A couple at auction this month...

Dave H (MI)

Well-known Member
I see an IH turbo diesel 915. 4 row corn head and a grain/bean head of some sort are available separately. Looks like a machine I could afford to buy as a starter but don't know much about them. Has a real air of antiquity about it compared to #2.

#2 is a 1460 IH. This is a really nice looking machine on the outside. Has over 5000 hrs and I have not been able to get up there to look at it yet. It's over an hour away and I have a feeling I can't afford it. Nice machine, I have done some homework on these. I would rate it as the best bet of the three I have coming up at auction. Two heads available at separate sale.

#3 is a Gleaner L. I am an IH guy with a strange attraction to silver combines. I just like them. And, thanks to a lot of reading and advice on this forum, I have some knowledge of them. This is a fairly large machine. I would prefer an M or F, especially if it has a "3" attached to the letter. Gonna let this one slide on by. Not too many positive remarks out there about the initial L combines.
 
The 15 series IH have a history of burning up due to the routing of an oil hose near the engine. Look at those in salvage yards. A 5000 hour machine is likely worn out.
 
The 15 series is at auction tomorrow. I will be there but not really thinking this is a machine I want. The other IH is the machine that prompted my "hours" post earlier this week. Once again, the time and place are not right AND I am concerned about the hours and price. The machine and two heads are split into three lots. I can find one on Craigs if I am patient that is all inclusive and probably less money in the end.
 
How many acres do you have to combine? And what is your budget? I am a small farmer and last fall I upgraded some. I sold a very nice Oliver 7300 with 3 heads for $1500. Oliver or White 7300 with heads are usually priced right, and mine worked trouble free for 10 years. I am very particular about maintenance on things though. I replaced it because it was gas, no hydro, no ac, and a floating cutter bar, not true flex head. I wanted a Gleaner F3 as well, but they sell very well around here. I ended up with a very clean new Holland TR85. A 6 row machine, maybe like a 6620 Deere. It may be bigger than what your looking for, but they usually sell pretty cheap. If you can find a late model they have some improvements, and I like mine pretty well.
Josh
 
Won't comment on budget, never know who might be reading. I will say that I need to get into something that will actually work on up to 100 acres to start. I don't have a lot left in the kitty after the equipment upgrades already done. There seem to be a lot of old Gleaners around, at least there were last year. The last F3 that sold here went for just over $4K and it had two heads and started and ran great. That much I can assess easily. The rest I would have to look at carefully to see how much wear is evident. A $4K combine that stops after 5 acres is no bargain. A well maintained unit that gives me next to no grief for a couple of seasons is a much better buy at a little higher price. I'm no virgin to the used equipment market. Right now I'm just sticking my toe in an unknown pond. I'll jump in when the temperature is right and dang the alligators.
 
The auctioneer is Mark Oberly and he operates out of Dundee, MI. The auction was in Maybee aka Azalia, MI. My daughter took the day off from her school work to accompany me. We used to go to a lot of auctions together but college has cut into that time a bit. Unfortunately, some slack jawed local would be Romeo felt the need to follow us around asking a lot of questions and, between him and his equally idiot friends, was making her so uncomfortable that she asked could I let her wait in the car. I didn't feel comfortable leaving her there long so...to make this short...I left before it sold. Pretty sure the auctioneer could give you the info if you e-mailed him.

The 915 is a little different than the more modern combines I have looked at. Aside from the stronger aroma of mouse, you sit up REAL high. I joked with daughter that you couldn't own this thing if you couldn't make the first rung on the ladder...big step up. It was a very nicely kept machine on the outside. Cab area was well used and mousey. I did not go crazy looking at the innards because it was not something I wanted to haul home.
 
One big failing in the Gleaners, they don't hold up well at highway speeds and it's a little too far to trailer it. Last time I brought something down from WI it cost me $400 bucks...and that was just a mower. :)
 
Why do you say Gleaners don't hold up well at highway speeds? My L2 roads just fine and it tops out at 22 mph but I keep it down around 18 or 19. Also only the first L combines had problems. Mostly related to the shaft monitor system that sent minute amounts of electricity through bearings. An updated system fixed that. If you find an L from '75 and up they are a fine machine and I'd say any L that is going today made it past those initial problems.
 
Why do you say Gleaners don"t road well? my L2 roads just fine. Gleaners of that era were a favorite for custom harvesters and they roaded all the time. Also it"s only the early L that had teething problems. Mostly due to the shaft monitor system sent minute amounts of electricity through bearings. Any L still going today was updated and has survived long enough to be in the category of a good combine.
 
Sorry about the double post. I couldn't remember my password so used as guest then remembered and reposted because I thought the first post didn't appear.
 
Went to this auction. The F3 had 766.8 original hours on a working tach, but the mice had had their way with it in several places… non-hydro but had the auto header control. Hadn't been used in probably 15 years. Corn head and combine went for $8000. 315 flex bean head with steel tines and wood bats sold separately for $1900. So a $10k F3, with heads.
 
If you can find someone reliable and reasonable have it custom harvested. You pay him one check and it's done. No fuel bill, no repair bill, no expensive blown tires.

I have the money to buy a good used combine, I have the storage shed, the tools and knowledge to repair anything on a combine, and I know how to operate and adjust it to a fine point but I have my 650 acres custom harvested. I work for them all during harvest and my wage is taken off the bill. I still write out a check for an amount in the $20,000+ dollar range, but that's for combine, grain cart, trucks, auger, men, everything. I will admit the harvester who does it is prompt, does as good of a job as anybody around, and we get along well (most of the time). Push a pencil on it first. Jim
 
I didn't say they wouldn't road well. I would not have the knowledge to make that judgement. Basically, from one person who misunderstands post frequently to another, it was a joke. I was trying to say that I couldn't very well throttle her up and head down I-94 with her. She wouldn't handle the HIGHWAY speeds. Guess I'll cross that one off my list of jokes! Must have been my timing...
 

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