Which To Buy (Kinda Long Ridiculous)

I grow a very few acres of grain each year. It is ridiculous to own a combine, but also impossible to hire anyone to harvest for me.
So . . . I can cut and bale or own a combine, or just plow it under. But then there is the fun of driving and harvesting. I?m 75 and love this kind of thing!!! And, I know I won?t be able to ?play? at this much longer. I also own a 1970 F600 grain truck and an auger wagon. There are several (affordable $3K to $5K) self propelled combines for sale on craigslist now. There are NO pull-types for sale.

JD 4400 with grain head (this is the cheapest ? under $3000) dsl with grain header

(Two) JD 6620 turbo

Gleaner L3

IHC 1420

Which should I consider MOST??? Why?
Go ahead - tell me I?m nuts, but I?m having the time of my life too!!! Kelly

They will all work if they aren't too worn out. The 1420 is the small rotor and likely used less. But they can be touchy to set ,adjusting stationary vanes and it likely doesn't have a rock trap so check for damage if rocks are an issue.

Condition and upkeep is more important than which of those....

The L3 and the 6620 are big and fast and have lots of parts available.

The 4400 is getting pretty old and small and parts are starting to be out of stock. Was a cool machine in its day.

The 1420 would be perfect, but as the small rotor machine it is starting to become obsolete for parts too.

Green machines might last a little longer, but are harder to work on when they do break.

Silver machines are easy to fix.

Red rotory machines are also easy to set and work on less parts.

So..... I?d pick the one best taken care of.

I?ve owned a lot of Gleaners I?d lean towards that. The 1420 is a simpler machine, the 6620s are good still popular machines hard to pick.

Paul

I may be and I H guy , But while i was hobby farming and dealing in used equipment i bought a little 300 Massey for resale . Nice little machine and bough it cheap in a driving rain storm when everyone ran for cover . long story short , after running it thru five sales and never had a bid on it i was sorta hung with it . It had no cab , no lights just a 10 foot grain head and grain season was gone . While at another sale with a buddy he was buying old corn heads that would fit my 300 Massey for 4 to 7 bucks , yep 4-7 bucks and he did not have any combines . I asked him if he had lost his mind and he said Nope they weigh in at around a ton and scrap is over 250 bucks a ton at the time and you do the math . Then it hit me hey i could use a corn head for my Massey . I asked him if he minded if i bid on one and he said go for it . I paid 7.50 for mine . It needed a few pieces and parts and with the bunch my buddy bought i had a ready source of spare parts . One of the head he bought had all new gathering chains and i swapped IRON for IRON and had a totally rebuilt head. So i pulled the grain head and put the corn head on and had to find the special sprocket to run it with for the cylinder . Well and other friend gave me one and the extra chain links . Now like you i did not have to BEG someone to come do my corn and maybe i can pick up some custom work for guys . Well i put the word out that i was going to be shelling and i would also open fields up . My corn was not yet ready and a guy called me to run his corn . Only 78 acres got him done in four days and was going to take the combine home when his neighbor asked me to do 84 acres . While i was running his corn another neighbor asked if i could run his wright across the road and he had 80 acres . Then i did my 68 acres . This turned into a thriving deal running small acres for the small guy with small fields . i did small grain and corn , no beans running combined acres of around 350 -400 a year with that little Massey . I did some up grades to it like LIGHTS and Alternator and a CAB with working fan and air filter . Combine 650 bucks , corn head 7.50 cab 150 , lights Bought two huge boxes of lights at a sale for 15 bucks couple sets of drive belts a few bearings a couple other belts oil changes plugs points and at 24 bucks and acre you do the math on my investment .After seven years during a wet summer that little combine was the only one getting thru the soft fields and i was just about done when a guy came along and told me he would give me 2850 for the Massey and i sold it and he could come and get it the following evening when i was done at the one farm. I was sure i could replace it with something else. Well i tried and never found a replacement and the last year i farmed my accountant came and did my corn . Once i stopped farming i found all kinds of combines.

Only go after a 4400/4420 if they are in really good condition. I had a 4420 that I wore out a couple of times. They are hard to work on everything is kinda' cramped. Primary countershaft bearings seem to have been a problem for me. Sheet metal is pretty thin. Replaced it under the augers with heavier material. When I upgraded I went alot newer, alot easier to work on but probably more money than you want to spend.

Look for a smaller Gleaner...K, F, F2. Easy to work on, parts are common. Only working rock door in the industry. Paul could sell you some of his LOL.

You might be nuts but then so am I . I put about 5 grand into an old 7700 but it works good and does a good job but then I love old combines nothing better than watching the grain being cut and falling back into the auger then nice clean pretty grain come in the grain tank

Can you elaborate on what you consider a "few" acres? Do you have any idea of the size of an L3?? Will you be able to store whatever purchase you make in a barn/lean to shelter of some type? I am just trying to give you some thoughts to ponder. I am a Gleaner person myself but an L series is quite large. Good luck

I would say a F or F2 gleaner or a 55 or 95 John Deere, there easy to work on still can get some parts.

My first reaction, owning a 1660, was to say get the 1420. But in retrospect I remember looking at a 1420. It was the first combine I ever drove. There were problems with the model and, I apologize, I do not remember what they were. It is very small. The fella that bought that 1420 years ago contacted me years later wanting to sell it. Do not know how he got my name. It broke really bad after he got it home and he was willing to pretty much give it to me. My 1660 self destructed after 5 acres when I got it home. This is the down side to the IH axials, they are diesels and very expensive to repair. Mine was a deal at $8000 but added on to what I paid for it...I will never get my money back.

I know nothing about JD.

What I will tell you is that if the Gleaners have gas engines and you are doing a small amount for mostly fun...that is what I would buy. It will be much simpler to fix. Anybody who can fix an old car can help you. Replacement engines likely easier to find. That would be my choice.

L3 is the biggest of those. The grain tank is 200 bushels....you may not even get it full once on a few acres. Look for a K or F series....easier to store service and repair....and parts are more plentiful and cheaper.
Ben

How many acres and what crops? Crops mean a grain platform or a corn head and if corn what row spacing? Then yow wide an access do you have, narrow drive with a small bridge or gates? unobstructed access to fields? Even temp at harves as if very hot then cab with good air conditioner or if cold like corn in freezing temps then the cab with heater or just comfortable temps do you need a cab.

Boy are you PICKY! What you going to want next....brakes? LOL

(quoted from post at 19:38:53 05/07/19) I grow a very few acres of grain each year. It is ridiculous to own a combine, but also impossible to hire anyone to harvest for me.
So . . . I can cut and bale or own a combine, or just plow it under. But then there is the fun of driving and harvesting. I?m 75 and love this kind of thing!!! And, I know I won?t be able to ?play? at this much longer. I also own a 1970 F600 grain truck and an auger wagon. There are several (affordable $3K to $5K) self propelled combines for sale on craigslist now. There are NO pull-types for sale.

JD 4400 with grain head (this is the cheapest ? under $3000) dsl with grain header

(Two) JD 6620 turbo

Gleaner L3

IHC 1420

Which should I consider MOST??? Why?
Go ahead - tell me I?m nuts, but I?m having the time of my life too!!! Kelly

Click to expand...

IMO anything offset cab/front engine should be eliminated due to difficulty in repairs. Ever know someone missing part of a finger due to the JD fold up seat? I got the joy of working on 7720s for two years for a guy. (luckily still have all my fingers! ) Not a fan.

That leaves the IH and the Gleaner. 1400 series IH left alot to be desired in the cab department, and the little rotor machines are having issues with parts availability from what I understand, aka alot easier to find parts for a 1480 vs. a 1420.

The slow and complex unloading system, clunky controls, lots of gearboxes that may or may not have been serviced once in a blue moon, and general height of everything off the ground, combined with the need to swap concaves around for different crops (my 28 year old back hates stuff like that! I am worried how bad of condition my back is going to be when I am older! :/ ) and difficulty achieving a clean sample in small grains make the IH less than appealing to me.

The Gleaner is simple, easy to work on, parts are pretty well all available, and the cab was a decade or two ahead of its time, especially a 81+ tan interior unit with the most comfortable seat ever put in a combine. Drivetrain is rugged and reliable with plenty of capacity, no stalling the hydro in 2nd gear like a IH... Cleaning system has plenty of capacity and can get the grain extremely clean. We aim for zero dock, and can usually hold it below 1 percent, and if conditions are good, below half a percent.

Depending on what your definition of a "few" acres is, a L3 would be an excellent machine. If you are cramped for space, a F or M series may be a better option. As far as after harvest cleanout, the single raddle F series may be a quicker cleanup compared to the dual raddle M/L series.

No matter what model you get, I would highly suggest getting a hydrostatic machine. Used combines are just too affordable to mess with a gear drive.


If heads are a challenge in your area, Bish makes an adapter plate to run JD heads.

Good luck!