John Deere has a storied farm machinery history, with a steady chain of benchmark innovations that shaped the entire cotton harvesting process and industry from field to gin. In line with the mold-breaking pattern, a new cotton picker and cotton stripper are the latest offering, significantly touted as “the most productive cotton harvesters ever built by John Deere.”
The CP770 Picker and CS770 Stripper are the two most efficient cotton harvesting machines in Deere history, according to Christopher Murray, Deere product marketing manager, and both vehicles are “built 75% new from the ground up.” The 770 harvesters are a marriage of reduced wrap, fuel, labor, and hauling costs, along with increased speed, fiber quality, turnout, data capture, and cab size. Boiled down, both the CP770 and CS770 mean more pounds of cotton per hour at faster speeds.
CP770
As Deere’s third-generation round-module builder (preceded by 7760 and 690), the CP770 is 5% more productive than the 690, capable of synced harvest at up to 4.6 mph—an extra 4.4 acres in a 10-hour harvest day. The CP770 picker (70,000 lb.) uses 20% less fuel than the 690. “A new 13.6 L PowerTech engine and hydraulic power module incredibly improve fuel efficiency,” Murray explains. “The front side of the engine has a reversible cooling fan, and it varies the pitch of the blades, reverses during the day, and only uses horsepower as needed to cool the vehicle.”
Overall, costs per bale have dropped $1.50. “We’ve increased throughput of the cotton handling system,” Murray says. “It took 48 seconds to wrap and eject a module, but now the 770 does it in 30 seconds, a 33% reduction.”
Bale size has increased roughly 2%, with average weight now at 5,500 lb., and diameter at 96”: “Wrap costs have gone down and the bale is now 5% denser,” Murray adds. “That’s where reduced wrap comes in with savings of 8% and hauling costs of 8%.”
CS770
The CS770 (68,000 lb.), which uses 15% less fuel than the CS690, features 12 rows (40’) of stripper-headers as opposed to the 8 rows (26’) of its predecessor. Murray describes the CS770 as “48% more productive” in dryland cotton. “In 10 hours, the CS770 will cover an extra 100 acres compared to the CS690.”
Harvest speed is contingent on condition, but the CS770 is capable of stripping cotton up to 9 mph, and unloading 96”-diameter bales in 30 seconds, with a 2-point increase in turnout. The stripper bales average 4,900 lb. “We have a new three-drum cleaner on the strippers, and that helps with wrapping economy to remove plant material,” Murray notes. “You can visually see the difference in the modules with less plant material, and that means money-in-the-pocket due to cleaner ginning.”
Grower Reaction
Both the CP770 and CS770 have greatly expanded cab size—30% bigger. The cabs are equipped with the latest integrated John Deere technology and module-tracking software—Generation 4 Display, JDLink Connectivity, Harvest Identification Cotton Pro.
“These machines are the next step of functional change in cotton harvesting. Extra productivity, reduced wrap, reduced fuel, and so many other big positives,” Murray adds. “The funnest part of testing the CP770 and CS770 across the world has been getting grower feedback and seeing the excitement.”
For more information about the CP770 or CS770, visit the John Deere website, or find a local John Deere Dealer.
