Dave H (MI)

Well-known Member
If this is a stupid question I apologize, but what is "a lot" of hours on a combine? Since I am looking at machines from the early 80's they seem to range from just under 3000 hours to over 5000 hours. Basically looking at Gleaners and IH machines from the same general era. Used to be a car was good for 100K back in the day, is there a point at which a combine that has not been rebuilt becomes a riskier investment?
 
The older machines were built to compile a reasonable number of hours, depending how the machine was operated and maintained.

Now I'm hearing that the BTO's that buy the expensive new combines are saying that the combine will be worn out at 2500 hours. So on a hourly basis that makes a pretty expensive machine, although cost will be less if you figure on a acre of crop harvested basis or bushels harvested basis.

Some of the BTO's that I know figure that the new tractors are worn out at 5000 hours, or at the very least ready for a complete overhaul. They trade them off anytime after the tractor has 2500 hours on it.
 
I've always been lead to believe that a combine was worn out when it had 4k plus hours on it. If the machine has been taken care of or been sent to the shop and checked over every year or couple of years, a machine with 5k hours wouldn't be a bad machine to me. That is just my opinion though.
 
Too many hours is determined by cost of maintenance/repair and harvest downtime vs cost of interest and depreciation on the new one. If you are talking about 30+ yo combines, you should be factoring in repair and downtime no matter what. The question is do you have the desire, time, and money to deal with it? If no, hire a custom op with a new combine.
 
I was kind of leaning that way based on what I am seeing for sale. I think, of course, that a lot has to do with whether or not it was run continuously on endless acreage or if it was owned by one fella who took care of it because it was worth his living to have it break down. On the other hand, I bought a chainsaw 25 years ago from a guy who cut wood for a living and used the thing half to death...or so you would think. Adjusted it a tad and have used it myself since. Never failed me in all these years. I guess this is going to have to be a judgement call...like everything else. Thanks!
 
I'm not sure they have a choice. The computers on board will fail or become obslolete before the paint flakes! :)
 
I don't think hours are the only thing to look at when buying a 30 year old combine. I bought an 82 JD 4420 3 years ago with 3200 hours from the local JD dealer. But I had the dealer go through the unit to check and replace any worn parts. The combine was owned by a local farmer near me for the last 22 years and was well maintained. It cost me $8,000 and then another $3,500 for the parts the JD dealer replaced. But that included changing all fluids & filters. Nice 30 year old combines are hard to come by in my area. So I think previous maintenance is just as important as hours. Al
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It would have to be an awfully nice machine to get something around 5000 hours. I figure 3000 hours is like 100K on a car. If it has been taken care of it will go that far again. If it has been run until things break it may have 500 hours left in it.

The only thing that good maintenance and care won't fix is thin metal. Check the bottom of the clean grain auger and where the walkers run (on older Masseys for example). I just patched the clean grain auger this last spring. The unit is in good shape but it is just wearing thin in spots.
 
I have to agree with that. This is why I passed on the F3 a couple months back. The place was a dump. An open door to a barn revealed nice old tractors, including a Farmall SMTA, with rims buried in the dirt floor and trash leaning all over everything. The exteriors were unpainted and some sheds had sagging roofs. I asked myself..."what are the chances he took care of that combine?"

And then I left.
 
Yes. I ask a lot of questions but I am starting to get the picture. I know what an auger is, of course, but terms like "walkers" are not something I am familiar with. Sooooo, I hit ebay for a couple of brochures on the machines I like and use the exploded diagrams there to follow the advice you give me. Ultimately I think it is just a matter of following the flow of inputs thru the machine and checking for excessive wear, welds, etc. After that a little faith and the usual constant tweaking and repairing that I do on my old tractors will probably get me by.
 
Dave, Read your post about looking at the farmers place when purchasing machinery. I'm the same way. I bought a flex head from a dealer and was fortunate to get to look at it while it was still in the shed at the previous owners place. I didn't have too look too hard at the head to know it was going to be well kept. It was a father and son operation and we had a blast shooting the bull. My wife and I try to keep our place up and I've never had problems selling stuff when people come to look at it.
 
The relevance is: hours don"t matter if you are determined to run an old combine that is barely supported by parts inventories and don"t care what it costs you. Whether you buy a 30yo machine with 500 actual hours, or 5000, major failures are likely to happen and be costly to fix, which makes the idea of running an old combine economically inefficient. And therefore, they ALL have too many hours!

Since you are determined, pay attention to the mechanical condition of the machine, not the hours on the meter. There are plenty of machines out there with many hours that are in as good of condition, or as risky an investment, as those that *supposedly* have less.
 
Find someone local to you who really knows combines, particularly the older ones. Ask them to help you fully understand combine function and assess mechanical condition of critical components. Do this before you commit to buying anything.
 
I am the same way. Keep the place looking nice and it says a lot about the person who owns it. Funny store, sort of:

I bought a place from a family who had owned it since 1836 and farmed it continuously. A member of the family lives across the street and he has done nothing but complain that I paid too little and he would have held out for more, etc etc. I looked at the place and there was a dump in the middle of it, the fences were falling down, lanes over grown, trees fallen half in the fields. SOOO, I hauled 6 ton of trash out of there, put up new fence and posts, cleared the lanes, cut up the trees. That stopped the complaining.

Now he doesn't speak to me at all!
 
Good for you. 30 years ago my wife and I bought this place after the widow that owned it passed away and we started to clean up after the previous renter who had junk piled everywhere that didn't get sold on his farm sale. He never had a kind word for me when I saw him in town. Finally he passed and we haven't had to put up with him. We're good friends with some of the heirs and they think it's fantastic what we did to the place. Go figure
 
Lots of good comments here and I will add a few more. Hours on a combine are not necessarily a good indicator of wear. A combine that has only had beans or milo run through it will be worn much faster than a corn combine, even though it has had more volume of grain run through it. Corn seems to be easier on augers, etc., than other crops, probably because it isn't as dirty. This being said, a typical midwestern corn/soybean combine will need many wear parts replaced in the 2000-3000 hour range. The rest of the combine is many times still in good shape. I have seen the time where a good 3500 hour machine that has been rebuilt once is a better combine than a 2500 hour one that needs a rebuild. To me, you buy what you see and use the hour meter to tell you when to change the oil. Mike
 
Yep, Mike. I guess this is a common sense one. Wear is going to be the indicator and a big part of that is going to be maintenance which you can start with looking at the environment it is coming from. Next would be history of usage and a good inspection. I think I am on track and picking up momentum.
 
One thing to remember if he does hire it custom cut is to get a "smaller" operator or maybe a local smaller/mid size farmer. If you hire a custom guy with a huge new machine or who farms 2500+ acres of his own then he won't be as likely to wait on old single axle and tandem trucks, or an older drying setup. And yours is going to be the low priority and the less important for the machine to be set exactly right. Also you're going to get the least heads up because your ground will get squeezed in when its convenient.
 

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