[young.farmer90]

So, I'm giving a lot of thought about upgrading my L3 after this years harvest, need something bigger with a bit more modern cab (that the wife can sit in for an afternoon comfortably!) Have a neighbour who routinely shops for and refurbs combines to resell, so got to let him know relatively soon if I was him to keep an eye for something for me. Would like to stick with a conventional and a gleaner, but that only leaves c62 in that bracket, which from what I've read is basically a grey Massey that people haven't given a lot of kind reviews to. And there is only an agco dealer about 2.5 hrs away. Other option is something like a tx, preferably a 66 or 68.

Not sure which way to turn here, like the silver ones but it just doesn't seem feasible anymore. Anyone feel like offering some insight to my predicament?

 

[Dwf1990]

A few years back I used to rent a 9600 for 4 years when I first started out and it was an awesome machine, I'd highly recommend looking at. 9xxx series combine. Was extremely good to me and reliable. Interior is pretty modern, I would've bought it but I didn't have the funds and he wanted to much for it.

 

[fhb]

I think DWF is on the right track...if you want to stick to conventional and something with a decent cab and newer, JD is your best bet, 95x0/96x0. Unfortunately closest dealer is Carp but that's still an hour closer than Winchester.

Mind me asking why your not looking at the Gleaner R's? I know you were looking at an R72 last fall.

 

[runner]

This area was saturated with 9000 series deere walker machines for years. They had a very high maintenance/wear parts cost per acre. Be ready for that, especially since you are coming from a machine that has one of the lowest.

 

[X80]

9000 series high wear...don't buy a rotary any time soon!!

Cab wise and performance you wont do much better i reckon for the money...mind you 21 & 23 Case IH series cabs aren't too shabby either...

Both are easy to swing a spanner on as well...

Ant...

 

[lostcause]

I don't know why you would not want a rotor, and I don't know a lot about combines or your area however in my mind you can't go wrong with anything in the gleaner lineup r2 or newer, we had two r52 one r62 and one r75 all were good low cost of operating and something you could work on yourself pretty simple strait forward design

 

[runner]

I have run a rotary Gleaner for 25 years and the 9600's that I personally have knowledge of had higher shop bills each year for similar use. Owners would complain how much more it cost to keep them running than their 8820's. My closest neighbor had two L3's, I had a L2 and we often harvested together...Cheap to run and easy to work on. That being said, the 9600 will likely be the lowest priced option for upgrading to and you will have more to choose from, but I wanted you to be aware they have more moving and wear parts to keep up compared to your L3. (unload auger drives and the short augers in front of the shoe just to name a couple). I agree the 21xx or newer CIH is good machine but higher priced. If you were close to a decent Gleaner dealer I would still say look for R62 or newer gleaner. I've only seen 1 tx66 and a c62 that was a demo so I don't have any info on them. Good luck.

 

[young.farmer90]

Don't get me wrong, would like to stay with gleaner. And the only thing I have with conventional over a rotor is their ability to go in tougher conditions, like tough flax and green stem beans. Demoed a 2188 last year, wasn't overly impressed with its performance in beans either. Not a great sample, and it just seemed like it wasn't build as heavy as my L3 or any of the NH. Wasn't really considering Deere either, I know a bunch of people who have 94/95xx series and I know the upkeep is expensive. I had been watching for a good r series before, but I'm just not sure anymore. Can anyone attest to an r62 or 72's performance is flax, green stem beans, and very tough winter wheat?

 

[pgagnon]

Yes im from north of quebec and very wet condition . with the right set up gleaner perform very well in tough straw

 

[fhb]

On a C62 looks like there's a couple C62s listed on Ag Dealer located in Manitoba. Prices look decent for a Class6 machine with relatively low hours.

Also I'm sure the NH TXs and newer CXs are good machines and parts and availability will be much better than the gleaner C62/MF8680.

Good luck in your search.

 

[youngblood]

The TX 66 and 68 had the nicest/ most modern cabs in their time. I wouldn't be afraid to hop into one again anytime soon ours has served us very well. Plus it has more capacity then a 9600 . Thats just one mans opinion though.

 

[Transaxial]

The TX 66 and 68 had the nicest/ most modern cabs in their time. I wouldn't be afraid to hop into one again anytime soon ours has served us very well. Plus it has more capacity then a 9600 . Thats just one mans opinion though.

X2 I had a TX66 for 8 years and thought it was a decent combine. Main reason for trading it was that I could not keep the VS cylinder drive belt tight enough when running under 500 cylinder speed in canola. Tried updated ramps, polishing ramps, new springs, custom built heavier springs, Sunnybrook cylinder and concave etc. etc. The combine worked very well in wheat and barley, probably double the capacity of a L2 hydro we had back in the early 80s. Had the dealer out many times in the off season to go through every detail on setting up the VS torque sensor without success. Dealer recommendation was "trade it off"!! So I did. Just to a darker shade of yellow! Just saw the old TX on a dealer lot this spring. Looks like it was still going with it's new tires and all my mods!

 

[johndeere95]

A 9000 series deere is not a expensive combine to keep running, ran one to 7300hrs and it's still running strong at the next owners, the second one is at about 5000hrs and has been very cheap to run.

 

[gmguy]

PFP cylinder and a R62 cab swap. Problem solved!

Didn't you have an R7?

 

[young.farmer90]

Ya do still have the R7. I've been looking at the pfp website at the parts, rotor, concaves, and feederchains and sprockets. And of course channel helicals from a and I for it. Ran it in grain last year, and loved it even as it's is set up now, I can only imagine how it would handle tough conditions with one of those rotors!

Part of the reason I want to upgrade the L3 is because they still are (somewhat) holding onto their value in ontario, probably because of the fairly large Mennonite community. And with the heads and the combine I've got close to 30k into it, so it would be kind of nice to get a good chunk of that back to put into a newer one.

 

[Jeff-C-IL]

One little detail you need to be aware of--the TX machines have a VERY odd electronic control system, very complicated. Somewhat predictive of the newest combines, just ahead of its time. One "fatal flaw" is there is no option for AHHC built into it. It will do RTC, Pressure float (pickup head), and a weird sonar input, but no pot sensors. If you don't do AHHC, they might be a good choice, cause otherwise they seem to be really nice machines. (It is possible, but expensive, to add AHHC aftermarket--the OEM system seems designed to make it difficult!)

Most of the JD 9000's (especially the 9600s) have been run hard and worn out. You can occasionally find a nice low hour 94 or even 9500, if you keep your eyes open on sales. My JD dealer literally told me--If you have a good 7720...DON'T trade it in on a 9000!

 

[maninsilver]

but that only leaves c62 in that bracket, which from what I've read is basically a grey Massey ?

dont wanna be nitpicky but the massey is a red gleaner.

 

[MikeR72]

I don't have any experience with flax but I've ran my fair share of green stemmed beans and tough wheat straw and I'd put my R72 with the CDF rotor and 30' head up against anything out there. Especially the L2 we used to have.