[orangeandslverman]

I would like to know what everybody thinks of these series of combines. Age of them would from a 92 through probably 96. Which one do you feel is better and WHY? Would like to hear firsthand experience. Is one easier to set or do a better job than the others? Which one is more reliable in your opinion.
thanks

 

[gleanerjunkie]

Well i suppose this thread will eventually turn into one of those where guys just argue about the color of the machine, but I'll still comment I suppose. I have had absolutely no experience with Deere so I won't even touch that subject but i know a little about Case and Gleaner.

We own an R72 and I ran a 2388 this year for harvest. If you are looking for a machine that will rarely break down then you might want to look at the Case. If you want a machine with higher capacity then the Gleaner is the one.

My experience with the Case is that they are pretty reliable however I would prefer the Gleaner because of the sample quality and shoe loss and it just has a lot more capacity. I imagine that the R52-62 would be about even with the 21xx. Our dealer said that a 2388 is comparable to our N7 so I know that none of the 21xx or23xx have the capacity of an R72.

One thing that I like about the Case machine is that they are simple. Our N7 has got belts layered over each other and running every which way. You have to take half the machine off to change a belt sometimes. The Case is a lot better about this. Gleaners are fairily complicate machines, more so than Case, but when they are runnin good they sure can whack some acres.

 

[benny]

I think dealer support/parts availability may be a better question here none of the combines you mentioned are bad machines, but there are better dealers than others and in closer proximity to you. Because Red, Silver, Green all break it's just how fast you can get them going again.

 

[gleanerjunkie]

Very good point Benny. The combine is only as good as the dealer. If you dont have good dealer support then when you look back at your exeperience with the machine it wont be favorable.

 

[orangeandslverman]

We have a Deere dealership 4 miles away, a case dealer 12 miles, and agco about 50 miles. Both the case and deere dealers aren't the greatest dealers whereas the agco dealer is top notch.
P.S. I'm not trying to start a brand bashing session.

 

[benny]

I think you might have your answer.

 

[mat]

i have 3 JD 9600's, year's are 1990,1994 and 1996. they all are great reliable machines, they each put on about 200 seperator hours this year in heavy crop and the only down time is when one of them caught FIRE, and that one was only down one day. so if you ask me go with JD for a reliable machine.

 

[combiness]

First of all, Davedan, Gleanerjunkie is not talking about just the combine/operator. He has a very good point. The dealer support IS A MUST!!!! There's just no middle ground, especially with today's machinery. As to all you've said about the Maximizers, I cannot agree more. One who can continue to rebuilt their combines, are making them sustainable. Too many on here, even, only want to go with what's newest--disregarding any sustaining efforts of their own, preferring to rollover machines. That can only serve to keep a supply of cheaper, low-houred machines on the market, but how do THEY justify such expense?

While the dealer himself did not built the combine, he/she is the deciding factor in how well everyone's combine will run. I can't stress this enough. DEALER SUPPORT IS THE FIRST AND FOREMOST THING TO LOOK FOR!!!!!

 

[davedan]

We have zero dealer support here. Most mechanics here have never seen a combine and they dont offer any tech information to help those who own them. There is just not the market for combines here like other areas. Im sure that I dont live in the only area with lacking knowledge. The sales people here dont even want to move used equipment to or from those interested in the equipment, meaning they dont want even the sales cause they know their dealership cant perform the complete service.
So I can honestly say the dealerships here have no knowledge or support to offer combiners.

 

[davedan]

Ive ran 9600s for about the past 12 years and last year added a 9650 to my fleet and this year adding a 9600. They have proven to me time and time again to be great performers and having the newer 9650 wasnt worth the extra money for the amount of acres it will cover, especially at twice the price of my others. Reliability is a very muddy spectrum when talkin about combines mainly because you never know when a fella says hes had zero problems with his machine but we never hear what kind of hours are on the machines. Any machine out of the box will perform great.
If you are talkin 90s machines you need answers from those who keep these machines for several seasons and put thousands of seperator hours on them to get an idea of reliability.
Parts pricing and dealers are fair considerations when selecting and that all depends on your location. One guy says go red because he lives closest to the red dealer and has ran red all his life.
Ive got every dealer of combine MFG within 20 miles of my ranch however we Mfg many parts for our machines and buy lots of aftermarket, or go direct to the mfgs who make the parts for deere.
I usually dont think of rotating combines out until they reach the 8000-9000 seperator hour range. Never seen a silver or red machine provide good service to the owner for that many years and not cause the guy to want quit the business.
Ive know previous generations of cutters who grew tired of the business and were driven mad by price cost, complicated machine design, etc because they only knew OEM parts and never thought beyond OEM durability in modifying their machines or building them better themselves. Weve harvested in areas that deere and most other companies dont consider when designing machines.
I have to disagree with gleanerjunkie, the combine is only as good as guy operating and building it year after year, the MFGs only build each machine once.

 

[benny]

I agree with what your saying, but all things equal as in a operator that maintains and does not abuse his/her machinery and relies on a dealer for repairs.

Does not a good dealer's support, knowledge and proximity become worth it's weight in gold?

 

[9500my89]

I couldn't agree more with your comments davedan, we too are in an area that is not well serviced by dealers i.e. CIH 50miles JD 50miles NH 50miles. I'm very glad to have this website ,learned a lot more from here than I have from our local dealer

 

[bent]

Combiness, I have to disagree somewhat about dealer support. If you are running older machines, you can't afford to have a dealer do much, if any work. You have to do it yourself.

The only value a dealer has is parts support, and the ones in my area aren't very good for machines over 10 years old. This applies to tractors as well. The most important dealer in my area for everyone is Abilene Machine. And they can be buyer beware on lots of the used stuff.

The dealer is about $60.00/hour, and replaces everything they can. This makes no sense on a 5,000 hour machine where the part isn't completely worn out. The combine won't wear out another new part, so why not put on used at less than 1/2 the price?

Davedan, are your engines lasting that long, or do you have to rebuild the engine to put 8,000 sep hours on a machine?

 

[gleanerjunkie]

I agree with what you are saying. It is a collection of factors. When you say that you don't have dealer support for your machines how do you get parts? You must have to wait for parts im guessing or make your own. I know from experience that that is very frustrating. Wouldnt having a good dealer with good mechs and parts dep. sway you towards that brand.

We have had many times when something breaks on our machine and have no clue how to fix it. That is where a good dealer comes in. As equipment keeps getting more complicated (computerized) a dealer is vital to keeping the farmer going.

I dont know about other guys but taking your machine into the dealer and having them go through it is the same as you trying to bankrupt the farm. We go through our machines by ourselves and never let the dealer touch them when we can do it ourselves. Unless you can make all the parts yourself though, I still think and the dealer plays a pretty big part in the operation of that combine. If you dont have parts for the combine it is in a sense worthless to you.

 

[cowgirlchaser]

All I can say is we had a 1997 2188 for 10 years with 3128hrs and it did great. We do all our own service and work unless we don't have the time. Then we get the dealer to do the work. You might say you are going to do the work, and the dealer is too expensive. However if they don't know how to fix it how are they going to help you over the phone if you have a problem. I'd have to say dealer support is the big deciding factor.......ask JAB 1.......

 

[combiness]

Quote:Combiness, I have to disagree somewhat about dealer support. If you are running older machines, you can't afford to have a dealer do much, if any work. You have to do it yourself.

The only value a dealer has is parts support, and the ones in my area aren't very good for machines over 10 years old. This applies to tractors as well. The most important dealer in my area for everyone is Abilene Machine. And they can be buyer beware on lots of the used stuff.


Case in point, as per what I just said--that IS dealer support. I was not talking service-only, but the parts. Yes, Bent, I totally agree with you on older machines. In fact, the older ones really don't count, because those CAN be so readily self-repaired. They were here, ahead of all this high-tech stuff we don't have either proper resources, diagnostic equiment and in some cases, even knowledge to make self-repairs.

Bent, please avoid going to Abilene and do business with Mike's whenever possible. Much better service from them and beter prices, too.

 

[9500my89]

Our dealer locally just doesen'tstock a lot of parts and their service techs are young and inexperienced.We often get parts from dealers 300 miles away they have a great stock of parts and I get them delivered to my door next day.

 

[davedan]

I guess to sum all this up, I think if a guy is going to run the same machines for several years and has the talent to do all the work himself overhauling it then it doesnt matter what color if rig he runs its a matter of preference at this point. Parts for any comibne out there are too high and theres alot of crummy aftermarket parts too which only experience can reveal.

In response to Bents question, We have never overhauled any of our engines within those 8000-9000 hr ranges, we do take excellent care of them and usually try to rotate out the machine before needing to do an overhaul. We usually do an injection pump at about 4000hrs, new injectors every 2000-3000hrs depending on pressures which I check every season, run the valves every 2 seasons,change the oil every 200 hrs, change the coolant and thermostat and kit the water pump every 3000 hrs.

 

[oklahomajoe]

I'll put my two cents in for what it is worth.

I have never ran a gleaner rotor, but would like to try some day. Currently we run green. The main reason is dealer support. Up until two years ago it was good. The current owner of the local dealer is now running it into the ground. It is still better than our non-existent agco support.

One plus for our area is that with a deere you can always find a used header. I assume that it is not nearly as easy with a gleaner.

Also, you can find someone other than the local dealer to do quality work on a John Deere. I work off the farm, but can't pay a dealer shop price for work done to the machine. If I had a gleaner, I don't know where I would go for any repairs that I don't have time to do myself.

Good luck on your choice.

 

[cihman]

I run a 95 2188 and a 1983 1480. Last year in wheat harvest the only break down we had was a flat tire, 8 days with no trouble. The custom cutters next to us had 3 R-62 Gleaners. By the end of harvest, one was dead in the field with a blown engine (the wonders of air cooling). They did finish harvesting quicker than us, however, because another one of their combines caught on fire and burned almost 240 acres!!!!