Claas Jaguar 1100

The highly anticipated new Claas Jaguar 1100 forager made its Irish debut at Grass 2026 last week.

Building on the success of its previous flagship 900 series machines, everything aside from the MAN V12 engine and cab controls has been redesigned or enlarged.

Claas has said the new series contains 90% new components and a 20% larger feed channel, right the way through to the spout. Upgrades include a higher-capacity pickup, feed rollers, chopping cylinder, crop accelerator and a larger spout.

The result is a claimed throughput of up to 480t/hour in maize. Claas shared an interesting comparison, where a Jaguar 1200 achieved 24.9% higher throughput than a Jaguar 990 in whole-crop wheat, while using 15% less fuel.

The new four-model lineup includes the Jaguar 1080 (850hp), 1090 (935hp), 1100 (1,020hp) and 1200 (1,110hp).

Despite the increase in performance, the drive concept has been fully integrated to maintain the same external width as the Jaguar 800 and 900, while new headers have been developed to match the higher throughput.

Before reaching the 910mm-wide chopping cylinder, crop is dealt with by the new pre-compression system.

Here, four 880mm wide pre-compression rollers and a fully hydraulic pre-compression system work to achieve uniform crop flow.

The 1000 series is equipped as standard with the V-Flex chopping cylinder, available with 20, 24, 28 and 36 knives. While based on the Jaguar 900 design, the cylinder is significantly wider at 910mm compared with the 750mm.

John Deere F9 700

Grass 2026 marked the public working debut for John Deere’s latest F9 forage harvester range, demonstrated by local dealers Templetuohy Farm Machinery (TFM).

The new generation F8 and F9 forage harvesters were launched last autumn to replace the previous 8000 and 9000 series machines.

The model working on the day was the 820hp F9 700, which sits as the third-largest machine in the updated range, alongside the F9 900 (890hp) and F9 1000 (1,020hp), the latter being a completely new model, which now breaks the 1,000hp barrier for the first time.

The F8 remains as the narrow body series, with a 660mm feed channel and the F9 as the wide body machine, featuring a 830mm feed channel.

The F9 700s, like its lower horsepower F9 counterparts, are now fitted with the 18l JD18X engine, while the larger F9 900 and F9 1000 machines are fitted with the 24.2l Liebherr V12 engine. Other updates to the series include a larger cab with improved visibility and comfort, passed down from the X9, S7 and T6 series combines.

The more refined environment offers an improved infotainment system, new control layout with a new CommandPro joystick with 11 customisable buttons, as well as the larger and faster G5/G5 Plus CommandCentre touchscreen.

New features

New features within, include HarvestMotion technology, designed to improve productivity and lower engine speeds and Ground Speed Automation which optimises forward speed and engine rpm based on engine load and preset target speeds. Other changes include a 20% improved turning circle and improved exterior styling.

Krone Big X 1180

Farmhand demonstrated Krone’s flagship Big X 1180 forage harvester, a machine that still holds the title of the world’s most powerful forage harvester since it launched in 2022.

Churning out a massive 1,156hp from its Liebherr V12 engine, the proven Big X series from Krone includes a number of unique features.

Some of these are the six hydraulically driven pre-compression rollers for constant uninterrupted crop flow, before reaching the 800mm-wide chopping drum (660mm diameter), which can be configured with up to 48 knives.

The machine at Grass 2026 featured the 28-knife MaxFlow chopping drum.

The Big X machines are equipped with Krone’s VariStream system. This is essentially a spring-loaded bottom to the drum and a spring-loaded accelerator backplate.

It is designed to avoid any blockages and keep the flow of material through the drum constant.

The Big X 1180 features HD Tungsten carbide wear plates right from the shear bar through o the lining of the spout.

Another feature unique to Krone is its independent rear suspension, which not only allows for maximum comfort, but the smallest possible turning circle too.

Also improving the turning circle is the Dyanmic Steering system which controls the flow of oil to each of the hydraulic wheel motors when turning.

Krone also offers its LifCab option, which raises the cab by up to 70cm for increased visibility when harvesting taller crops like maize.