throughput target as an additional automation setting.
Other MY27 features include:
- Tru-ThreshTM concaves with remote concave and separator grate adjustment
- JDLink™ Boost
- New 35ft (10.7m) unloading auger
- New 550-bushel grain tank capacity.
"These updates address some of the most important factors that can influence success at harvest time, including getting crops off as quickly as possible and supporting less experienced operators in the field, to deliver optimal time use and consistency," Mr Bell said.
"In the past harvest year, features like Harvest Settings Automation and Predictive Ground Speed Automation delivered productivity improvements of up to 20%, with a 10% increase in fluid efficiency.
"These new features and wider fronts give our customers an even greater range of tools to succeed at harvest."
For more information, contact your local John Deere dealer or visit www.deere.com.au
*HDF50 Hinged Frame Draper shown with 3 piece Cam Reel.
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