And it was the prime reason why Munglinup farmer Graham Stewart chose to buy two Case IH 8120 combine harvesters for his 5000ha cropping program.

"We always want to get the crop off as quick as we can in this area but the weather can turn and either ruin the crops or further delay the harvest," he said.

"With two headers we can increase productivity and maximise ideal harvesting conditions."

This harvest Graham was happy with the performance of the 8120s which in one paddock averaging 4t/ha, comfortably sat on 55 tonnes an hour capacity.

"The other good thing is that with the extra power we can cut lower and take more stubble without any hassles."

Neighbour Rob Gibson, who volunteered his driving services, was also impressed with the de-slugging feature, which quickly reverse the rotors to clear blockages in the feeder house.

"It eliminates a hassle and saves time," he said.

"I was also impressed with the threshing in tough conditions which produced a good sample with little seed going out the back.

"It has got a huge cleaning area which means it can handle a lot of material and it was a good test in the big crops this year.

All Case IH axial-flow 20 Series combines feature power rise for whenever crop conditions demand it while grain tanks on the 7120, 8120 and 9120 models are equipped with quick-folding bubble-up auger and grain tank extensions.

A 7.3m (24ft) unloading auger is standard on all three models and is capable of unloading at 113 litres a second.

The 20 series also is the only combine on the market to use shaft drives for the rotor, feeder house and cutting platform, eliminating belts.

A standard, hydraulically-driven cleaning fan is forward speed synchronised to maintain effectiveness and an end-of-row function can reduce the fan speed when raising the front, thereby reducing lost grains during turning when the combine runs empty.