Gerard and Gerry Purcell’s Switch to the CLAAS TRION 750 in Tipperary

In a region where straw crops almost match the value of the grain, switching from a straw-walker combine to a machine that employs rotary separation might be seen as a bold move.

But for Tipperary father-and-son team, Gerard and Gerry Purcell, it’s a decision that has paid off.

Having run straw walker combines for decades, last year the family made the switch from a six-walker LEXION 6800 to a twin-rotor hybrid CLAAS TRION 750.

11/03/2025

GP Kilmore Farm, Clonmell, Tipperary
Farmed area: 365ha (900acres)
Cropping Winter wheat 120ha (300acres), winter barley 120ha (300acres), winter oats 40ha (100acres), oilseed rape 40ha (100acres), spring beans 20ha (50acres), spring barley 20ha (50acres) plus a further 120ha (300acres) of contract combining
Staff: Gerard and Gerry Purcell plus another two at harvest

Why the change?

“I was finding that I was having to hold the stick back to avoid losses over the straw walkers, particularly in the damper, greener, hard-to-thresh crops that we often encounter here in southern Ireland,” explains Gerard.

“With harvests seeming to become increasingly catchy and with no drying facility of our own, we needed a combine that was capable of covering the acres in good time.

Given we were running the biggest straw-walker machine CLAAS builds, the logical next step was to look at some form of rotary separation at the backend of the combine. But we had our reservations, particularly around straw quality.

We had neighbours running CLAAS hybrids and could see that in reality there was no detriment to the straw, so we took the plunge and ordered a new TRION 750 for the 2023 season.”

CLAAS TRION 750 | Gerry Purcell

What were your expectations of the TRION 750?

“We wanted a machine that would increase our harvesting capacity without detriment to our straw crops. Critically it ticked the box in terms of moving on and moving up. With the 750 we’re ready to take on more land as it comes up.

Given that our ground is spread over a 25mile area, we also liked the idea of going to a narrower body to ease road moves.”

Has the machine met your expectations?

“Although we’ve had kind weather this harvest, in the previous two seasons the TRION really proved its worth in the typically tricky Irish conditions,” says Gerard.

“Even in green, unfit crops the twin rotors will spin out every last drop of grain so that I’m never pulling the stick back to limit what drops on the deck.

And you couldn’t ask for a better row of straw. A lot of the time we’re running alongside my brother’s straw-walker machine. Our balers are able to get much more consistent weights and shapes behind the Trion thanks to the more uniform swaths it drops.”

How do you find the TRION compares to your previous machines?

“The most startling difference is the output. Despite having a less powerful engine than the 6800, it’s cutting 20-25% more crop in a day. It’ll comfortably pump out 40 tonnes an hour in a good crop of wheat,” says Gerard.

“But what’s even more impressive is that it’s doing all that extra work and using less diesel. It’ll happily do two full days’ cutting without needing a top-up.

And being that much narrower it’s a dream on the road. With all our small fields we’re constantly shifting from place to place. The TRION is lovely to drive – it’s just like a car.”

What features of the TRION do you particularly like?

“It’s the small things that count and CLAAS has clearly thought about the operator when it comes to the cab and controls.

The new CEBIS touchscreen makes it so much easier to set up but in truth I’m making far fewer adjustments than ever before. The factory settings for each crop always seem to be spot-on to the point that I’ll rarely need to change anything.

That’s helped by having the auto crop flow system monitoring how much material is going through the machine and adjusting forward speed accordingly. The fact that it’ll automatically knock the header out of gear the moment it senses a risk of bunging up is just brilliant – with over 50 harvests under my belt, the idea of unblocking a combine really doesn’t appeal to me anymore!

Field scanner steering means I can concentrate on the job the combine is doing rather than on keeping the header full all of the time. It also means I can make best use of the other features of the TRION like the pivoting spout – with the combine running straight and true I can make sure trailers are properly topped off, no matter how wayward the drivers are!”

Why CLAAS?

“Years back my brother was running CLAAS combines and we really liked what we saw and so we made the switch to a LEXION 650 which was a fantastic machine for the ten seasons we ran it.

We quickly learned that the real bonus of running CLAAS machines is the back-up you get. The service we receive from our local dealer Kellys of Borris is quite remarkable. We really couldn’t ask for more.

We deal directly with Maurice who owns the business – you can count on him to give genuine advice. There is no sales nonsense. The best example of that is why we ended up with a TRION. He could have pushed us to go to a top-end LEXION that we really didn’t need. Instead he advised us to go down the TRION route and spend less money – that’s my kind of salesman!”

Would you have another CLAAS hybrid?

“All of the automated features on the TRION mean it’s running at 100% all day long and the quality of what ends up in the tank is top notch,” says Gerry.

And CLAAS kit is made of good stuff – it hardly ever seems to break. If it does, we know we’ll be back up and running as quickly as possible thanks to Kellys’ parts and service guys who are just so knowledgeable.

When you take into account the increase in output, the reduction in fuel usage and the quality of the straw coming out the back of the 750, we really can’t fault it. There’s no way we’d ever go back to a straw-walker machine.”