Kind of interesting

Donald Lehman

Well-known Member
To observe the changes in combine preferences over the years. Back in the late 50's-early 60's JD and MF owned the self-propelled market, with a few Cockshutts and IH's thrown to make it interesting. Then Gleaner came along and almost completely displaced MF in this area. Nowdays, Case IH seems to have a virtual lock on the combine market in this area.
 
Yes it is. Gleaner was big here, and now they're gone. When JD came out with their MF look-alike, they started taking over the market. They pretty much own it here now.
 
But not every area is like yours. Depends on the dealers too. In my area which is northern Montana, Massey was popular probably the most popular around here from the 40s up through the 70s but they didn't "own" the market. JD sold a boat load of 55s, 95s, and 105s. The New Generation and 20 series only added to their market share. Gleaner was extremely popular until they committed suicide with the N series and dealership/company support dropped off in the 80s. IH made a good showing from the get go but dropped off some in the 70s. But they made a ferocious comeback with the Axial Flow and the bounty on Masseys to the point now were big red and JD pretty much split the market around here with Gleaner and NH picking up the crumbs.
 
Are there any parts yards in your area that have any 95 and 105 parts left? I want a straw spreader for my 95 and maybe a chopper for the 105.Also could use a variable speed reel control for my soybean head. Tom
 
Yea, very similar here. Gleaner really was something, then they pioneered the rotary market -just- when the hard times of the 80s hit, and getting the theory to work on all crops in the field during that time took too much out of them, hurt thrn too bad to stay on top.

JD owned the planter and conbine market with the 44/66/7700 combines and 7000 planters around here.

Case is on top with the 1200 and newer planters and the 1688 and newer combines.

Paul
 
Green is the only thing you see in NEKS. There are a few 1660's and the like but dealer support is worse than non-existent. If you aren't farming 4000 acres you better just drive on by.

There aren't any good old machines around. The JD dealer here is excellent and they can talk a blind man into eye glasses. The oldest machines you will see are like mine - a 9500 series. They really work hard for your business.
 
I think often about this as well. Here too Case IH is king in combines. Deere is loosing ground with their newest series. I have seen some very loyal JD guys go red lately due to the problem they have grinding corn so bad. Not sure why but I have heard that from several JD owners and operators. We have a few loyal Gleaner customers, the larger Gleaner dealer to the west of us seems to be moving more than they used to. The super series has increased the number of Gleaners around a bit. The New Holland combine dealer to the south of us has revamped their shop and service area to cater to combine business and you are seeing more New Hollands as well. But still, red is what you mostly see.

I still blame Deutz on the lack of Gleaner dealers, they had the nicest lineup of high horsepower tractors and so much potential to expand that line but instead threw it all way. As stated the N series put a bad taste in a lot of peoples mouths as well. I feel that was due to lack of completion on the design. The have a awesome machine now and the new cab on the 9 series is beautiful.

What gets me is how much of the market AC had on the pull types. AC never had less than half of the pull type combine market from the time they started to the time they quit. The All-Crop combine and the WC made the AC farm equipment division.

Jim
 
I guess it depends on what kind of dealer support there is. Around here green and red are about it evenly split with a few older Gleaners running around. Both of the JD and CIH dealers here are excellent and will chase after a sale no matter the size of the farmer.
 
I am not aware of any dedicated salvage yards in Montana. If Case Nutty chimes in he might know of some.
 
NH came out with their TR70 in 1975. IH followed with the Axial Flow in 1977 and if my information is correct, the N series were introduced in 1979. Don't know when White came out with their rotary. And just a follow up the Twin Rotor was designed by an engineer that left IH in the 60s which led to a court battle between NH and IH in the early 70s.
 
m-f look a-like? funny white started using cockshutt combines which just turned into white combines then later on massey bought whites combine line and funny enough agco now owns massey, as well as white so kinda came full circle on that one!
 
i worked for a NH dealer in 1975 we sold one of the first 50 TR70 combine to a John Deere guy.
that thing was heck on bearings. he only used it a couple of seasons.
the story we heard IH couldn't make the twin rotors work the way IH wanted so IH sold the design to NH and came out with one rotor.
NH knew IH was wanting to get their design on market for 1976 so NH rushed the TR idea and sold 50 in 1975 so they were first
 
When I was carousing around on the wheat harvest I always had my attention focused on groves and fencelines to see what kind of machinery they used 'back then' In western and central Kansas I saw old Deere55's and old Gleaners in the fencelines and groves. In Oklahoma it seems like there was more old Masseys and Deeres sitting around than other brands. There was a town in SW Oklahoma that had a half dozen old Massey Harrises sitting in a cluster right across from where we used to unload combines. I wanted so badly to run across the road to have a peek but I didn't know the natives so I stayed away and besides I didn't want to get bit by a rattlesnake. Old conventional IH's was very scarce in the west. They must not have been a good wheat combine. There was a 915 IH sitting between Deerfield and Lakin Kansas but the rest were few and far between. Ten years ago or so in central Kansas it seemed like the small farmer who had his own combine most likely was running an M2 or L2 Gleaner with the 7700 Deere close behind and a 6600 behind that. There is a strong Gleaner dealer in Dighton so that might be the reason for the Gleaners. The old conventional Gleaners did an excellent job of putting out a clean sample so that might be some of the reason the older ones were still hanging around at that time.
A few 750 Masseys were out there earning their keep too but not many. North of Lakin a farmer had two very sharp looking Massey 860's but that was about the extent of the Masseys in that area.
Back in the years right before Deere came out with their first rotary a good friend of mine asked a relative who was fairly high up in Deere in Moline why Deere hadn't introduced a rotary yet when everyone else had one on the market. The relative told him "because Deere is selling so many more combines than anyone else they don't need to come out with something new". His words, not mine.
 
That is about correct on why JD didn't introduce a rotary when everyone else did. They could have put a whole rotary lineup on the market in the late 70s. Problem was that it was going to cost about 120 million to retool the factories and to just break even, Deere would have to list them at $100,000 a unit. Plus you had the farm economy starting to tank around that time. JD was number 1 and had nothing to gain by fooling around with a rotary when their conventionals were selling so good. Look what happened to Gleaner and the N series. IH on the other hand was at the bottom of the barrel far as market share goes and they had nothing to lose by putting the Axial Flow on the market.
 

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