Wanting to buy an all crop combine questions

I put a wanted add in the classifieds but figured here would be a better place to ask about transporting one. Being in Maine there are not very many of these I’ve only seen one good one come up for sale years ago and I kick myself for not buying it then. It was just a few miles away…. It seems most of the good ones are about an 8 hr drive from me so if I have to travel for one I should travel for a good one. I’m thinking probably a 72 to avoid having to deal with the canvas replacement etc. I REALLY REALLY would like to avoid being over width, is it even possible to get one to 8.5 feet? I have a 24’ deck over trailer to use that should plenty of space to strap stuff down if it came apart.

The other option would be to look into having one shipped. Any idea what a 3-400 mile trip may cost?

Thanks!

Thanks Tom! I assume that it would be a real bear to break one down for transport? If I found one in Maine or New England for that matter I probably wouldn’t worry too much about taking the back roads home….. since you ship parts all over would you any suggestions where I may be able to track one down a little closer to home?

We hauled a 66 big bin and a rotobaler on a 102 wide detach!

If you were closer (or wanted to pay the exorbitent trucking and customs fees) I have a 66 and 90 (plus a parts 66) I'd give away for free here in South Central Ontario.

My question, however, would be (and here's where I make a lot of enemies): Why would you want to find an All-Crop?

Like many folks, I assumed the All-Crops were the be-all and end-all of pull-type combines. Everyone had one back in the day. And everyone talks about them. And that's why I accordingly have three. But since then I've been thoroughly disillusioned.

The All-Crops were incredibly popular. They could harvest anything, and (most significantly) were priced such that they brought combining ability to every farmer, around the globe. And for that they have my respect and earn a special place in history. But what I've found/realized since then (and this is personal opinion): They really weren't that superb of a combine. I've owned or worked around several other pull types since getting my All-Crops, and the All-Crops would be near the bottom of my preferred list. They were built very light and flimsy compared to many others. They were awkward and large due to that oddball side discharge (which dumps onto your good crop for the opening round). They could do 'every crop' when they were new. But for the 95% of folks doing cereals and small grains, that doesn't matter. And any All-Crop you find these days likely has the rubber on the concave worn so much that they will do a poorer job of threshing grains/cereals than a conventional steel concave. I had some new high-durometer urethane bars cast for one of mine, but later wondered why the heck I bothered. If I was doing fine or rare seed crops, I could have had them cast for a different (in my opinion, better) make/model of pull-type. But for the cereals I do, I could have just made them plain steel concaves and been much happier.

The other pull-types I've been around have been a couple JD models, Cockshutt 422, Oliver 18's (several of them), Massey 35, and a pair of IH 80's & 82's. The Oliver and Cockshutt were (in my opinion) the best for their time and most ruggedly built. The Cockshutt was built a little better in my opinion, but the Olivers were a smidge newer design and didn't have a canvas. But if I had to choose any, I'd go with the IH. Common, well-built, a little newer, parts readily available (sickle parts were the same as the IH sickle mowers of the time, whose guard and knife pattern is being used by Rowse to this day), etc. The All-Crop would be way, waaay down my list of preferred pull types.

I don't want to dish too hard on the All-Crops: They have a special and important place in history for bringing combining to farms everywhere and being invaluable in the development of farms across the globe. And for that they have my respect. But not my love.

DrAllis wrote: I could say the same exact thing about a 4010 John Deere tractor. It had multiple "sins" in its design. Now, you might be able to prove me wrong, but I have been under the impression for many years that if you totaled up how many brand "X" small pull-type combines that were ever sold, that number would still never come close to what the total sold All-Crop numbers were.

I'm sure the Doc is correct: There seems to be way more All-Crops than any other pull-type out there. Though that doesn't necessarily make them the best pull-types. It rather means that the features, functionality, and (especially) price at the time all struck the perfect balance. I can think of several other cases like this. The Doc's 4010 example is a good one. Oodles and oodles of 4010's and 4020's out there. Decent tractors for their time, and their features; size; and price were the perfect balance when the came out. But if given the choice of all similar-HP tractors of the time, they wouldn't be my first choice. Going back a little earlier, the Farmall M is another example (in my opinion). Everyone had an M. They were incredibly popular, and for a time they were the tractor that fed the nation. They were the perfect size, price, and with the features that were needed at the time. But one certainly wouldn't be my top choice for best tractor of that size/era.

Bumping this back to the top. I may have found a shed kept 60 or 66 hasn’t been used in a long time though so canvas is needed for upper and lower. The gentleman said it needs a patch by the auger discharge chute but that it wasn’t too bad. Waiting on some more photos but the first couple blurry ones look promising. It’s about a 4hr drive away so not too bad. Assuming I can get it reasonable does anyone have any other hauling suggestions? Is it possible to load sideways and remove the tounge/pto? The max width in Maine New Hampshire and Vermont is 8-1/2’ and id really prefer to be as close that as possible

Does anyone have the width of a 66 handy? It looks like it’s about a 4 hour trip on the back roads so maybe it wouldn’t be so bad? I’d be going from northern Vermont back to southern Maine.

If this works out I’d be putting it on a trailer to avoid any problems that may arise with tires or bearings. I’m trying to rember if my Roto baler stuck out by much after taking the pickup and axel stub off? If it did it wasn’t bad.

Thanks Allis Dave! Is there anything somewhat easy on these to fold up/ remove that will help narrow it up a smidge.

Thanks again

Found a shed kept 66 to go look at finally within a couple of hours from me. It has the auxiliary engine and bagging platform rather than a bin. Does anyone have any pictures of what one with a bagging station looks like? I assume it may be a bit easier to haul? I wasn’t able to find a picture of that combination online.