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Getting Field Ready John Deere 6600

20K views 31 replies 7 participants last post by  skylight62 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey Guys,

New to the Forum and new to combines as well. I just picked up a 6600 diesel with a 216 flex head.

Serial on it is 010143, so it's quite an early one. Does not have the rotary screen. We have 65 acres of beans this year and I hope to have everything running for harvest in a couple weeks.

It had some fingers missing from the main auger on the header. Got most of them in but the center ones seem impossible to get to.

Unloading auger hydraulic swing cylinder leaks and does not work

Brakes do not work at all

Engine seems good. It's a belt drive. Drove it home about 50 Km no issues.


As mentioned above, I'm very new to combines. We've been only farming about 5 years and this is our first combine. I got the manual online and will be reviewing it as much as possible. Just trying to understand all the settings and variables on the machine.

Looking for any tips and tricks with running these machines and any suggestions on what to look out for.

Thanks,


 
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#2 ·
Go thur the adjustments and maintenance sections on the manual. Doing those steps will give you an excellent feel for how the combine works.

These were good ole girls...very reliable for the most part. You may wish to check the grain shoe mount rubber bushings..a commonly overlooked spot that can ruin a shoe if they are out. The small bearings at the front of the pan augers (under the throat) are also prone to go out, esp. if it sets outside.

Don't stress too much about the stuffer fingers, a few out won't make a lot of difference in beans.

Replace 2 of the OEM field lights on the front with 2500 cp LED lights. You will be glad you did.
 
#3 ·
Right now there's only one working light. I'll have to check the wiring for the rest of them. The cylinder speed tach also did not move during my test and inspection. So that will need to be checked as well.

From what I've gathered there are 5 main settings

Cylinder Speed - Adjusted from the handle behind the seat on the right side

Concave Clearance - Adjusted form the dial below the throttle lever and the gear on the outside.

Fan Speed - Adjusted from outside the combine

Chaffer Settings Adjuested at the rear

Seive Settings - Adjusted at the rear

I ordered a bunch of knives and guards for the header. Going up tomorrow to install those. Inspect and grease everything else.

I'm going to try to move the concave to clean out and put the fan speed to full and clear out anything that's been sitting in the combine.

The guy I bought it from said he had issues with the feeder plugging last year. I'm hoping that was because he was nearly missing all the fingers. With most of them in now hopefully it isn't an issue.

I'll be starting out quite slow of course but eventually I believe second gear is where you want to be.

How many acres per hour do you think these machines can do ?

What about fuel consumption per acre?

Also how much of a reality is a combine fire, especially since this doesn't have the rotary screen. I'll be grabbing a fire extinguisher but what other precautions can I take?

 
#4 ·
Your Tach not working may be just the little "oring" belt over on the right side. Drives off the Beater shaft. The belt needs to be installed twisted 180. They stretch and then don't turn the tach cable. Or somebody puts them on "straight" and then they try to turn it backwards...

Cylinder speed: The one thing I ALWAYS hated about the 6600 was the chain between the top and bottom pulleys coming off and then they get out of time, then the belt gets loose, then it slips...and you plug the machine and buy a new belt.... We used to have 2 people any time we wanted to adjust the speed...one to watch the chain and yell if it came off and one to adjust it in the cab. I added a metal strap across the backside of the chain tightener wood blocks, and that helped a lot to keep it lined up and on the gears.

Open up the rock trap and clean it out before attempting to move the concave. It makes it WAY easier. I always clean out the rock trap and crank the cylinder clear up at the end of each year. Makes it much easier to set it next year.

Check the slip clutch at the upper right of the Feeder. If the clutch waffle is worn off OR extremely "shiny" they can slip too easy. Set it correctly to the manual.

In Beans and Corn, I usually have the fan wide open--900 or so.
 
#6 ·
Had a couple hours this Sunday to work on the combine.

Replaced 1 belt that was in really bad condition.
Got all but 1 of the fingers in. 1 Bearing is an older style I guess. The finger has to be screwed into a bolt in the bearing instead of the bearing opening up and the finger being slid in. Have to see if I can order that style finger or if I need to break that bearing and put in a new style.

Checked the controls:
Concave clearance wheel works. Spun it all the way to clean out and ran the combine.
Adjusted the fan speed from outside. Seems to work

The cylinder speed ratchet would not move very much though. I looked outside on the right side and I see the chains that it moves but only very little. Looking closer I see that it seems to be locked in place with a plate that prevents it from moving. It has two bolts and a U style cut out.

I also saw the pulley Jeff was referring to for the tach. There's no oring belt. I'm going to try to look it up and see if I cant find the part number.

The Electromagnetic Clutch Switch does not work either.
 
#7 ·
Found the part number for the O ring belt H83077. I can't seem to find anything for the thread style auger finger. Also while looking at the diagrams. I realized I have no finger retainer clips.
 
#13 ·
I got this one really cheap only reason I decided to give it a shot. Normally I see these 6600's for around $6,000 to $10,000 in Ontario.

I got this one for $1,600. The head or engine are worth that much or more individually. I would be paying a custom guy more than double that as well so its worth it for me to try it out.
 
#14 ·
Was able to get out and test it today, runs pretty good for the most part. It was splitting some beans. I was told to decrease the cylinder speed to prevent it. The cylinder speed control was seized so I just left it running at 800 at first. I got it to move down to about 500 now. Will be going up again tomorrow.
 
#15 ·
The 6600 had the wonderful chain driven ACME screw thread variable speed cylinder speed adjuster that was a pain in the rear at the best of times. Diesel fuel and powdered graphite mixed together and painted on the screws, then run up and down the speed range a couple of times made the adjustment very easy. Make sure the bicycle chain on the adjusting system is not stiff and that it is tight so it does not jump off the sprockets.

Take out the door in front of the cylinder, above feeder house, under the cab/engine and see if the concave has filler plates. Filler plates will crack beans, even at low cylinder speed as the threshed beans can not fall through the concave.

I am in my second year with soybeans here in Manitoba and was quite surprised how easy they thresh and separate compared to our heavy straw crops we grow.


Cylinder Speed - 550 to 600 depending on moisture.

Concave - 9 turns down from tight. (For some reason I get more turns top to bottom on the concave adjuster than most other JD 20 series combines.) Side Indicator was at 1.75 to 2

Fan - 1075

Chaffer - Air Foil (hence the high fan speed)

Sieve 5/8"

Happy Harvesting!
 

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#16 ·
I'm gonna show my age here and get a little nostalgic.

My dad had been running square back 95's, which I loved, and still think that John Deere had the coolest cab with the ladder leading up to it with the windows and the spit door. At one time he was doing quite a bit of custom work and running up to 3 of them.
Anyways he was farming and working as a salesman and about 78 or 9 he and my uncle ended up with a 73 or 4 7700 diesel and a 76 6600 sidehill. I was 9 or 10 and remember being so excited that the 6600 had the newer style seat with the armrests like the soudguard body cabs so he could put both down and I could have a more comfortable ride. Him maybe not so much. In 1981 I was 12. Dad had his worst crop of durum to this date. He let me loose that fall and I was ecstatic to be on my own out in the field.
So I have fond memories of the 6600. The sidehill was pretty cool too.
 
#17 ·
ON all the 00/20 series machines the setting we ran were pretty much the same. Cylinder speed just below cracking.

Beans: Cylinder 550-650, Concave 5-6, Fan 900-1000. In beans just run the cylinder fast/tight enough to break open the pods without cracking beans....if the pods won't open, WAIT.

Corn: Cylinder 350-400, Concave 11-13, Fan 900-1000. In corn, run the cylinder fast/tight enough to get all the kernels off without breaking up the cobs. If you are breaking the cobs all up, open the concave.

Chaffer, closed enough to keep trash off the sieve. Sieve, open....Golly I can set one just looking but measurement?? The only change I make between corn/beans is I open the chaffer (deep tooth) about 1/8" in corn.

I leave the throat chain in low speed (set for corn). Leave the lower drum up (set for corn) Leave the fillers in, and leave the back of the concave open (set for corn). I've never had an issue combining soybeans with those settings.

These combines were really VERY easy to set (at least in corn and beans)...pay attention to a few basics and they will pretty much perform across all varieties. Prima Donnas they aren't.
 
#18 ·
I called the elevator after the truck delivered what we got off over the weekend. They said there was no issue with split beans. I guess they were so few that it did not matter. Got them off at 11.9% moisture.

I was only able to run it for a little while before something would break down. Slowly figuring out all its needs.

Diesel filter under the tank got plugged
Feeder house plugged - too many green weeds in one section.
Chain for the clean grain lifting auger fell off.
Ground wire for the electromagnetic header clutch came off.

So I'd have to stop every so often to figure out whats wrong. Hopefully the weather holds up and I can get back out there on the weekend.
 
#20 ·
So the combine sat for the past 2 years since we've leased out the land. I've been trying to get it started so I can put it up for sale.

Is this combine a 24V system or a 12V system originally. I just have the once battery on it. I took it off when I parked it and kept it inside. I'm having trouble charging it enough to get the combine started. I think these things need like 1000 amps to turn over.
 
#26 ·
Make sure to run the electric lift pump/pump the primer some to get fuel in the lines--starts much easier then.
How do I do this? I got it start last time but it took a lot of repeated cranking while being hooked up to a battery charger. I actually blew the negative terminal cable from cranking too long at once without letting the cable cool down in between cranks. Luckily I didn't kill the starter. Since its getting colder I don't want to drain the battery when I go to start it again. Is it safe to use starter fluid or should that be avoided?

For the clutch I found out that I just need to use brake fluid. I'm not sure if it needs DOT 3 or DOT 4. Perhaps it will say on the cap. I'll check next time I'm up at the farm.
 
#22 ·
The battery was just super low it wasn't even spinning the engine fast enough for it to start.

I put it on a charger and will be trying again this weekend. I'll take up a volt meter to make sure it's giving enough voltage. The battery may just be toast.
 
#23 ·
Got it started today. Had to move it to another spot on the farm. I was having trouble getting into gear. The clutch pedal has no pressure. It just drops to the ground.

I'm guessing it's low on gear oil. Not sure how I can check the level or where to refill it from.

Any ideas?


I was able to slide it into gear by quickly shifting into gear right after starting it and before the engine revved up fully. I got it where I needed it but just wondering how I can resolve this issue.
 
#28 ·
I'm not actually running the combine I just had to move it to make space for parking for a event at the farm. I'll just be starting it one more time to move it back to its spot. Unless I get an interested buyer it'll probably stay parked until next spring.

If your battery is combusting the alternator might be overcharging. Maybe the voltage regulator is toast or bad wiring is causing the issue.

I'd test the alternator and check for loose or corroded ground connections.
 
#31 ·
Thanks for the help. I was able refill it with brake fluid and get it to work.

Before I got the fluid in one of the shift cables also ended up getting loose as the little cover at the end of the cable to keep it straight slipped off. So now I had a working clutch but no gears to shift into.

I eventually got it clamped together enough to keep the cable straight and get it into gear and move the combine to where i wanted it.
 
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