Last month, John Deere introduced the 2730 Ripper for 2015. It was built to operate in higher residue levels and leave an ideal soil environment to maximize yield. It has maintenance-free components, fewer grease points, and large & durable tires.
Starting at the front, there are two rows of disk with either individual blades on 19” spacing or disk gangs on 11” spacing.
The disks are followed by deep shanks on 24” spacing and the shanks are followed by leveling disks to level the ridges left by the shanks.
On the rear is a hydraulic rolling basket which maintains a constant down pressure to level the field and also break up clods.
As you can see in the pictures, the 2730 is long at 42 feet. The additional length is for better crop residue flow and allows residue to flow smoothly through the ripper as well as allowing proper sizing and distribution without plugging.
We had the chance to run a side by side comparison against the CNH Ecolo Tiger 870 on Sept 30 at the Lanark location. The 870 and 2730 were both set at 13” deep and as you can see in these pictures they are very comparable.
In our test, the 2730 left a more level soil profile and didn’t leave strips behind the shanks like the 870. It’s hard to see in the pictures, but the crop residue behind the 2730 was also sized down smaller than the 870.
The 2730 will be available in four sizes: 7, 9, 11, and 13 shanks. Deere recommends 35 – 50 HP per shank. In our test we pulled the 7 shank model with a 8360RT and it had the power meter pegged the entire time. The order period will begin in December and contact your salesman for pricing info.
Here are a some videos showing the 2730 in action
Sloan Support 
I have seen enough of these in the field to know from the looks of the photos the 870 wasn’t set right. In my experience if the leveler/basket is set properly, you will not leave the strips shown in these pictures.
This was rigged, All the farmers in Central MN run 870/875 rippers, even the die hard green guys. The 870 was not set correct and they knew it
One JD farmer up here traded his 870 for a 2730……Well lets just say its now traded back in on a CIH 875…..John Deere Rippers can not compare