TX66. Are these decent machines

[rustynailz]

I was looking at a 2001 tx66 that is coming up for sale this spring at an auction sale. It only has 1200 hours on it and seems to be really nice and clean, but no one in my area runs this type of machine and I have never heard any input one way or another about them. Just looking for some feed back as to quality of these, or if they had any problems associated with them.

[tx68]

Good well built combine.
When my combine got to 1200 hours the main things that were
replaced were the straw elevator chain and the bearings in the
straw chopper electric clutch.

[crking]

Mice like them. Make sure the fiber optics are good. Open the panel on the RH side (sitting in the cab). Make sure there is no sign of Mickey Mouse in there.
Other then that, should be a solid combine.

[tx66man]

We have one, have had it since 2006. Ours is an early one built in 1995 so some of the issues we have had were not present on later ones. We grow canola, wheat, barley and oats. Ours has just a swathmaster pickup on it never a strait cut on our farm.


Pros: Its a good climber, we farm some pretty good hills some as much as 20% grade so that is nice. It also has good rear view mirrors and a descent cab for its day and much better that the TRs of that era. Good fuel economy. The chopper

Cons: High maintenance, at least 20 zerks every day plus more on 50 and 100 hour intervals. Lots of moving parts because of the Self Leveling Sieve although it has been trouble free it still concerns me.

Now the Hates: Where do I start, the fact that this thing is sitting in the shed for me to look at everyday bugs me. Anyway, horrible electrical system things work then they don't and its not mice. I hate the engine, the 7.5 New Holland is a poor poor starter and is running way to fast, rated no load speed is 2650 rpm. Straw baffle door over the chopper is a pos because straw would hang up on it and plug the walkers until we modded it. the stone trap is useless. And last but not least poor poor poor capacity in all crops along with a poor sample in canola makes everything I mentioned above that much worse.

Would I buy one again NO, would I trade for a 9600 Deere doubt it. Before this fall ours will need a new feeder chain, elevator chain, rub bars and concave, just to name a few. We bought it with around 750 engine hours we now have 1200 sep and 1500 engine hours and if we can come up with the money it hopefully will be gone for this fall. Most guys love the TXs we don't and because of all this we will likely switch brands the the next time around.

[southsaskfarms]

Whats your point about a 9600? You would have saved thousands in repair bills compared to your TX!

[tx66man]

I guess i should have gone in to more detail about what i meant comparing a TX66 to a 9600, When we were on the hunt for a combine in 06 we basically had three models to look at because we wanted to stay with a walker machine. They were the JD 9600 the New Holland TX 66 or 68 and the Massey or Gleaner 8680 or C62. The Massey was our first choice but it didn't work out so we went with the TX as it was 10 miles from home. The John Deere was just way out to lunch on price 20 to 30 thousand more, at least, for the same hours. We have around us at least 11 Deere 9000 walker series combines and after talking with one owner who runs 2 9600s and a 9500 they have one big draw back from a TX and that is if you plug the cylinder. Its a afternoons work to get the slug out of a Deere, its 10 minutes by yourself, two minutes with two guys on a TX. Yes some days i wish we had a Deere others not so much, mostly i with we had gone with a 8680 or a C62 just for the 8.3 Cummins alone.

[cowboy925]

I ran an 8680 on 300 acres before getting a TX. The Cummins was nothing to get excited about. Under powered in the hills and used way more fuel than the TX. The 8680 liked to throw grain over and plugged the walkers a few times which was not fun. That belt in the back was not a great idea either.There is maybe more upkeep to a TX and all those 10 hour grease fittings do keep you more aware of any issues that may pop up. The sidehill shoe does save quite a bit on sidehills and on turning and you will find out how much if it quits working. They have advanced electronics comparable to some of the newer machines but replacing a circuit board can be an expensive touch. 9600's have their issues also and having combined with them they could not keep up in grain quality, cleaning , capacity, fuel economy or versatility. There are an aggressive machine and shine in tough conditions and tend to overthresh when real dry. You will not have the walker loss like the JD. Friend with 2 9600's in wheat has very high cracks in sample because they have to have the concave up tight and cylinder speed cranked up too to get rid of unthreshed heads. On a 2001 you should have a reversing cylinder for plugs and the header reverse and inch ahead feature is very nice to have.

[Dan Vanderwell]

Run 2 TX 66s. A 96 with 3100 sep hrs and a 01 with 2000 sep hrs. Good machines a fair bit of upkeep but at those hours its to be expected i guess. The self levelling shoe is amazing how much it saves you in the hills like cowboy said. Decent power but the 7.5 is hard starting. Only needs a whiff of ether on those frosty mornings. Comfy cabs with the beer cooler under the seat nice touch. Have a hard time getting a clean sample in canola. The rotary separator works good in the tough cereals. One of the better factory choppers in that era. Been lucky havent had many electrical issues only rubbed through wires or burnt out shaft sensors. Has anyone tried an air foil chaffer instead of the factory sieve? My sieve frame fell apart on the older machine and did a h*** of job on the sieve and fan.
Overall a good machine especially in the tough conditions. Very reasonably priced for the capacity. Not perfect but what is?

[cowboy925]

In canola I had good success changing the shaker shoe speed and the seives set usually the same as wheat which is pretty open and a lot more wind than you would think. Just watch on the top of your header all the trash and what happens in road gear on a windy day. The canola being a round seed tends to stay put and the chaff blows off. Concave pretty well wide open and cylinder speed fairly low. In super dry conditions you tend to overload the seives with trash and slough it over so opening things up to increase the air flow helps. Not as good a sample as a rotary but usually within 1% dockage and cracks.

[cowboy925]

About the hard starting. Was told the lift pump gets a bit week and can bypass too easily. Not sure but might make sense?