I have a customer who plants wide rows who wants me to combine his corn for him next year, maybe 20 acres maximum, elderly gentleman still plants with horses and cultivates, I am happy to do it for him if it keeps him out in the field however I'm setup on 30in rows. I run a 6620 Titan II and have a nice gleaner E for playing. I've tracked down a gleaner E3 parts combine with a 2 row wide head on it that I can probably buy for scrap price or less, it's been outside for a long time, going to be a lot of work to get drug home. Same guy has an f2 with a black 4 row wide on it that combined about 5 years ago but is also outside obviously way overkill for 20 acres or so. Or I could find a 444 cornhead for the 6620. I'm wondering how many upgrades that the e3 has that might be worth having for my e or how many parts even interchange? How big of a headache might I be asking for to get that head functioning after sitting out so long? There is virtually no market for a gleaner in this area as there is little to know dealer support so I could probably buy the f2 for scrap price or less also. What do the e3 and f2 weight so i can come up with a value? Also a side question how hard would it be to find belts for a factory pickup head for the e3? Thoughts or opinions appreciated. Thanks in advance!
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You have lots of questions, and I have few answers! I suppose it's sentimentality from my youth, but after having been around Gleaners for over 40 years, these pictures make me ill. It was older, simpler, CHEAPER machines like this that allowed for profits, which paved the way so we could afford the newer fancier stuff! A brand new late Gleaner E arrived here in 1967. If AC had been ahead of, instead of behind, in using their "series" I,II,III, etc. this would have been a series II. I was surprised, some years later, when I bought an earlier E at auction, at all the little changes.

E3's were only made one year. As I recall the machine was basically an E, but a lot of the external things- drives, bin, etc. were more like the following K. If the engine is still in the E3, that's probably the most valuable part.

You don't have a corn head for your E? You could fit the one from the E3 onto it, but again, the drives are what changed, and could be a challenge.

We used to do 36" rows with the 38" header on the E. It was tight. When it got slippery(as it wants to do here in NY) we ran down corn. Always wanted to work on the downhill side of the field!

My last Gleaner was an F2. In 200 bu. corn it was slow going, and the bin was too small. I imagine the 4 row wide is heavier than the narrow, and that could be a factor here. My F2 had 23" tires, and these in the picture don't look that big.

Hopefully my rambling thoughts will somehow help your decision.
 
I agree I hate to see these machines wasting away in the name of "progress". Yes the engine is still in the e3 but seems to be locked up. Is it the same as the engine in my e or are they different? You can probably tell I am no gleaner expert but after being around my e I am developing a soft spot for them! I do have a corn head on my e but it's a 3 row 30". Are you saying the way the head mounts and drives is not the same from the e to the e3? Neat to hear the stories and thank you for the information!
 
If your friend plants and cultivates with horses, most likely he is using two row equipment set at 40, 42 or 44 inch row width. A two row corn head setup for 40 or 38 inch rows should still work if you drive carefully. A four row head setup for 38 or 40 inch rows will be way off on the outer rows, unless you only combine two rows at a time.

Are you sure there isn't someone else in the county that has a working two row wide combine that could be hired?
 
F2 with a grain head weighs about 11,000, E would be lighter, maybe around 9xxx. IDK about factory pickup belts, but many heads had Melroe pickup units, or AC also used an Innes mechanical finger pickup. Had one- didn"t like it. Had AC and Melroe, they were good.
 
Yes, the E and E3 engines are the same D17, 226 cu in engine. The E3 looks more like the K than it does the E. The K has Chev. 250 cu in 6 cylinder.
I believe the E3 has a counter shaft mounted low and forward on the feeder house, like most later combines, which drives the feeder beater, and the header. On the E, the header is driven from the pivot shaft(where the feeder house pivots on the machine) and then the feeder beater is driven from the header.

Mounting the heads between the different series is the simple part. The quick-tach hanger can be installed on the E, and conversely, I believe the spring latches can be put across the top of the newer combine. The different way they are driven, as mentioned above, is the challenge. Back when the K series head was in production, AC provided different drive kits so you could put the newer, low profile head on an E. My cousin had one. I was able to still obtain one of those drive adaptors to facilitate installing a black A series head on my fathers E. Even then I had to do some head scratching and altering. Getting a hold of one of those adaptors would be the challenge now.
 
I wondered about a 4 row not working well with his 2 row equipment but I figured for 20 acres it would be tolerable. As far as another 2 row wide functioning machine, good luck that e3 is about the only 2 row combine even sitting in a fence row nearby! I can only think of maybe 1 other farmer that is even on wide rows and they are 8 row! Any more around here I'm a small timer with the 6620 and 6 row 30! Things sure have gotten big fast lately!
 
I will have to look closer at both machines but neither is right out my back door, I'll have to get some pictures of my e, it is super low hours and is all setup with scales etc. To be a plot combine, the story is that it belonged to Curry seed when new.
 
That's a perfect chance to use pickers and had his team pull wagons. Guys come out of the woodwork here for a wagon of cob corn to grind for their 4 H hogs. I bet if a sign went up on the corner you would have all kinds of old Farmalls running out of sheds for a day in the field. They just did about 15 acres here that way this fall. It was fun to see. If I hadn't been hauling bales I would have hooked into some wagons with the old M to make her work a bit. You'd be shocked what would happen with no advertisement. I bet half a dozen of us old cronies from here would take the bait. Not me, I'm too far, though...
 
You should be able to take the throat off the E3 and use it on your E. Little extra work, but gives you quick tach. If you don't want it depending on how far you are I might be interested.
 

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