John Deere Adds Three New Forage Harvesters to its 2023 Lineup

While silage season has already kicked off in most parts of the country, John Deere has started to prepare for next season. The company recently announced it will add three new Deere-powered self-propelled forage harvesters to its 2023 lineup – the 9500, 9600 and 9700.

According to John Deere, the lineup will meet the needs of contractors, customer harvesters, and dairy and livestock producers challenged by increased operating costs, shorter harvesting windows and a smaller pool of skilled workers.

“John Deere expanded the horsepower offerings for our wide-body forage harvesters that include the 9500 to 9900 models to provide improved performance and made updates to maximize machine uptime and reduce cost of operation,” Chase Milem, marketing manager with John Deere said in the product announcement. “Customers now have more choices than ever when it comes to selecting a new John Deere forage harvester.”

A New Engine

Each self-propelled forage harvester will sport a new John Deere Power Systems JD18X, 18L engine. This upgrade will increase productivity with up to 13% higher efficiency, due to the diesel-only innovation of the engine that does not require DEF fluid. Since no DEF fluid is required, ownership costs are kept low, and machine reliability should be increased.

Additionally, the new engine has a 750-hour service interval, allowing farmers to spend less hours servicing equipment in the shop and more time harvesting forage in the fields.

“The ideal performance characteristics of the John Deere engine decreases fuel consumption and are perfectly aligned and synchronized for outstanding crop flow through the machine,” Milem said.

New Features

Besides sporting a new JD18X, 18L engine, the harvesters also come equipped with new spouts. According to the company, these spouts will provide better operator visibility while unloading and boost machine reliability compared to previous models. Additionally, a change in the geometry of the spout along with more clean-outs will allow farmers to operate smoothly even in the stickiest of crop conditions.

Farmers harvesting corn silage will appreciate the improved forage quality and kernel processing of the 9000 Series. This series features either the John Deere Premium or XStream KP kernel processors, which are designed to deliver higher processing scores regardless of cut length.

Other forage harvester upgrades include:

• Fully integrated AutoTrac RowSense guidance
• Active Fill Control with rear unloading
• Generation 4 Universal Display
• HarvestLab 3000, which provides on-the-go constituent sensing and documentation

“Contractors and custom harvesters will appreciate the constant maximum throughput these forage harvesters provide, along with a cab that features enhanced operator visibility and comfort,” Milem said. “Reliability, low cost of operation, increased quality of completed work, minimized daily maintenance requirements and reduced total fluid consumption were key improvements John Deere made that will benefit customers.”