The AF Series is built in Grand Island, Neb.
A piece of Case IH equipment is in the running to earn the title for the coolest item manufactured in one state.
The Case IH AF Series combine, built at the company’s Stolley Park Rd. facility in Grand Island, Neb., is in the final four of the Coolest Thing Made in Nebraska competition.
“It’s very significant for Grand Island specifically, plant manager Dustin Alexander told The Grand Island Independent.
The AF Series includes the AF9, AF10, and AF11 models.
The AF9 and AF10 are built for high capacity, making them ideal for crops like corn, soybeans, and small grains.
They are single rotor machines with an improved threshing system, offering 50 percent more capacity than other models.
The AF11 has 775 HP, a 396-gallon fuel tank, a 567-bushel grain tank, and a six bushel per second unload rate.
“Efficiency is the name of the game with AF11, and you will see that we take overall engine RPM of 2100 PM and actually drop that down to 1900 RPM, saving us additional fuel,” Leo Bose, marketing manager of North America for harvesting products at Case IH, told the Spring 2024 Farms.com Precision Ag Digital Digest.
The Coolest Thing Made in Nebraska contest started with 16 entrants.
In the first round of voting, the AF Series combines beat out basketball hoops from Bison Inc.
In round two, the harvester received more votes than the Double Wide Badass Workbench to make it to the final four.
In the semifinal round, the AF Series combine is up against Limb Lab, a manufacturer of custom artificial limbs.
On the other side of the bracket, Brown Sheep company’s wool yarn is against Dorothy Lynch salad dressing.
Voting is open until Sept. 28 at 11:59 p.m.
The competition, now in its fourth year, is presented by the Nebraska Manufacturing Alliance, Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, and Pinnacle Bank.
The contest is designed to highlight the strength of Nebraska’s manufacturing industry, which employs more than 100,000 people.