Beginner Combine

nh8260

Member
I'm looking for a small combine to buy, thinking about a Gleaner K or F2, is these good to start out with? I don't know much about them so I need something easy to work on plus only a 2 or 3 row head cause my fields are spread out and I have to get the machine up and down the road. What number head would I need for these models, I'm on 38" rows.

Also, I've seen videos on youtube of these gleaners unloading corn and it has a lot of broken cob pieces in it and some pieces of stalk. In other peoples videos the corn is clean as a pin, of course I want good clean corn, what is wrong with these that's not delivering that?
 
I don't think people are picky enough about their samples anymore. I like a very clean sample and will tinker until I get it. So many folks just set it at what a book says and don't account for wear or conditions. Folks with new machines just trust that machine to do things automatically. The days of adjusting a combine with a crescent wrench are over. At least for the folks running equipment newer than I do.

You can get a Gleaner to give you a nice sample. It just takes a while to learn your machine and crops. I really do think that machines from many years ago gave a so much cleaner sample with little waste. Our Massey Super 92 gave a beautiful sample - I haven't seen a load of grain that nice since it cut its last bin full.

Never had a Gleaner. I have heard over and over that they are a very user friendly machine. Give it time to learn that machine and you will pull in grain you can be proud of. More important than make of machine is the care it got before you bought it. Find some old boy in his 70's that took care of his machine and knows that machine like the back of his hand. You will have something you can run for 20 years easy regardless of the color of it.
 
Gleaners are good machines, but a little more effort to adjust them is necessary. For instance the concave adjustment is 2 bolts outside on the feederhouse rather than a crank or lever inside. I ran an l2 for a while and liked it real well. They definately are easier to fix than any other. The k would be a 2 row machine and the f2 would be a 4 row, but 4 rows is only a bit wider than the machine so they go down the road fine.
 
An older Gleaner is a fine machine.But,I started with a JD55 roundback/334,later owned a 45SB/313.Now am running a 95SB/443.Those JD x5 series are about as simple and easy to work on as any.They have my vote for a great 'starter'.They are however getting old.JD is starting to discontinue some parts and that could be a problem.
 
I bought a old ragged K with a 330 corn head, and a 10ft bean head with a floating bar for $2500 5 years ago. Brought it home greased it, replaced a chain on the corn head, and ran the crap out of it until I traded it(got $2000) for a L2 last year. The reason those guys had crap in the bin is because they didn't have it adjusted right. Read the book, set the machine and go make a lap. Then adjust from what you see in the bin, and the ground. I wish I had held out for a F2. In my opinion a gleaner is a good place to start. Try to get one with hyd. unload auger, intercoursing with the manual auger on that old K made me want to talk bad.
 
I'd just as soon have a 615 IH as a gleaner, they are alot better built. with all the chains and extra hardware they better be easy to work on, this site is full of gleaner lovers and I am not among them
 
Probably not going to be of help to you, but I have a C2 I'm trying to get rid of, platform head.
Located in Montana.
 
First off how many row corn planter do you have ??? Even if you are planting 4x38 a four row wide head is no wider then the planter . Now around here a four row wide is as wide as i want to go up and down the roads with . And I as well do not like the SILVER SEEDER . I like Red tractors but do not like there older combines . I tried to tell one of the neighbors not to buy and older I H combine but he too likes RED . What i do like are the older Masseys , 300-410-510-540-550-750 . With the 750 being on the larger side . I ran a 300 for years and it did a super job , then we got a 410 and it did well till it got to the point of just being plum wore out . I would like to find a nice 540 or550 .
 
I"d recommend the F2 over the K......more capacity and has the flexibility of different size corn heads, plus bean heads up to 15 feet wide. Either one is easy to adjust to get a clean sample, and maintenance is simpler compared to other brands.

Older corn head are orange, come in various row widths. Newer heads, since about 1975, are called "black" heads, and are designated "adjustable" heads. (A438, A430, etc.) Row widths can be set two inches wider or narrower than the base width.

To get an F2 with the long separating shoe you need to go by sn 39201 or above. That would likely have the hydraulic unloading auger as well. F2 diesel would have the turboed 96 hp 4 cyl engine.....burns about 3 gph.
 
I have a 4 row JD 7000 planter, I'm in the mountains so roads around here are narrow and sometimes the planter is a tight squeeze, there are not many combines around here so I've gotta go at least 4+ hours away to find one. Plus I have no clue what I'm looking at, a little nervous about buying one, don't want to get a wore out lemon and have problems.

JMS, does the gas engine burn more fuel than the diesel on the F2?
 
Have a K2 Gleaner and found it to be a very good machine. One thing that I like about a smaller combine is (as you mentioned) the ability to get from one field to the other down narrow country roads. Make certain you get an owners manual and make certain you have good tires on your machine. Parts still can be found for Gleaners, at least in this area. Try to find a machine that has been well cared for and good maintenance records. Hope this helps.
 
I had a Gleaner K for a couple of years. I used it to do oats and it did a great job. I sold it to a local dairy farmer who found a three row corn head for it. He was using it to combine high moister corn for his cows. He now is a BTO with hundereds of acres of corn and beans and runs several machines. He told me that he sold the old gleaner K last fall and it is still going strong.

I now run a John Deere 6620 and it is way different than that old K. I can only tell you to look any machine over very carefully before buying it. Have someone who knows combines go with you to look it over. Look for signs of rust on the bottom of the machine. They can be patched but most combines do not have a stout frame and are like a unibody on a car.

If you like a gleaner and have a dealer close by then I would say "go for it."
 
cut my teeth on massey 300 ,any machine is just fine to learn on ,,, trouble is you will learn by makin stupid mistakes , gleaner is a good starter machine ,, had one for 3 or 4 seasons doin corn.,, get a book , and if you are lucky to have a neighbor like I did ,, that speaks gleaner , listen to him ,, been using mf750 hydro for last 2 yrs ,,, think I got all the bugs worked out of it now ... lol ,,,you can search archives under "stupid " and learn more
 
don't buy a 540 Massey, a 550 is basically a 510 with some changes but most parts interchange making it easy to keep one going
 
F2 or F3 with a 4 row head will get you harvested a lot quicker, and will fit any road or gate the 4 row planter goes in.

The orange heads are older, use a lot of chain to run everything, folks kinda dislike them but I ran my orange head for over 20 years, gets the job done. The black headers are shaft driven, a step up.

Nothing wrong with a good K machine, but just smaller, takes a long time to harvest corn...

Gleaner is easy to work on. I have 3 good dealers an hour from me that carry parts on hand. You need a dealer that supports you, combines need parts.......

JD 4400/ 4420 is a nice machine too, tho if the break, its a bigger headache working on them, lots of stuff buried behind other stuff.

Nothing wrong with the red machines, 800 or big 900 series. The newer rotary Red combines are easy to work with I hear, but they are big, and you said you didn't want big.

Paul
 
Thanks Paul, I was trying to stay clear of deere, they have a lot of belts and some of them are very pricey. I was looking at the F2's and saw some with a head that was painted silver, is that the black head your talking about? Am I right in saying a 438 or 338 head is the one I would need for an F2 on 38" rows?
 
One would almost always want a 4 row head on a F series.... Yup an F438. I have seen one 3 row head for an F in my life, but that is just odd for fitting the drive wheels in....

Both heads are mostly galvanized. The older one has orange trim. The newer ones have black trim. The last year or so they had green trim for the Duetz years.

The older heads used one set of drive sprockets on the cross shaft of the combine throat. The black heads used a different size set of sprockets. Likely match black sprockets with a black head, orange sprockets with an orange head. Don't want you to be surprised when you hit the field.... ;)

Paul
 
Try finding one of them in good shape for anywhere near what you can pick up an old Gleaner for. Pretty much ad an extra "0" to price of a gleaner to move up to a 1420 or 1440 that is in good running condition.

Not that they are not worth it to someone that needs to cover some acreage but for someone with less than a few hundred acres or less (sometimes a lot less) you can't afford or justify the cost of a 1420 or 1440 - if you can find one.
 
In my never to be humble opinion, what ever brand of dealer that is close to you and will give you the time of day. You don't want a combine where the nearest GOOD dealer is 75 or 100 miles away. Doesn't do any good to have a dealer next door if he only wants to help BTO's. I like Massey's, had a 300, couple of 510's and a 750. The GOOD dealer 35 miles away closed, won't do business with the other MF dealer 40 miles away. Bit the bullet and bot a JD6600. GOOD dealer 10 miles away, 3 harvests with minimum problems so far. MY opinion, Chris
 
If your on 38" the K would have a 2-38 and the F a 4-38, I prefer the "black" heads as you get rid of the gearboxes, easy head to work on or rebuild. Fwill be easier to find the black head than the K. I've run Gleaners for 40 years, if they're set right and cylinder bars and concave bars are good, they'll do a clean job. My advice is buy the biggest combine you can afford and comfortably move down the road. If you look at 4 row machines, you could consider the M series, more diesels available along with hydro drives. Just a thought.
 

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