Combine choices.
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Topic: Combine choices.
Posted By: clarkscreek
Subject: Combine choices.
Date Posted: 11 Nov 2019 at 7:57am
| My Deere 4420 laid down on me yesterday to the point of not fixing it. So do I take this opportunity to get a gleaner and if so what models would you guys recommend. I need to stick with a 4 row machine with no bigger than 13ft header. I have also thought why not buy another 4400 or 4420 and have almost a whole combine of parts available. |
Replies:
Posted By: tomstractorsandtoys
Date Posted: 11 Nov 2019 at 8:08am
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I know this is an Allis forum but I would look at getting a Deere 6600. The latter ones have a 404 engine and most of the parts will interchange with your 4420. Dad had several Gleaner machines E,E III and an F. He went to a 3300 and later a 4400. In corn the Gleaner was a great machine but we had some hills and with heavy straw (usually 100+ small square bales per acre) the Gleaners would let to much grain go out the back. He never cut beans with the Gleaners but was told they were very good. The Gleaner was easier to work on but Dad thought they needed worked on a little more often than the Deere machines did. Tom |
Posted By: MACK
Date Posted: 11 Nov 2019 at 8:57am
| F2 or F3 would make you a good machine, but like the 4420, they are getting some age on them. They are a good machine and easy to work on. MACK |
Posted By: tbran
Date Posted: 11 Nov 2019 at 9:09am
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lots to be said for a spare parts machine for major components - the only issue is usually the wear parts are equally as worn and of no use. ------------- When told "it's not the money,it's the principle", remember, it's always the money.. |
Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 11 Nov 2019 at 9:35am
| I think an R-40 or R-42 would be a very nice replacement for a 4420 combine. |
Posted By: jiminnd
Date Posted: 11 Nov 2019 at 10:23am
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Under stand the parts thing but I always thought the 6600 were not a very good unit, didn't own one but combined with a neighbor who had one. ------------- 1945 C, 1949 WF and WD, 1981 185, 1982 8030, unknown D14(nonrunner) |
Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 11 Nov 2019 at 10:51am
| 6600 would be older than a 4420 too. |
Posted By: AC7060IL
Date Posted: 11 Nov 2019 at 11:09am
| Yes, F2/F3/R40/R42, 4400/4420/6600, or 1440/1640, etc??? All older machines, so might figure out where your best Kentucky? (Or closest) combine salvage yard location and see which brand/models are most plentiful? Comes down to whichever suits you. |
Posted By: MattLF9
Date Posted: 11 Nov 2019 at 1:12pm
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If you don't buy another Deere, I would seriously look at getting a 1978+ F2 or F3. These combines had the long walkers and cleaning shoe. We have had a 1980 F2 here for 21 years now and just love it. ------------- A little CQB never hurt anybody. |
Posted By: clarkscreek
Date Posted: 11 Nov 2019 at 7:06pm
| Thanks for all the replies. John Deere around me has far and away the best parts support. Also getting another Deere I would still have mine for parts. I had just heard how much better the gleaners were to work on and was wondering if it was worth the switch. |
Posted By: allisbred
Date Posted: 11 Nov 2019 at 8:20pm
| We love our Allis tractors and have several, but only one combine. When taking off grain, time is essential, sometimes losing a day can be detrimental. We have thought several times about getting a Gleaner and something bigger than the 4420 w/15’ header. Ours has been very reliable and Deere has a lot of parts support around here. Not sure what you lost but, there are a lot of those machines out there with low hours. Seems like the 6620’s always have a ton of hours and maybe not worth buying. I just saw a nice low hour 4420 on Craigslist local for 14k. Think I’d stick with it and save yours for parts. JMO |
Posted By: NEVER green
Date Posted: 12 Nov 2019 at 8:19am
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Our neighbor is a JD fanatic but switched to a R50, I asked him how come and he told me JD is terrible to work on. Loves the machine. ------------- 2-8050 1-7080 6080 D-19 modelE & A 7040 R50 |
Posted By: wekracer
Date Posted: 12 Nov 2019 at 8:24am
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I don’t have much experience with the rotaries but I have spent hundreds of hours in an F2 and F3. In my opinion they are some of the most reliable combines I’ve ever been around. My uncle had a 4400 Deere and there was no comparison. One year he had a broken leg and couldn’t run it so dad and I went to help. After a day in the 4400 with no auto header control we brought our F2 over and finished up. Currently we run an L2 with 318 head and 6 row corn head. It’s a beast but I feel like it requires more TLC than the old F2. We have since picked up a really nice F3 and use it for wheat and red clover and the occasional small bean patches where I don’t feel like taking the L and taking the head on and off. The controls on it make it a pleasure to run. Done rambling. Good luck |
Posted By: Tracy Martin TN
Date Posted: 12 Nov 2019 at 10:08am
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If you are looking at saving time, stick with the Deere, it will save you on sowing your next crop! ------------- No greater gift than healthy grandkids! |
Posted By: Lonn
Date Posted: 12 Nov 2019 at 10:40am
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Go with a gleaner and you'll be surprised how much easier they are to work on and keep in the field compared to a Deere. Our next door neighbor went from having to smaller older Deere machines then to one L3 and he loved the L3. He said he pawned those two Deere machines off to the first suckers to come alone. Very hard to work on and dinosaurs to operate compared to the Gleaner. Do pre maintenance and you'll be fine with one. For what they are selling for it would not be hard to find a nice R40 or R50 but a nice M2 or M3 would be great too and less little updates to make it perform vs early R series (though the updates aren't expensive to do or that hard to do). F series are gems and they made gobs of them but I'd take an M series over an F series and an R series over an M series. ------------- -- --- .... .- -- -- .- -.. / .-- .- ... / .- / -- ..- .-. -.. . .-. .. -. --. / -.-. .... .. .-.. -.. / .-. .- .--. .. ... - Wink I am a Russian Bot |
Posted By: Tbone95
Date Posted: 12 Nov 2019 at 11:31am
Bah.....I can set my 4420 deere just fine. To the OP, what happened to your 4420 to render it dead?
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Tracy Martin TN wrote:Posted By: clarkscreek
Date Posted: 12 Nov 2019 at 12:37pm
| A rock went in and broke the cylinder, concave, deflector and feeder house drive shaft. So anyway I'm planning on another one before next summer. |
Posted By: IBWD MIke
Date Posted: 12 Nov 2019 at 12:46pm
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The combine 'partnership' that I was in dissolved last year. The machine was a 6620, 4400 before that. When I was shopping for a replacement, John Deere was the only thing I WOULD NOT consider! Wound up with a Red one, but looked at some Gleaners too. There aren't to many of them in my price range around here. I really don't know why a green thing needs three times as many belts and chains as anything else but I suppose they had their reasons?
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Posted By: Tbone95
Date Posted: 12 Nov 2019 at 12:49pm
Yikes! Well, that would explain it! I'd look at a 6620 if'n I was you...
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Posted By: Lonn
Date Posted: 12 Nov 2019 at 1:29pm
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A Gleaner F, M, or L series would never have that issue when ingesting a rock. Just spits it out on the ground, shut the rock door and move on. A 6620 can do the exact same as your 4420 if you pick up the right rock again. ------------- -- --- .... .- -- -- .- -.. / .-- .- ... / .- / -- ..- .-. -.. . .-. .. -. --. / -.-. .... .. .-.. -.. / .-. .- .--. .. ... - Wink I am a Russian Bot |
Posted By: JayIN
Date Posted: 12 Nov 2019 at 1:30pm
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Saw a F2 low hour both black heads 4 row on Indianapolis Craigslist for $2000. Wish I had a need for one! ------------- sometimes I walk out to my shop and look around and think "Who's the idiot that owns this place?" |
Posted By: ranger43
Date Posted: 12 Nov 2019 at 2:08pm
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We had an MF 300, Gleaner E, 79' K2, (79' JD 6620 for 24 years) and now a 98' Deere 9510. All were pretty good machines, but all required work. I always felt the sheet metal, shafts and drives on the gleaners were a little lighter than the 6620. That 466 deere motor in the 6620 may it a pretty tough machine especially when we ran a four row head on it. the biggest reason for us to switch to deere at that time was the heads. The Deere headswere so much simpler, especially the corn heads and grain heads have always fed great. I think a guy would be good either way F3, M3, 6620. |
Posted By: farmtoybuilder
Date Posted: 12 Nov 2019 at 2:14pm
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Depends on what dealers are around you. and amount of money you want to spend. They all wear out and have problems!!! We use to rebuild a few older machines for farmers to use on smaller acreage. Around here it's all green now. ------------- 5 different TT-10's,5 TT-18's Terra Tigers,B-10,2 B-207's,B-110,2 B-112's,HB-112,B-210,B-212,HB212,2 Scamp's & Homilite T-10. Still hunting NICE HB-112 & anything Terra Tiger & Trailers for them. |
Posted By: wheatbreeder
Date Posted: 12 Nov 2019 at 6:17pm
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Have had k, k2 F2 currently have r40 just a bit bigger than f2/f3 would not trade it for anything else ------------- Farm stuff 8050,6690,175,F2,5050,WD |
Posted By: matador
Date Posted: 12 Nov 2019 at 7:16pm
| I know I'm late to the party, but we ran a Deere 6600. You couldn't pay me to run another Deere from that era. We purchased a Gleaner F2 (It's similar in size to your 4420) and we've never looked back. It's just a much better machine. Any of the Gleaner models were rock solid, but we went with the F2 for it's size. I think that would be a great choice for you |
Posted By: JohnCO
Date Posted: 12 Nov 2019 at 9:26pm
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I watched a very clean IH 1420 with a 17' grain head sell for $3000 last Saturday. I've heard they do well too. I think Shameless has a IH, or at least used to. ------------- "If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer" Allis Express participant |
Posted By: Tracy Martin TN
Date Posted: 12 Nov 2019 at 10:07pm
------------- No greater gift than healthy grandkids! |
Posted By: CrestonM
Date Posted: 12 Nov 2019 at 10:15pm
| I have seen a field where a properly set 6600 did a darn good job, and the grain in the tank was very clean. |
Posted By: matador
Date Posted: 12 Nov 2019 at 11:10pm
| We had mixed results with our 6600 there, but that wasn't my complaint. Everything I hated about that machine boiled down to one word: Repairs. That's where I was extremely disappointed with the Deere |
Posted By: modirt
Date Posted: 13 Nov 2019 at 8:54am
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Question about the rotary Gleaners.......can they be setup to harvest small grain and seed crops like red clover, fescue, etc, or are they mostly for corn, soybeans, wheat, etc? |
Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 13 Nov 2019 at 9:06am
| A Rotary Gleaner can be set-up to harvest ANY crop. Some equipment is added or changed, but they can be adapted to many different crops. |
Posted By: allisbred
Date Posted: 13 Nov 2019 at 5:00pm
| I have to say we have zero dock at the elevator for trash or cracked grain in beans and corn with a late model 4420. It does have electric float and is very nice to use with the flex head. The only waste I can complain about is barley . I see a little come back in the beans. Maybe a rotary next but I’d like to see a gleaner first working. |
Posted By: victoryallis
Date Posted: 13 Nov 2019 at 5:24pm
We ran red clover with a R52 even have a small seed screen for it. ------------- 8030 and 8050MFWD, 7580, 3 6080's, 160, 7060, 175, heirloom D17, Deere 8760 |
Posted By: victoryallis
Date Posted: 13 Nov 2019 at 5:29pm
Our Gleaner dealer is 2.5 hours away I don’t bat an eye at that. Rotary Gleaners are way way simpler than red or green. Never had one but I wouldn’t be afraid of a N5 even. Buddy grew up on a 3300 now has a R50. Learn from our misery make sure it has a radiator. ------------- 8030 and 8050MFWD, 7580, 3 6080's, 160, 7060, 175, heirloom D17, Deere 8760 |
Posted By: PeteMN
Date Posted: 13 Nov 2019 at 7:09pm
| Called a dealer for a LH spiral snap roll point today (black cornhead) and he said it's no longer available. Those machines are getting old enough that you need to think about parts availability. The other option is to pick up a salvage unit for spare parts. Luckily my neighbor had some salvage row units that I was able to get the parts off. |
Posted By: ranger43
Date Posted: 13 Nov 2019 at 8:21pm
We never cared for the gleaner snapping roll design....or the entire head for that matter..I remember 35 years ago a spiral point for our A238 cost $55 from the AC dealer. My dad about flipped his lid. When we went to the deere heads we could buy the hole straight snapping rolls for the for the same price. |
Posted By: Lonn
Date Posted: 14 Nov 2019 at 8:08am
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Get the spirals rebuilt by a metal, welding shop. Spirals for my hugger from AGCO this year were $101 each and then they gave me a 10% discount so about 10 bucks off that. A spiral after market, not Deere, for a 1290 Deere head is about the same price. ------------- -- --- .... .- -- -- .- -.. / .-- .- ... / .- / -- ..- .-. -.. . .-. .. -. --. / -.-. .... .. .-.. -.. / .-. .- .--. .. ... - Wink I am a Russian Bot |
Posted By: AC7060IL
Date Posted: 14 Nov 2019 at 8:53am
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As with any brand, it's the experienced knowledge of how to properly setup the machine. Thanks to Tbran & DrAllis' gleaner pointers, their advice has assisted me numerous times over the years. To that end, I have operated other brands with comparable results. But, I prefer the gleaner for simplicity. Yes, the biggest drawback is the distance to my AGCO dealers. But that being said, I must admit all my AGCO closest dealers will usually direct ship me parts which saves my travel time/expense to dealership, dealership inventory, & simplifies shipping. So when something breaks on my gleaner, I look up my part number in gleaner parts book, call that part number into AGCO dealer parts person, & if its available - get it direct shipped to me from Batavia or maybe another dealer's inventory. So, one phone call & it's maybe on its way via UPS. Thats a terrific value.
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Posted By: studeranch
Date Posted: 14 Nov 2019 at 10:33pm
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too bad you are so far from Montana, We have a neighbor with a 6620 that he can't get anyone to buy or even trade. |
Posted By: Trinity45
Date Posted: 15 Nov 2019 at 7:28am
In my area the green ones in corn tend to run too much out the back especially when they are run too fast in heavy corn.
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Posted By: Tbone95
Date Posted: 15 Nov 2019 at 7:58am
Maybe so. But you haven’t seen my fields. I drive all around, see fields like you’re talking about, and see all colors of equipment parked nearby. It’s 99% the operator. Just as your dig on Deeres, there’s digs on Gleaners. I don’t dig on them, I’ve never owned or operated one. Nearest dealer is god knows where. Equally, I’m not in love with my combine. I bought it because it was a fair price, runs fantastic, was close enough to drive home, and the dealership is close by. And there’s 1000’s of them, so used parts are often attainable. From all my reading and research, I’ve formed my own opinion, and yes, it’s just an opinion. In comparison to other similar size machines from the era, until rather recently even, a Deere had more horsepower. You could even say a bit too much? You can make your settings then push it and overload it pretty easily and spit grain out the back, while the engine isn’t pulled down yet. Say what you want, I’m proud of my clean fields and clean samples. It can be done and I’ve learned to do it. I have a rock trap as well. Never have damaged something from a rock. Maybe there’s something to that but I’ve not had a problem. To the OP, a 6620 has a hydro, a little nicer setup than the 4420’s ground drive. |
Posted By: ranger43
Date Posted: 15 Nov 2019 at 12:08pm
The old deere design was a one piece design no separate spiral and to me that was so simple and effective. |
Posted By: dawntreader74
Date Posted: 15 Nov 2019 at 7:02pm
| a guy can get a 7700 or 7720 low hours bigger combine an not spend a lot of money' there is a lot of them out there. they don't throw your grain out the back when there set right. also will run a 8 row head. stay with the jd. |
Posted By: Michael V (NM)
Date Posted: 15 Nov 2019 at 7:32pm
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I'm not gonna knock the deere,, they can do the work,,just takes an "operator", I ran a 7700 on wheat harvest back in the middle 70's,,, done a good job, and I was used to running the CII that my Dad had set perfectly.....the only bad about the Gleaner I can think of,, is the belts,,, most of the bearings, chains, sprockets can be found at your local machine shop, now stuff like cylinder bars and concaves, raddle chains, and such will need to be ordered,,,, places like Abiline Machine, shoupe, etc. will have them,, you will know when them big things need to be ordered....also, EASY TO WORK ON... all the main drive stuff is under the seat on a JD... not fun to change the drive belts...
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Posted By: victoryallis
Date Posted: 15 Nov 2019 at 8:07pm
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Mayer’s have a nice looking R42 on Facebook ------------- 8030 and 8050MFWD, 7580, 3 6080's, 160, 7060, 175, heirloom D17, Deere 8760 |
Posted By: clarkscreek
Date Posted: 16 Nov 2019 at 8:48am
| I was planning on spending 5000 or less, but lets say I did pony up the money for an r42 how easy to adapt my 443 and 213 Deere heads with sprocket type hookups? |
Posted By: MACK
Date Posted: 16 Nov 2019 at 9:55pm
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I would buy a 218 or 918 to put on it, then just drive it with drive shafts. Don't think you can drive fast enough with a 13' head to keep it full. I'm with you on the JD head. MACK |
Posted By: clarkscreek
Date Posted: 17 Nov 2019 at 4:08am
| The reason for the 13 ft is for the narrow lanes and gates. Any bigger and I'll spend more time taking the head on and off than cutting. |
Posted By: chuck linn
Date Posted: 17 Nov 2019 at 4:36am
| Best part of a deere is the time to repair it or having seat fall on your head while changing belts. Have used 6600 and 7700 both very hard to work on gleaner is much easier to work on and does a better job |
Posted By: SteveM C/IL
Date Posted: 17 Nov 2019 at 1:08pm
| PeteMN I just priced left & rt spirals and extensions for black head. Numbers have changed from parts book but no mention of NLA. Usually if priced they are available. Wonder how good your parts guy is. Took mine a bit to find it all. |