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What are the downsides of Gleaners?

64K views 180 replies 49 participants last post by  nehunter 
#1 ·
I'm considering an R65, it's a customers unit with about 1400 sep hours and 1900 engine hours. Clean, well-maintained and it's an "okay" deal compared to comparable units on the market. What's driving me towards this particular combine is knowing its history and the fact that the customer is only dealing on another Gleaner to gain more capacity, duals and 4WD. My question is what motivates some long-term Gleaner owners to switch brands? In SW Ontario, you seldom see another colour on a Gleaner lot but I've noticed some late model gleaners on the other colours lots. I harvest corn, winter wheat and soys; - about 400 acres each, give or take each year. I'd particularly like to hear the reasoning from those who have owned 2 or 3 gleaners and have switched brands. FYI - dealer support is excellent in my area.
 
#5 ·
Usually parts and dealer support is the only down side.

I think dealers don’t get the support they need from Mother AGCO either.

My exp in OZ.........

Great big huge lumpy tough Canola might be the reason some Silver guys turn to another colour over in your country.
 
#7 ·
Downside? It’s a gleaner!!

Feederhouse to narrow.
Residue management is the ****s.
Plug the cylinder your pulling crap out almost in an enclosed pocket.
If you really plug it a gleaner guy with a straight face will say it’s quicker to pull the cylinder out of the side of the machine. Likely is.
Rotor rumble in green stems
Tiny sieve area
Chinese bearings
 
#9 ·
and it's an "okay" deal compared to comparable units on the market.

What's driving me towards this particular combine is knowing its history and the fact that the customer is only dealing on another Gleaner to gain more capacity, duals and 4WD.
What are the other comparable units you’re looking at?
(It’ll help give people a sense of how much capacity you think you need).

And as phantom said, others may have traded off bc they needed more capacity/better ability to handle tough lumpy canola(?) than they thought their gleaners could give them.
 
#11 ·
Hear’s a thread with some good unplugging techniques for another brand that are interesting.

I actually found that an old Gleaner rotary can be reversed reasonably easy if it’s badly plugged by taking out the two anchor bolts on the back of the concave since there is room and access doors just ahead of the engine. You don’t need an aluminum ladder to get up there because it has a fold down stairs.;);)

https://www.thecombineforum.com/forums/12-claas-lexion/196161-unplugging-aps.html
.
 
#18 ·
An estimated 3.4 million tons of bombs were dropped by the allies in WWII, but Hiroshima was flattened with just one 10,000 POUND Fat Man! ;-)

I appreciate all who have responded, I think I've got my answers. From what I can gather, capacity seems to be an issue if you're going much beyond Class 7; - I'm not. All I want to push is 6-rows narrow (160 bushel +/-), 25' flex head (45 bushel beans/90 bushel winter wheat +/-) I can see where the intake to the rotor is a little hard to reach but, as mentioned, the rotor can be pulled quite quickly and easily, that is, if you can't throw it in low and slug it out; - no big deal. I like the simplicity, the weight and the serviceability of the machine. It's gotta be simple to work for me! ;-)

Thanks everyone! Cheers!
 
#19 ·
I used to run a couple of old R72’s.
Man they would go.........

Guess there’s still abit of Silver passion in the red blood.......

It seems you can look past our Sh-t stirring comments nocolourpreference and go with your gut. The 65 will serve you well. There’s a few mods you could do over the winters to come if you wanted to pimp it up abit.
The answers are all here in TCF.
 
#20 ·
Buy it you will like it. If you enjoy buying fuel and getting it up the ass doing a green light then buy a pretty one. They are about the only make out there now that you can actually do all the maintenance at home everything is easily accessible. Very low compaction, low Center of gravity, you don’t need a ladder to service them, and very easy on fuel. Feeder house and straw management no longer a issue. Keep the accelerator rolls in good shape and shoe loss will be very low and sample won’t be beat by any other brand. Bearings? When did the USA become part of China?
 

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#25 ·
Well im still a bit partial to the older case ih 88 series combines (with improvements of course)...however we recently started running a couple older gleaners and they have grown on me a bit...of course all machines will have something a guy doesn't like so much. I used to think the ihs were the simplest machine around but not any more...won't find a simpler set up than a gleaner...of course there are still a couple things not too pretty to work on, but still easier than anything we have run with. Certainly run cheap for the capacity as well.
 
#35 ·
The full range of ignorance about Claas combines is on display in this thread...:rolleyes:

Anyways, back on topic. Apart from straw management my concern about Gleaner is the auger and clearance to the cart unloading through ditches. That's my concerns but might not be an issue for some people. Otherwise they have a reputation for being a good machine with mods to make them better. Too bad no dealer in this area at all.
 
#40 · (Edited)
I’ll buy into the Gleaner being a better stripper machine. It plays into the Gleaners deficiency on residue management and in the right conditions that pre-separation air blast through the accelerated chaff stream can really make up for the tiny sieves
....:22:

Back in the 80’s when the stripper fad hit here what they were finding was the heavy grain chaff stream was really hard on the cage right at the first loop around after the concave. Was eating right through with no straw mat.
 
#42 ·
I’ll buy into the Gleaner being a better stripper machine. It plays into the Gleaners deficiency on residue management and in the right conditions that pre-separation air blast through the accelerated chaff stream can really make up for the tiny sieves
....:22:
.

Was wondering if the sieves in a Claas are designed and built so poorly that they need to be 4 times the size (claimed) of a normal combine?
 
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