Harvester And Header Insurance

Harvester And Header Insurance

Cover for headers, fronts and harvest machinery.

A modern header with a draper front is commonly a seven-figure asset that works six weeks a year in dry stubble at forty degrees. Chaff build-up around bearings and exhausts makes fire the dominant loss. A machine lost mid-harvest costs far more than its replacement value once the unharvested crop and contract commitments are counted, and fronts need scheduling separately.

What is it?

Australian harvest fleets are mostly John Deere S and X Series, Case IH Axial-Flow, New Holland CR and Claas Lexion machines, matched with draper or rigid fronts and towed comb trailers. Contract harvesting crews follow the harvest from north to south across several states each season, which brings road transit, oversize movement and work on properties the operator does not own.

What does harvester and header insurance cover?

What affects the cost?

• Make, model and engine hours
• Front type and its separate value
• Contract harvesting versus own crop
• Fire suppression and blow-down routine
• Interstate travel and transit distance

Worth raising on the call

• Fronts and comb trailers are separate items and are sometimes left off the schedule altogether.
• Chaff and dust build-up is the leading cause of header fires, so daily blow-down affects both risk and claims.
• Harvesting under contract for others is a different use from harvesting your own crop and needs to be declared.

General information only. Cover, limits and exclusions depend on the PDS, TMD, eligibility, underwriting and the policy terms. See farm insurance for the wider picture.