[txfarmer]

If I forgot a model, it might have been from [a] lack of answer 'slots'. If I got something wrong, please forgive me.
I am planning on purchasing another combine, soon; and plan on keeping it for 8-10 years, if possible. A neighbor of mine told me to 'skip' the 50 series, and go straight to the 60 series...as they had some 'gremlins' in the one that he had. He said that you have to go clear down to the engine serial number because of so many changes in the model..True?
No disrespect meant to those of you that have a 50 series; as I know they cost a wad of cash!
Again, I will not be cutting corn...primarily wheat and grain sorghum. Thanks in advance!
Regards,
TxFarmer

 

[stu]

I'd Love to get my hands on a good used 9600. Know a friend of mine working on a large farm running a 10 000hr+ 9600. Great machines.

 

[txfarmer]

The 9600 is what I [currently] own. My machine has about 2100 sep hours. I do a lot of maintainance myself, and I have also sent it in for the JD "Greenlight Special" (where they do an extensive inspection (like 200 point inspection?)). Last time I sent it in, though, it cost me like $4,500 in repairs..Guess that "free hauling" to/from JD's shop wasn't free after all!

Seriously, my machine performed flawlessly after I sent it in..They updated the walker bearings & other important things...

 

[bighp6030]

I love those late model 9600s.But since your replacing a 9600,i would try and find a 9660 walker machine.It wheat and milo,a walker machine always produces the cleanest grain I think.
Where do you farm here in the Panhandle?I farm 640acres west of Amarillo just NE of Bushland.

 

[8820titan2]

I would have voted 8820 Titan II though many don't like this older machine, our 2 are as reliable as any newer one. It's all in the maintenance.

Oh yeah, no payments are nice too!

 

[greengiant]

all the 20 series were pretty good, countershaft under the seat was enough to trade it off for me. Too noisey, Too much heat from motor through dash. Too hard to get to filters, hated side mt cab.

txfarmer, keep your 9600 about ten more years then think about trading. You have the best machine/buck deere ever built. Saw a real nice one sell in ncent. ne. last week for 70K. Had about 2k motor hrs.

 

[txfarmer]

Thanks for the replies. While it is on my mind, please--someone--answer this question, if possible:

My 9600 is an early enough model, that when the grain tank is full, there is a constant "buzz" (telling you that the tank is full). I would like to replace this "buzz" with a "newer sound" (like the newer models have)--something like "beep beep". Seems as though the later 9600's had the "beep" instead of the contsant "buzz". ALL alarms on my combine "buzz", so without looking at the upper display, you do not know if the engine temp. is hot, the shaft speed is too low, or what...

So, finally to the question: Is it possible to replace the "grain tank full" sound?

Thanks for the replies so far. I know that I got a good machine. And yeah, you're right in saying that maintainance is the key to longevity. I thought, too, that a newer walker machine might be the way to go, but some of my neighbors that trade all the time have gone rotor. They will never keep them long enough, though, for me to tell if they are long-lifed machines.

bighp6030 : I live SouthEast of Amarillo, 'bout 30 miles or so.

8820titan2 : Sorry I did not put the 20 series combines in the poll. The way things are now, it would be like trying to find a special/certain needle in a stack of needles to find a really good 8820.

Merry CHRISTmas !!

 

[txfarmer]

Oops! My bad! Thanks for calling me on that..I was afraid that I would get some of those new models wrong...97 this..96 that..too many models..On that note, my JD mechanic said that Deere was going to try to phase out the walker machines altogether..?? Is that true? Surely NOT!

 

[combiness]

My vote goes for any of the Titan models. I personally know of some 8820's that exceeded 13,000 hours. I know of several 8 to 10 thousand houred 8820's and 7720's.

 

[txfarmer]

We used to have a 7720. It was a good machine. A JD Mechanic that I ~really~ respect (boy, he was a wizzard w/combines!) once said that the JD 7720 was the most "balanced" combine that John Deere has ever made. He made this comment to me right when the 9610's were coming out , new...so the 7720 was "competing" with all the newer machines.
By "balanced" he meant that the machine's walkers were the right number, the right size, correct size of concave, etc etc.
He was referring to a 7720 with a 224 platform (since everyone in my part of the world grows wheat & milo, primarily, he probably made the "7720 is king" comment referring to these crops)...

No doubt that the 20 series were are good.
Heck, way back our old 6600 was near bulletproof! That thing hardly ~ever~ broke down! Granted, a day of cutting with a 6600 is hardly a day with a 9600, but those were great machines!
When I was a small kid, my job (well, one of many) was to carry water and keep the air conditioner water tank full. A swamp cooler in the cab was better than nothing, and did not seem to break down like these freon jobs do.
Even ~further~ back, I recall (barely)(yikes, am I showing my age here?

) our old 95 JD Combine. Our old 95 had a cab!!

Woo-hoo! Our old 55 did not...

*I'm not too old...I'm 33*

!Merry Christmas!

 

[combiness]

Yes, I totally agree about the Model 7720. It was extremely well-balanced, even more so, than the larger 8820, although the latter received much fanfare for being the world's largest combine and later, at least the world's largest conventional combine. While I do love 8820's, it is still the 7720 which is my favorite Titan.

By the way, I learned to cut with a John deere 6600. It was probably one of the most user-friendly combines of its day, too. It was certainly far easier to service and repair than the well-established Massey-Ferguson 510. Even though, my dream was to own a Model 7700. In the 1970's, the 7700 was no small deal, either. In fact, it was only just 5 inches of cylinder less than the Massey-Ferguson 760, another "dream favorite" and the world's largest combine, too, in its time.

 

[txfarmer]

I hear ya', Combiness. Writing about these ol' machines makes me take a trip down memory lane...
I remember when I was a boy, I had to stand up in the cab, and push/heave with all my might to engage the seperator (the long yellow handle on the front/right side).

Another memory that stands out in my mind is an incident with our pristine 7720. At that time, we did not have a semi truck rig. We only had a couple of ol' bobtails. We were having our milo semi-hauled to Amarillo, TX because we could get a better price than @ our local elevator..Anyway, the night before, I had stayed late, and filled 2 graincarts with milo, and I also filled the combine with milo. The semi-truck was on its' way to get a load from me. My grandfather got on one of the tractors w/ a cart..he was going to get it in position to dump on the truck when it arrived. I was on the right hand side of the 7720, greasing it.
All of a sudden, I heard an awful sound, and the left front tire of the 7720 came off the ground (about 6 inches).
My grandfather had run the auger of the grain cart into the unloading auger of the combine!!! (Keep in mind that everything was full of grain, and the truck was on its way!!)
The wreck practically made a "horse shoe" out of the combine's auger. The grain cart auger was folded/wrecked bad..it folded back, in (toward the center) and back (toward the rear) of the cart..
About 14 hrs (of labor x2) later, everything was fixed. Gosh it was bad...I had to take the little "clean out" door out of the bottom of the grain cart's auger, and drain all of the milo onto the ground..then pick it up with a front end loader, and put it in a truck..that was the only way of getting it out! Same thing with the 7720...I had to take the little inspection door/clean out window out of the bottom of the unloading auger, and drain it on the ground, too...The whole deal was a big mess! UG!

Everything was repaired properly, though...I bought all new auger housing, rather than try to bend and/or hammer them out.
What a deal....

 

[combiness]

Hey, TXfarmer, your message is in the upper right corner at the home page. Just click on that to read what you have.

 

[bighp6030]

It is like we were on the same farm.My dad ran a 95 for about 15 years.I got to cut one round of sunflowers with it back in '84.About two years prior to that,my granddad was running the grain cart and he hit the 95's auger with the cart auger.Ruined the combine auger and we took off the grain cart auger and beat back straight.It was made of a heavier piece of pipe,so it didn't dent as bad.The was the day my dad fired his dad,I have never seen my dad that mad before or since.
Then in '85 we got a 6600 with a 20' header.NOW we were big time with that machine.We really liked that combine.It put out the cleanest wheat sample I've ever seen.We ran that for about 5 years.
Now we have a custom cutter out of Vega to cut our wheat.He runs three CaseIH's.

 

[greengiant]

None of the 00's/20's were worth much until deere figured out how to build a 2spd cylinder gearbox, and use a rear axle that wouldn't fall apart in the middle of the field wrecking your chaffer. This didn't happen till the early 80's. Finals were pretty poor except the planetaries, which were never offered on the 6620 but sorely needed them. Grain tanks that loved to crack out around the verical unloader were especially endearing. I owned a 6620 for too long and it really was not cost efficient at all compared to the '97 9500 I have now.

 

[bighp6030]

Suppose it depends on what your cutting.In wheat and milo,a 7720 will last forever(or at least it seems.)

 

[bighp6030]

In wheat and milo,the rotary really just gives you a little more speed.Don't get me wrong,those rotaries are nice and can cover alot of acres.But in dryland wheat,those walker machines can easily keep up with a rotary.

 

[ralf]

TxFarmer:

$4500 repair bill after 2100 sep. hours is very inexpensive. I have put over $20,000 in parts in a 9600 that has done a lot of corn. Soybeans are even worse. With only wheat and milo your combine will last a long time.
If you go to a 9660 walker you will hate the fuel bill. It uses probably 20% more over your 9600 and doesn't cut any more acres in an hour. The more electronics you have, the more gremlins you have, too.
I personally like the 2001 9650 walker best. It is the last year with the fuel efficient engine. The big difference to the 9600 is the big clean grain elevator, that comes real handy in corn.

If I was in your situation I would maybe look at a 9610 but nothing newer, because it's not worth it. With a 9610 you get most of the bugs worked out without buying new once and the price is not so high. You also get the newer "beep, beep" alarm and a load of other little improvements.

 

[txfarmer]

Ralf,
Thanks for the advise. The $4,500 bill was just their bill...Things that they "deemed necessary" that I had not found the previous winter. I am always picking and looking at my combine. A guess a better word might be "proactive". I know the value of changing out something that looks a little fishy to avoid downtime in the field.
I, too, have kind of been looking at the 9610. I do not owe anything on any of my farm equipment, and want to keep it that way. I know some guys that bleed green, and their place(s) are dripping with new paint, but they are also looking for a new banker every year! The old banker just does not have the stomach for such "high intensity" (walking the line on busting and going out of business) anymore.
I did not know that the newer machines were such fuel hogs. I know that back when we had an 8640, it seemed to get better economy (per hp) than our new(er) 4 wd does.

 

[davedan]

I started at age 19 with a $6000.00 Massey 860. Actually came from a parts yard, but I made it a runner. It was the poorest designed machine I think ever in the history of combines. I later ran a 7720 with a 224 rigid, it was a feederhouse crackin SOB with that wide of a header. Later to an abandoned 8820, chaffer eatin SOB. Bought my first 9600 a couple of years later and put over 7000 hrs on it. Sure many dollars and hours in repairs over that time but I could go for 3000 acres in Heavy wheat with no problems at all. Best 40000 I ever spent. Today I have a 9650 walker running a 36 draper, and a 96 9600 w/930r. Ground conditions limits my machines the most here in Ca. where they like to make heavy irrigated yields. Im thinking of adding a third machine and YES it will be another 9600. Which is the cheapest most economical way to add to my fleet especially for someone who has to run the same rigs for several years to come. My 50 is nice, awesome horsepower, greenstar is nice. But Ive already had to replace the corner module due to A.C. not working properly. I hate all the electronics of todays machines. The capability of running the draper is a plus as well. But I paid over twice as much for my 50 as any of my 9600s and if it was fitted with a 930r it wouldnt cut any more ina days time. MIght burn more fuel too. I will always be a walker guy, which is what most of my customers prefer here. Sure it may have more moving parts, less horsepower, blablabla. Its still a far more accurate, cost effective, and versatile than any other machine Ive ever had the pleasure to run,gander,or throw rocks at yet.