Advice wanted on Gleaner auger part

My father is in the middle of replacing what I call the auger rotating collar on his early serial number Gleaner M2. A used assembly runs about $500-$700 which is nuts for a part that could be nearly as bad as yours, and only show it after a few uses..

We've priced the new unit and have located one for around $1300 and it seems to have been redesigned to use nylon guides instead of the ball bearings like the old unit.

The local Agco dealer is looking in to having our unit rebuilt and is currently checking with some other machine shops, etc, before they give us a price and let us know if it can even be done.. So we're playing the waiting game right now..

So, my questions are:

Has anyone here installed one of the nylon guide auger rotator collars, and if so, what are you thoughts on it? Does it work well? Any problems since your installation?

From what we've learned so far, our combine is an early serial number and will have to have the auger's hydraulic cylinder chain reduced to a smaller size to fit the new rotating collar. We don't like the sound of that, but that seems to be the current method of "fixing" this badly designed rotating joint..



Here is an example of the part I'm speaking of:



Thanks in advance for any advise, anecdotes, thoughts, etc..

bakwoodsfarm wrote: Mine bound up the balls last fall, wouldn't go up or down. I replaced it with one from A&I for $1000.00. No problems what so ever so far, it has the plastic slides.

Thanks for the response!

Yours is an M2 as well? What is A&I?



GB :)

Everyone I've heard using those as replacements are happy with the result. Never heard a negative comment but there is likely someone who had a bad experience. Some have put larger balls inside and got by. The circular ball design is not happy setting out in the weather especially if the joint isn't cleaned out well after harvest. Rust opens up clearances quickly and many have fell apart when folding.

A&I is an aftermarket company own by Deere.   I’ve got a clutch for my 6080 from them that was crap mechanic had a couple others at that time frame he fought. Really want to piss off a CIH guy mention that since most parts from CIH are NLA you need to source parts from Deere (A&I) to keep them running.   Needed some Steiger parts few years ago of course NLA but CIH parts man sourced them from A&I.   

Last I knew they didn’t sell to the general public you need to be a dealer.

Our M2 has always been shedded except for when it was for sale at one time. We've not been able to source an original, ball bearing design rotating collar from anywhere. Our local Agco dealer is very knowledgeable and has some excellent old school mechanics there, and they all agree that you can't get the old style ball bearing rotator anymore, and the new nylon "guides" seem to be a good design from what they've seen. It's just that we're trying to save money if possible, so a rebuild is a possibility, and my father hates the idea of using anything plastic.

Another thing we don't like the sound of is that our Gleaner is an early serial number, and apparently because of that, we have to convert it over to use a smaller size of chain on the rotating collar, because the new style rotator has been designed for a smaller chain size.

So, that leads us to our current predicament. Saving money and getting the original rebuilt. So far, the Agco dealer hasn't offered any solutions on having ours rebuilt, but they say they're looking in to it. A couple of the older mechanics say that rebuilding them is a waste of time and money, because they'll fail in short order if you do. Apparently they say that from experience..

Oiling or greasing the unit seems like an extremely bad idea. You're only going to make more debris stick inside of the ball bearings. In my opinion (as an industrial maintenance mechanic) using dry lube heavily and often is the only way to go on this.. At least on the original ball bearing style of rotator.




Edited by Bird76Mojo - 05 Aug 2019 at 12:03pm

Thanks Doc. That's good info, and will surely make my father feel better about it if we have to buy one of the new collars and convert our chain system.

I believe our old one is still flat and could be rebuilt. As far as the auger falling off, we'd be more worried about the auger itself being damaged. None of our farm vehicles would be missed that much if they were dented up. lol

Yeah, I would think grease would make the joint a dirt magnet, but if it's greased frequently enough I suppose it's not a bad idea. Gleaner not originally installing any means to lubricate the balls is surprising. I guess they see it the same way as I do. That grease would make contaminates stick that much faster.

In my mind dry graphite or moly spray would be the ticket. Whether it's the ball bearing version OR the nylon guide.

I went and had a look at an R-52 today and if it's anything like our early M2, then we'll have to switch over a lot more parts than just the rotating collar and chain type. The upper roller is different, the lower roller and it's bracket are different, the screw-in block on the end of the hydraulic cylinder is different so it can attach to the different style of chain...

This doesn't seem like Gleaner's best conversion/solution to the roller ball problem..

Edited by Bird76Mojo - 09 Aug 2019 at 6:57pm

soybreedingboy77 wrote: I found the one that we took off Dad's L2 around 1995. I do not remember what happened as to why it was changed. I was only involved in putting it back on the combine as I was in college (home for the weekend). We rebuilt it so we had a spare.

It was probably binding up on him and banging heavily when moving it. What was your rebuilding process like? What was involved in it? What parts?

From what our local Agco/Allis dealer tells us, there's no rebuild "kit" available for these anymore. It would all have to be custom. The only option seems to be buying a new nylon guide unit and converting over to the different chain style, which involves a lot more parts than just the rotating collar and chain..

Rebuild involved wire brushing inner and outer coller. New balls and put her back together if I remember right. May have been more but it was over 20 years ago.

The welding could be done in short bursts and then immediately cooling down with cold water to avoid getting things too hot.

AC7060IL wrote: I’ve replaced several ball swivels with the newer nylon swivels with good success. Here’s what I’ve learned about it. To better fit your new nylon swivel into the auger tubing for riveting (I bolt them together), place whole nylon swivel in a deep freezer for 1-2hours before assembly. Deep freeze shrinks nylon swivel metal & it easily slides into auger tubing. Per the nylon swivel manufacturer’s recommendation, I drilled 3 (equally spaced) grease zerk holes in outer area near nylon swivel area & grease them (half pump) daily. This happens at the same time I grease auger’s yoke (cross bearing) & auger’s bushing. Dirt, grain, & grain fines are no problem. I’ve had them in service for over 5 years. If they get wet from setting outside, it has had no bad effects either.

Have you ever changed one on an early M2 where you had to convert over the the newer style chain that Dr. Allis mentions?

AC7060IL wrote: Because of their higher price, any of your questions pertaining to a newer nylon swivel’s adaptation, should be addressed to its manufacturer.

I tried to get a phone number for A&I to inquire further about the rotating collar, but they don't list a phone number. Only an email address.

I just emailed them with several questions.