Why do they try to give combines away?

For Sale: 1980 5542 self propelled gas combine, scour clean, excellent condition, stored inside, 13' header, 318 Chrysler motor, $2000(CDN).

(Scour clean is the weed seed remover, isn't it?)

Bear with me here, if you will. I am a complete newbie, but am thinking about planting crops and harvesting seeds on 130 pretty good acres in Eastern Ontario which have not had chemicals on them for 30 years and can easily be designated "organic".

What could I reasonably expect from a combine like that? Could it handle wheat, oats, soybeans? Do people sell them because they want the space or because they won't work any more?

The MF 35 and the Lucknow snowblower I bought from the same classified ads have turned out great. Could this be a good buy?

Thanks, guys.

Rod

How hard is the maintenance work on a combine?
I retire tomorrow after 32 years in the teaching profession, but I think I can still learn stuff. Our antique cruiser has done pretty well for 22 years under my care.

You did say, "any questions?" (grin)

Thanks,

Rod

Here are the things 'wrong' with that combine:

Too small. Can't work 1000 acres with it, no one wants it.

Gas engine. They use 2 times as much fuel per acre. If you were running 1000 acres, would you rather buy 1050 gallons of diesel or 2100 gallons of gasoline _every_ year you owned it???? It's a good combine & operator that can cover an acre on a gallon of diesel, a gas engine brings it to around 2 gallons an acre.

Parts. And reliability. If you are running 1000 acres, you need to keep the combine running. No down-time. That 'old' machine is going to need a couple bearings a year, chains, etc. If a bigger part wears or breaks, it will at least need to be shipped (wait a day or 2), if not found in a salvage yard somewhere - too much down time if you need the crop out now.

Cost of upkeep. This is the one that will hurt _you_ on the small acres. Go to a dealer on a slow day here in winter & ask them what the chains, paddles, raddle, and big belts cost. You will _easily_ spend $1000 a year buying parts for the machine, even on 140 acres. Maybe less one year, but then you need a tire or hydro pump or rasp bars & concave or a $500 clean grain chain.... The parts are going to be far more than the cost of buying it.

And, you _must_ be able to do your own repairs. You cannot afford to pay labor on top of the parts cost.

Combines do not last sitting outside. You need them under a roof. They take up a lot of room, so they get to be a hassle to hang on to.

So, here is the deal. You want to find:

A combine in good condition. A combine that was real popular in your area 20-30 years ago, so there are many many around in salvage yards and groves for you to get parts from. A combine a little bigger than you need, so while it works you can haul grain, to make up for the bit longer down-time you will have with the older iron. A combine that is a little easier for us backyard mechanics to work on.

You will notice that Gleaner comes up a lot..... They are easy to work on, the 2 & 4 row models were very popular in many areas a generation ago, and Agco still carries most parts you will need.

I'll guess there is nothing wrong with the machine you are looking at, if it has what you want & you can find parts for it & it generally meets the above list. I'd consider offering less on that, esp at this time of year. He might be fishing, and need the shed room. It would sound at least double what a 13' gas combine of any older make would bring 'here'.

--->Paul

The 5542 is probably older than 1980, but I"m not up to speed on the White/Cockshutt line. It will handle the crops you want to do, and the Scour-Kleen is a plus in crops that could have weed seed in them.

I"ve adopted a new strategy myself. I can"t buy a new combine for $200,000 and expect to pay for it. I can"t even pencil out a used $50,000 combine. My K2 Gleaner, 1979 model, does the job, but will break down sometimes, because it"s old. So I got a little Gleaner E that"s in decent shape. I"m putting up another machine shed so I"ll have a place to put it inside, and it will serve as a backup when the K2 has a problem. Better deal for my type of operation.

So what you're saying is that an old combine has quite a pronounced negative value because:

- it's as much trouble as a horse to own

- parts are expensive and scarce, and I'd better know a lot more about equipment mechanics before I try to fix one using the burnt fingers method

-if I were to plant ten or even forty acres the smallest towed combine around should do the job just fine

-scour clean devours power which the combine can better use to separate grain from chaff

-the smaller the unit, the easier it would be to store.

Maybe I should concentrate on finding a small one to fill the bay in the back barn. I saw a lot of JD 30's in the photo archive. I wonder how much tractor they require?

If you want, I could bid on one of them for you if you can guarantee you could pick it up from my place in Dane, WI in the next month. Email me at wmuldoon at merr dot com

A poor photograph can be seen at wisconsinauctioneers.org on the portage auction

Mind you, if there were one looking for a home in Eastern Ontario....

It's usefulness to you depends on what crop & it's purity & seed size.

--->Paul