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Versatile combine

41K views 53 replies 25 participants last post by  schraefel 
#1 ·
A friend has asked me to post this question as he was considering the RB combines if the price is right . Has anyone had any REAL experience with these good or bad . Thanks in advance for any insight anyone may have .
 
#3 ·
I've never seen any in my area but I know of a colony that tried some a couple years ago. All I know is that they didn't like them. Not sure why, but going from a nice optioned out Case with luxury cabs to the Versy was likely strike one. Think the Versy is a little more crude. About their performance or reliability I know nothing.
 
#5 ·
One issue is they came with a paddle feederouse somewhat like the older MF. This posed a problem with feeding in crops where picking up some dirt is an issue. Not sure about the feeder house on these. A farm around MJ had 4 of these I believe and Versatile ended up changing them over to feeder chain. The farm here had a 2 or 3 year lease on them and turned them back in. We were told at the farm show, the Versatile dealer that sold them has not chosen to be a combine dealer for them. From what I have heard from someone close to the operation is they weren't terrible.

Sorry no real world experience. These combines will sell cheap in comparison. I don't think they'll go as cheap as some think.
 
#6 ·
Dealer here demoed one pretty hard but I don't think ever sold it. Problem was IMO they were pushing it to the wrong crowd of people trying to sell them to guys that already had pretty new combines witch I believe they should have been looking at guys with 9600's and 2388's trying to show them a step up in a combine that could be a new affordable option.

The things I heard were complaints about the cab and controls witch for a half price combine what do you expect?

I have had some consideration to try one but the dealer seems to think they need to go after guys driving new combines and they have become a dealer that does very well selling equipment but very poor at best with keeping any parts on hand.
 
#9 ·
Have your buddy phone these guys: Corner Equipment

They have at least 4 of them on the lot the other day when I was there. I'll bet for not much more they can get him into a machine and Corner will do their best to support that unit afterward from my experience buying other machines there. They have a location in Shoal Lake which isn't that far away. From what I know they are a half-price machine and there is lots running around the world so they must get something done. I have not seen one run personally though.

Half the problems today are from elective systems on combines. Sometimes I long for the old "pull the lever to engage the unload belt"...
 
#11 ·
We tried one out 3 years ago. It was a decent combine fairly simple. The cab is very European so it takes a little while to get used to. I sat beside a guy that got 2 of these combines. The dealership didn't pdi them. They caused nothing but problems. Then versatile sent out their Russian combine guru and in 2 days they were good reliable combines.
 
#13 ·
Thanks guys I realize they are very limited , but it sounds like they are reasonable machines if properly pdi'ed . And I definitely agree they should be marketed to the guys with 10+ year old machines as a reasonably priced new replacement , not to those running new or next to new .
 
#17 ·
I think they would be a ok combine. Parts and service is going to be your biggest problem with them. As long as the updates were done like the feeder house and new rotor it should be decent. From what I've heard it's lots of small problems and then not being able to get parts in time which Versatile is good for. The initial launch was 1 combine per dealer, if you wanted to demo you needed 2, 1 for spare parts. Went to school with a dealer from Montana and they had 3 units, 2 on demo and one stripped down to keep the other 2 going. I looked at some of the pictures of the combines in Regina and they had the new feeder house. Not sure about the rotor. Rotors weren't strong enough and guys were ripping off rub bars and their mounts. Corner does have 4 combines sitting there but I think Versatile wanted to dump some off to clear the yard out in Winnipeg. I talked to a guy this fall who had a 490 out with his class 6,7 and 8 MF combines in 36ft of fall rye and he said it couldn't outperform his 7 but could stay just ahead of his 6 and nowhere close to his 8. He said the feeder house limited the capacity and it was the updated one. Over all he wasn't that impressed with it. My overall impression is these combines are going to sell cheap
 
#19 ·
It's too bad they didn't have a better launch, maybe have waited a year and make sure all kinks had been sorted out. They have a really tough road ahead of them now to shake the reputation they got, if it's at all possible.
 
#25 ·
The idea behind them I think was to deter people from trying to grow flax!! Just kidding! I was just a kid when we had Massey's and I remember dad couldn't do flax as it would just wrap. In theory it has less wear parts than a feeder chain but just doesn't work well in crops that tend to wrap.
 
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#26 ·
I seen the massey style for the first time a couple years ago, actually was surprised it ever worked at all. I could see them conveying over the top but down the floor? Really interesting and it was nice to see someone tried something because I think the feeder chain is, well, dated, there has got to be a better way IMO.
I kind of took interest in the Versitile system but felt it probably wouldnt be ideal, but it again is neat to see someone tried something.
 
#28 ·
If the paddles were timed right it wasn't a problem they fed and worked like a charm and lasted for thousands of hours. In severe wrapping conditions you would add 2 paddles per paddle and that would eliminate the wrapping. It was the best feeding system out there simple and maintenance free. We still have an old 860 as a second combine and with over 3000 hrs those paddles have NEVER been replaced.
 
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