[dodgeman01]

Were looking at a 815 Combine. Right now I have a 4420 John deere and while its a good combine I really don't care much for John Deere stuff and the grain tank is about all the way rotted out of it. What are your thoughts on the 815 as far as size and userability. The one I'm looking at has a 15' head. I farm between 300 to 400 acres. of beans and corn. I mostly do hay but I use grain to rotate my hay and tobacco crops as long as feeding my 400 herd feeder cattle barn. I'd really like to get a 1460 with electric controls but they are kinda out of my price range. I could afford the combine but not the heads. i found this 815 with the head for 3500 bucks but is looks in great condition and the guy has owned it for 15 years. it has a newer motor but other than that its all stock. is it wierd that it don't have an hour meter?
thanks
Aaron

 

[gatescounty1640]

300-400 acres is plenty for an 815. You say it has a newer motor, what is it? The 15' head is a good match for the combine. A 4 row corn head works nice with the 815 also. We had an 815 several years ago and upgraded to a 915. The 915 was a much better combine. It had more capacity and seemed to do a much better job. Our 815 had a gas engine which sucked, hopefully the one you are looking at has a diesel engine.

 

[goalie]

I used to have an 815 with a 16' and a 6 row corn head. It handled them fine. Beware of metal fatigue on a combine that old.

 

[watglen]

I have to second twopop. A 1440/1460 is a fine machine, and you should have no problem finding one for a great price. Plus upgrades/parts are readily available.

 

[farmerboy3]

ya get as new as you can afford them 14xx series last for ever i seen them with 6000 hrs still going strong

 

[twopop]

I would recomend NOT getting a 815/915. The experience of our family and neighbors wasn't good at all. We had the late lowprofile machines and had nothing but trouble. I won't take the time to list all of the problems we had but the two that were the most problem was the pin coming out of the seperator engage linkage (hid inside of grain tank), and the hydro drive gearcase is dry in these machines and eats bevel gears pretty bad. Go with a 1440/1460. They are cheap and are WAY better machines. You would even get along great with the 1420, but a lot of parts are no longer available.
Mark

 

[todd6446]

Get the 815. The only ones left are good ones. Also the hydro drive gearbox is not dry in these machines as two pop says. I have 915 and it has as much capacity as my 1660.

 

[cutterihc915]

I would agree that yes you get what you can afford you are the one willing to buy and operate the machine, you will never get a topic started where all parties will agree. We personally had a pair of 915s that were bought new in 1975 and we ran the wheat harvest with them from 75-82 and then stayed home and harvested locally with then untill 1998. We actually made the swith to rotaries but the local farmers liked to bail behind the walkers naturally so we kept them around. They had 12000+ hours on them they are great machines and will do you just fine. I now run 8010s and didnt want to spend the money on a 12 row corn head to harvest a couple hundread acres so I climb into the old reliable 1660 and harvest the corn, kinda is fun going back a few models, I wish I never sold the 915s or if i could find another I think it would be fun to harvest some corn with one...

 

[todd6446]

I cut some corn with my 915 this year just to see how it would handle 220 bu corn. 6 rows at 4 mph. Maybe my speed meter is off? Very good corn this year in nw ohio.

 

[3x2188]

that is 1600 bpa, according to my figures. which is very impressive for that combine. We used to run 2 915s and i didn't think they would do anywhere near that, but then again, i never cut corn with one.

 

[aj8300]

We used to have a 915 when I was a kid. Don't remember how many trips to Worthington to get final drives and countless other things for the machine. Was a great corn grinder also. Small cylinder never a good thing. Ours was running an 8 row head. Would highly recommend a 14 series axial flow. Can get the older ones very reasonably and they will be heads and tails better than the 915.

 

[farminflyboy]

I bought a 1480 for 4300 and its actually in pretty good shape. It seems like alot of times you can get a 1480 cheaper then a 1460 and you get a nice boost in capacity.

 

[midwest]

I ran a 815 when I was a kid. Always thought the 815/915's were a poor design. The 715 was a better machine. In fact the old 503's were better. They actually made a gas model 815 for a while...most of them burned up, they had a V8 in them, a real flame thrower.
We had problems with the unload off and on.....I learned what thrust bearings are from working on it. Wasn't the cleaning fan some wacky thing on the side that really didn't work?.

The 14 series models are a better machines.

 

[dirtfarmer]

ok i know its not a IH but if your lookin in that $3500 area look at 750/760 masseys
you can buy alot of machine cheap and they are a good machine and would be great for 400 acre a year. we had 2 760's till we got the 1480 and 1660
matt

 

[1480man]

We farmed with a low profile 915 for years, no major problems. Traded it for a 1480, also no problems, very very reliable. We needed a second machine to help the 1480 so we picked up an old 1975 Gleaner L. About the same capacity as the 915 and much cheaper at the time. I wouldn't count out the Gleaner L, its also very affordable and easy to maintain. Of course hows your dealership?

 

[dodgeman01]

thanks guys. This is some good stuff. We have a gleaner dealer but hes about an hour away. I'd really like a rotorbine but I don't know how to tell when one would be wore out
Aaron