Farm Equipment Hauling and Combine Transport

What comes off a combine before it is hauled

Deere's operator's manual for the S790 starts its trailer procedure with "Remove header and outside dual wheels (if equipped)" and tells operators to avoid public roads with the header attached whenever possible. The rest of the manual's list:

For the Case IH Axial-Flow 8250 the list is the same in substance: header off, outer dual drive tires off if fitted (Case IH publishes the width for single tires only), grain tank extensions folded and the unloading auger stowed. Case IH offers two folding-auger options on the 250 series, which in its words "provide easier transport and storage."

The duals decide the permit class. On the widest front-tire setup in Deere's table the S790 measures 16 ft 4 in, over the 16 ft line where New York and Pennsylvania classify a load as a superload, and New York adds a police escort and a $10,000 width bond. On its narrowest front tires it is 12 ft 11 in and moves on a routine permit.

Moving the S790's successor, the S7 900? Deere lists the same 49,141 lb base weight but no transport dimensions, and the S7 uses the X9 cab, so the S790's heights may not carry over. Measure it before booking.

Headers ride on their own trailer

Every header in the table is wider than 8 ft 6 in, even Deere's CF 12 corn head folded to 16 ft, so the header is a load of its own with its own dimensions on the permit application.

Header widths from deere.com spec data and Case IH header brochures, as recorded in our equipment dataset. We have not checked which header fits which combine serial number.

Loaded lengthwise, a header's published width becomes its length on the trailer: a 47 ft 11 in RDF 45 needs a deck that long, and its depth and height, which Deere does not publish, set the permit width and height. Case IH lists the FD245 by cutting width alone. Measure the header as it will travel and send those three numbers with the combine's.

Price the header as its own load. Our heavy equipment transport cost guide shows how linehaul, fuel, permits and escorts add up for each piece, with dated figures.

Harvest and planting dates: when a permitted combine can move

A permit only allows travel on the days and hours its state sets, and harvest season runs into the holiday bans. Thanksgiving week is the tightest: Pennsylvania holds oversize loads from 12 noon Wednesday, Nov 25, 2026 until sunrise Monday, Nov 30, and Connecticut until daylight that Monday, while New York, Ohio and Illinois reopen on Friday, Nov 27 (New York half an hour before sunrise).

Wide loads lose weekend hours as well. Ohio bars loads over 12 ft wide from 3 PM Saturday and 3 PM Sunday until half an hour before the next sunrise, and from April 1 through November 30 also from 3 PM Friday, a window that covers planting and harvest. New York allows no Sunday travel and opens Saturday mornings only to loads within 12 ft wide and legal height, which rules out a combine.

Illinois sorts loads by size: up to 14 ft 6 in wide and 15 ft high they may move seven days a week in daylight; up to 16 ft wide and 17 ft high, Sunday is out and Saturday ends at noon (IDOT OPER 993). On a 24 in deck both combines are over 15 ft (about 15 ft 1 in and 15 ft 4 in). An Axial-Flow 8250 qualifies for seven-day travel on a deck of 23 in or less, an S790 on 20 in or less.

Daylight is defined differently, too. Connecticut and Georgia allow travel from half an hour after sunrise to half an hour before sunset; New York, Ohio and Texas from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset. On the same November day that leaves a Connecticut move 2 hours shorter than a New York one.

Spring moves meet posted roads. Pennsylvania and its municipalities post seasonal weight limits, most often in early spring, and an oversize permit does not override them; Ohio can cut legal weights by up to 25% on state highways and 50% on county roads during thaws; Illinois counties and townships can restrict roads for up to 90 days a year; New York towns can bar vehicles over 4 tons from town highways once signs are posted. Tell us if the farm sits on a town or county road.