Allis Chalmers allcrop question

I have been looking for an Allis Chalmers 72 all crop to harvest sunflowers with next year, but I haven"t had any luck. I found a Allis Chalmers all crop either a 60 or 66 not sure yet in a barn just down the road from me. Will the 60 and 66 harvest sunflowers since they are a draper head instead of a auger head? Also what is the difference between the 60 and 66? Thanks in advance guys.

I never tried to harvest sunflowers with a 60 or 66, so I don't know if they will.
The difference between the two is 6 inches. Literally the width, 60 or 66 inches.
They were the best harvesters we had around here when I was a kid.

If you have patience, dry sunflower heads, and the correct screens, an AC pulltype will harvest anything! The difference (mainly) between the 60 and 66 is 6" wider pickup gather.

They are a PIA to cut with a draper style head. You will be much better off with a chain type that the AC 72 has. The heads roll back down the draper head and then go in all at once. You have trouble getting steady flow into the thrashing cylinder.

60 or 66 will do fine with a draper head, just cut the sunflowers a little lower (getting more stem). A BigBin 66 will have the unloading auger at the side of the grain tank instead of on the front. Either way all you are going to cut is around two rows.

Besides the cutting width, difference with the 66 (later, not early 66) is the bin capacity and ability to unload on the go. Basically same machine.

This part of the country all the 60 & 66 s go to the salvage yard. No body wants to try and keep that old canvas head working. The good clean 72 will bring what ever the seller ask. I buy ever 72 I can find and have no trouble selling them. You can say sunflower and really not say much. So man diffren kinds. Some tall some short , some big seed some small but you can harvest just about any with the all crop AC IF you have the right screens and settings. Where are you located. What ist the purpose of the seed harvest?

Yeah I could see them rolling back down the draper. I am just doing 10 acres and trying to find a way to get by. The draper all crop is just down the road and I haven't even been able to find a 72 for sale yet. I am going to keep searching for a 72 or 90 and if I can't find one I will settle for the draper all crop thanks guys fot the informations helps a ton!!

I am harvesting 10 acres of clearfield sunflowers blazer is the seed name they are a 3-4 size black oil sunflower. Next year to sell off my farm for bird feed and dove field. Just kinda a hobby I have been wanting to do for a long time and next year is going to be the year. I love raising sunflowers for there beauty I have people come from all over the area to take pictures not many sunflowers grown in my area. I am in Eastern TN about a hour half east of Knoxville.

Never tried sunflowers, but I have run my 60 for 20 years. Replaced both canvases and put stiffer springs on the tensioner. No more problems, but not a cheap fix. Canvases don't feed as steady, but don't overload it and it should be ok.

If you're in the mid-west, Doc Smith might be able to help you. Lacon, IL.

I am in Eastern TN, I would be willing to travel to get a good one. What should I pay for a good 72 or 90? How hard are they to take apart to haul on a 25' flat bed?

Here is a you tube video of a 72 harvesting sunflowers.


Leonard
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IH26: You say you have 10 acres of sunflowers. Do you have room for storage of a combine?? The reason I am asking is that a smaller self propelled combine will sell cheaper than a AC 72. A good 72 can brings as high as $2500. Parts machine can easily break a $1000. I see pretty good old self propelled combines go for scrap value.

Also a JD 30 combine has a feeder house chain. They would cost about the same money as the AC 72. The AC 90 usually sell for a lot more money they where not as many of them and they are more collectible.

I think I saw your add on Graigslist looking for one in Eastern Tenn.

JD seller I don't have room at the moment for a regular combine because of the height my barn is only 12' from ground to bottom of rafters, but I could tarp it. There are quite a few small gleaner combines around my area pretty cheap, but to be honest a normal combine scares the crap out of me because of how complicated they seem. I mean I can tear just about any tractor down, and fix it but for some reason a combine seems over my head. Are they real hard to set up and repair and can you get parts for the old gleaner combines? If I bought a normal combine would you use a grain head with sunflower pans? Sorry for all the questions just trying to weigh all my opotions. And yes that was my craigslist listing.

IH26: Many of the older combines will easily fit in a 12 foot door. I started out with a JD 45 and it fit easily in a 12 foot door. That was all the taller my shop door was.

As for easy of repairs. The repairs on a old self propelled combine will not be much harder than a pull type machine. The older Gleaners are easy to work on they just have a lot of moving parts. They rarely stacked the drives up. That makes them easy to work on but makes them have way more bearings, chains and shafts. The engines and ground drive usually don't give much trouble in dry ground. So the thrashing and separating systems would be about the same as a pull type.

As for needing sun flower pans. You are going to need them regardless of which machine you get to harvest them with. The problem is when you have a sunflower head turned away from the direction you are traveling the sickle will cut it off and the weight of the head will make it fall forward. Where it will fall out the front of the grain head. The grain pans catch it and hold it for another stalk or the reel to push it on into the combine.

I have seen people just take 3/4 inch plywood an make vee shaped dividers and bolt them on the sickle.

Thanks for all the information JD Seller I will go look at some of the local gleaner combines I really really appriecate it! I just found a real good looking MF 35 pull type combine near me for $2500 if it's still for sale. I understand the basics of combines, but do I have to change the screens when I go from corn to wheat or corn to sunflowers ect... or do screens fit the same crops I know that may be a dumb question I am just really green on combines lol!!

IH26 most of the more modern machines will have adjustable sieves and chaffers not screens. If the machine has screens then a corn screen usually will work with sunflowers.

Keep in mind changing to different crops with AC combines is not just a few minute job. This is not just the self propelled one either the pull types have some parts you need to change for different crops. To go from wheat to corn you will have to change cylinder drive pulleys and belts. The wheat setting are usually 1000 rpm and the corn setting would be 500 rpm. The adjustable pulleys usually don't get all of the speed change.

This is not hard to do it just takes some time and the correct parts to do it. So if you go to look at any AC/Gleaner combines ask what they have for extra pulleys/belt/screens needed for the different crops.

You would not be doing any corn unless you get a different head. You maybe doing wheat and your sunflowers. The setting for sunflowers is closer to the corn setting than the wheat settings.

Man you are the answer to all my questions! Thanks JDseller!! I have found quit a few k,f,f2,and f3 combines within 5 hours of me in the $3000-$4000 that have the corn and grain heads with them. I am 27 years old and I love to farm I have been farming 270 acres of hay since I was 18 mainly orchard and alfalfa, but since the economy went to the dumps no horse people are buying hay and alot the cattle got sold out of my area 5 years ago when we had a two year drought so I am looking to switch over to row crops. I wanted to start combining a few acres of sunflowers since I already grow them for paid dove hunting and I plan to to be raising a 100-150 acres of corn and beans and some wheat within the next 5 years. If you had to reccomend a combine under $10000 to get into what brand and model would it be? I am getting a deal on two 5000 bushel bins with drying floors and hope to set them in the next month or so way way to big for what I need now but since I can get them I am going ahead. I had thought about getting a pull type work my way in but the sound of it I need to just get a self propelled.

I will also be taking a tractor mechanic with me when I go to look at them he has been working on tractors for 30 plus years so I am sure he can help me sort through it all.

You can get a lot of combine for under $10,000. A lot of it depends on what dealers you have in your area. Plus how these dealers are on older machines. Around me here in Iowa we still have a lot of side hill combines. So the parts for the JD 6600 and 6620 are easily found here, new or used, but in other areas of the country the serious farmers have all moved on to the bigger/ newer stuff. Therefore the dealers do not stock as many of the parts for the older stuff and the mechanics are not familiar with the older machines. You need to feel out your dealers some.

I would try to stay with JD or IH. They are the most common and after market parts are available for them. Shoup catalog being an example. This helps in two ways: 1) you can get parts from multiple suppliers. 2) The fact that there are aftermarket parts means the main line ones are usually a little more reasonable priced.

John Deere's headers will match up much easier than the other makers. Once you get newer than the late JD 45,55,95,and 105. The feeder house opening is all the same. If they are level land combines the drives will all interchange. IH does this for the most part as well.

AC/Gleaner does NOT do this at all. The K, F,M,L all take different header attaching parts. Some heads can't even be used on some of the others. On some you just need to change out some mounting plates and mounts. On others it just will not work other than on that particular model. So If you find a Gleaner then make sure either the heads are with it you need or have the heads first and the combine second. Also like I said before you have drive pulleys and belts that need to be changed between some crops with a Gleaner. Now don't rule Gleaner out because they will do a good job and are fairly simple to work on but just make sure you get what you need to make it work. Biggest trouble with Gleaners is that AGCO just about rapes you on parts. They are way worse than JD or IH.

Massey Ferguson's. Stay away from them. They are a nightmare to work on. Plus they have some corn heads that just don't work very well. You see a lot of MF 750 and MF 850 running JD heads. There is a reason MF 410,510 and MF 750 and 760 are real cheap. PIA to work on plus some just dumb designs. Example: to service the Brakes on the MF 510-540 you have to pull the final drives loose. They did not put a coupling on the final drive shafts. So you have to slide the shaft out of the transmission with the final drive. On JD, IH, and AC you just remove two couplings and drop the shaft out the bottom.

Here are some in the region:

http://nashville.craigslist.org/grd/3331384778.html
Gleaner F with a grain table and corn head $3000

http://louisville.craigslist.org/grq/3321657535.html
JD 4420 $5500 Head are not hard to find for the JD machines. These JD 4420 are a lot of bang for the buck. Nice 4 row machines for smaller farmers.

JD won't come close to doing as good of a job as the AC combine

IH26 so are you in East Tennessee. I am in middel Tennessee and raise sunflower for the wildlife.

Thanks so Much JD seller I am going to look around and talk to my mechanic more and see what he is more uste to working on because he will be the one working on my combine. Thanks again will all the great information, I hope I can help someone out as much as you have helped me!

A small, older Gleaner will fit your barn, and be almost as good as an allcrop. there is nothing complicated about an A or E gleaner combine, and I doubt has many more moving parts than an All Crop. Really, don't be a afraid of an older Gleaner, as far as complication.

Really that is great to hear there is someone kinda close to me raising sunflowers. How many acres do you raise and do you sell them or keep them for yourself. What kinda combine do you use?