[robmgrig]

For that amount of acres a ih 1660 in good condition with a 20 ft head and 4 row corn head can be bought for under 40 thousand leaving you some money for a grain cart and truck. Ih combines are extremely simple and easy to work on. As for what to check, check every plac that grain or crop material flows for places that are worn through, augers, chains, shaker bushinhs,etc. As a general rule of thumb ih combines are better in corn and Deere combines are better in beans unless the beans are dry and then it's a wash. With any brand of combine, expect plenty of downtime until you learn the machine and how to work on it. If you keep the machine a while, it will get easier as the years go on

 

[robmgrig]

I was in the same position as you 7 years ago. I knew nothing about combines as I was 1 yr out of college and my family had always grown cotton. But we started growing grain so we needed a combine and the only experience I had with one was with a gleaner k2 for a few weeks. But after talking with a lot of area farmers we decided that the axial flow was the way to go. If you are new to combines I believe that dealer support should be your deciding factor. It will save you MANY headaches as you learn your machine. All brands make good equipment but all have their positives and negatives. After you learn about combines, each machines positves and negatives should weigh more when you decide which brand to go with. In our case Deere support was good but case ih was excellent and I have leaned on them heavily in past years. Working on a combine can seem daunting at first, but after you finish a repair job you will realize that it wasn't as bad as you thought it would be. For example, I can now pull the rotor out of my 1660 in less than an hour. And the thing about buying a little older machine is that you will know it frontwards and backwards within a few years. Not necessarily from repair work in the field, but with the annual upkeep with these machines. I have been extremely happy with my 1660 and I have put in a lot of money to make it the machine that I want it to be with upgrades such as greenstar yield monitor, afx rotor, unloading system, etc. Even now that I can afford a newer machine, I plan on keeping this one a while longer cause I know what I've got and I don't want to start the whole process over again. But the axial flows are very simple and easy to work on but I think your first decision should be dealer support and then start looking at machines. By the way I have all colors on my farm such as blue tractors, green cotton picker and sprayer and red combine

 

[robmgrig]

To change from corn to beans on an axial flow I adjust the feeder drum down one notch, speed up rotor, adjust vanes to fast position, tighten concave a bit and close the shoe a little. Takes me about 15 minutes. I leave the separator bars on the rotor because it's a pain to remove grates. I compensate by moving the vanes to fast position.
105diesel, the man asked for advice on combines in general and did not specify jd only. I gave him advice on case ih because that is what I have experience with. Notice that I didn't bash jd because I have no experiene with one. Next time try to not get so bent out of shape. I agree with you about the green stemmed beans. I am limited to about 3 mph in 60 bu green stemmed beans with a 20 ft head on a 1660. But I can also shell 1800 + bu/hr corn with no fear of throwing any out the back