We are in trouble here in central Ga. 5.5" of rain on already wet ground and more to come has put a halt to corn harvest before it ever really got started.Have any of you guys ever ran an older combine without 4WD and then added 4wd to it.How much difference does it make?I have a Gilcrest 4WD axle set up on one of my combines that current is not in running condition that I am seriously considering pulling out and sticking under the Dominator 76 that I bought back in Janurary.I am already going to put duals on the front and probably on the rear too but I really need to know from someone that has ran a combine both ways is it going to be worth my effort to swap it.I need input PLEASE.
- Thread starter Haley
- Start date
Haley, I will admit i have never done anything like what you are talking about. But, i do wonder how often you would need a driven rear axle... If it would be used every couple of years, and you plan too keep the combine for the foreseeable future, then I would think it would be worth the work and effort in doing the conversion.
Do you know if the 4wd works on the other machine? I know you said the machine doesn't run so it will be sort of hard to test, but it would suck to do all that work to discover you need to spend more money on fixing the 4wd or that parts aren't available.
Just my 2 cents, sorry I can't be more help.
Do you know if the 4wd works on the other machine? I know you said the machine doesn't run so it will be sort of hard to test, but it would suck to do all that work to discover you need to spend more money on fixing the 4wd or that parts aren't available.
Just my 2 cents, sorry I can't be more help.
O.J. the axle does work and works real good.The combine it is under still runs but I just havent got it"field ready" yet and it will take too long to do so for corn.The axle will be an easy swap with only three lines,one wire and the center pin that holds it in.I thought about putting it under my hydrostatic 642 but the Dominator has more HP and the hydro pump lines are a lot bigger which means possibly more flow avalible to the rear wheels.
mudcreek183
Member
All the big boys around here have the 4wd and duels on their combines the one thing one of the old timers told me he never runs his in the mud he will use it to get himself unstuck i have seen a couple of them bury their combines in the mud so deep that it took two large dozers to get them out
I have never done what you are talking about, but around here where it is almost always muddy in the fall there are almost no 2wd combines newer than 20 years old. The 4wd makes a huge difference. Instead of the back wheels cutting into the dirt and sliding along building up a pile of mud instead of turning, the 4wd will climb up on top and push. If it is an easy swap I can't see how you would ever be sorry. You will be combining when the 2wds are sitting. However, you will also be able to get stuck in much worse places than you have ever been stuck in before!
haley, I like all of the work you put in to do a good job, I grew up watching my dad do what you do by necessity. He put a mud hog type axle under a C2 gleaner in the early 90"s, it made a big difference in soft fields but the biggest reason is he converted a 6 Row IH corn head to fit the gleaner and he needed the weight.
I figure your area is flat ? but in southern Illinois on rolling clay hills, the rear wheel assist helps a whole lot with steering, weight distribution, takes a lot of pressure off of the final drives with a loaded hopper, and yes, can get you both stuck and unstuck. I would say if you have it it is worth it.
Adam
I figure your area is flat ? but in southern Illinois on rolling clay hills, the rear wheel assist helps a whole lot with steering, weight distribution, takes a lot of pressure off of the final drives with a loaded hopper, and yes, can get you both stuck and unstuck. I would say if you have it it is worth it.
Adam
coonie minnie
Well-known Member
How's the stalk health of your corn? Will it stand a while?
It may be wise to be patient for a while. Mudding up the field won't make farming next year any easier. You can feel the effects of compaction for a long time.
My corn experience is from WI and IL, a lot different than your climate. It can stand quite a while up here in the fall (or winter!) and isn't as vulnerable as, say, wheat. However, we don't have your heat or humidity causing grain quality issues, or stalk health issues. That same heat should help dry out your fields sooner, too.
Mud here in November will freeze up faster than dry out.
Curious- How wet is the corn grain?
It may be wise to be patient for a while. Mudding up the field won't make farming next year any easier. You can feel the effects of compaction for a long time.
My corn experience is from WI and IL, a lot different than your climate. It can stand quite a while up here in the fall (or winter!) and isn't as vulnerable as, say, wheat. However, we don't have your heat or humidity causing grain quality issues, or stalk health issues. That same heat should help dry out your fields sooner, too.
Mud here in November will freeze up faster than dry out.
Curious- How wet is the corn grain?
Tom OConnor
Member
The 4-wheel drive will be much more effective than adding duals. The duals if they are not hub mounted with a lot of space between them will load up with mud and then they are like having a barrel mounted to the axle. Also you will gain a lot of steering control with the rear wheel drive. I have had several of both and I would say forget the idea of duals if you are going to use band spacers. Hope this helps.
The corn was 22% before all this rain.We just got at least another inch in the past hour.Our real concern is the quality.I have heard reports that guys 30 miles west of us have ran into severe quality problems(rotted ears,sprouting kernels,ect)so bad they have quit harvesting.The corn we are in is in good shape for now but we dont know how long it will last.I am not looking to bog from one end to the other,I mainly was thinking of the mud hog because of the bottoms on a lot of the land we run on.We will definetly be waiting now no matter if you have 4WD or not but some of the bottoms wont dry out before the corn is in bad shape.I rember trying to get corn out in the great flood of 94 and the back wheels was always what stopped me.That year I toted chains so much I thought they were a permanent part of me!
masseypride
Member
I would go ahead and do it Haley. I can not see any reason it will not work.
Masseypride
Masseypride
Haley FORGET THE duals!!!! Unless they are wide spaced duals they will just ball up with the sticky mud and be worthless. When you run wide spaced duals you usually have an eight row or larger head to allow for the extra width of the tires.
Put your 4wd on and replace the front tires with the same size but with Rice tire pattern.
Got family that live where the ground get real muddy every fall. They run 30.5 x 32 rice tires on the front and then 4 wd on the back. Then if it gets real wet they take the front tires off and install tracks.
I have had a 4wd on my combines for years. We do not get that muddy here but we do get slippery on the hill sides. I have ran many days when all the guys with 2wd set home because they could not stay on the side hills.
Also with the 4wd on many times you will not make hardly any track and in 2wd you cut ruts in the same field. I had the electric wire come off under the combine. I did not know it until I started spinning going right next to where I has just ran without a track.
I would be using this rainy time to get that 4 wd axle on the machine that runs the best.
Put your 4wd on and replace the front tires with the same size but with Rice tire pattern.
Got family that live where the ground get real muddy every fall. They run 30.5 x 32 rice tires on the front and then 4 wd on the back. Then if it gets real wet they take the front tires off and install tracks.
I have had a 4wd on my combines for years. We do not get that muddy here but we do get slippery on the hill sides. I have ran many days when all the guys with 2wd set home because they could not stay on the side hills.
Also with the 4wd on many times you will not make hardly any track and in 2wd you cut ruts in the same field. I had the electric wire come off under the combine. I did not know it until I started spinning going right next to where I has just ran without a track.
I would be using this rainy time to get that 4 wd axle on the machine that runs the best.
Thanks for the replys,It seems pretty much everyone thinks it would be worth my time to go ahead and put the 4WD on.I think I will drain the oil out of the hubs on the axle today just to make sure there is no metal in them and if all is well I probably will move foward with the project.A couple of you guys have pretty much thrown my spacer duals under the rug and I have to wonder if you have a different kind of mud than we have here.I have ran dual 23.1x26 tires on the front of one of my 642's since I bought it with a 10" band between them and it will go in places that you can hardly walk on even being 2WD.I have never had problems with them caking up but most of the time the mud is more like chocolate pudding than gumbo.My plan is to leave the 642 like this and to put the 4WD on the Claas with the same dual tire setup on the front and duals on the rear.Around here if a single tire falls in a ripper furrow you are done but usually the dual is running in the middle and will hold it up.I guess I will try to get it together and we will see how it goes.Thanks for all the input!
coonie minnie
Well-known Member
I hear you... go get that corn!
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