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What combine do you own/how many acres?

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Nick m

Member
I'm tire kicking combines. We've always hired it done, but between custom prices climbing, and having to wait on other people, i think we'll own one by next fall. I know the pros and cons of owning a combine. Been around them for years. Ours will harvest 130 acres of corn/soys/wheat. Having a hard time deciding what to go with. I'm leaning toward 6620/7720 deere or 1460 ih. Probably don't really need anything that big, but they don't seem any more expensive than the smaller ones of the same Era. Also work full time, so it'd be nice to be able to whip it out a little quicker. Would like a 6 row machine also.

Just curious as to what you guys run on how many acres. Thanks
 
we run a total of 300 150 in beans and 150 in corn, and we take it off with a JD 9500, was also looking for a 6620 or 7720 but this 9500 was a deal i couldnt pass up
 
100 acres of corn, 50 of soys and 50 winter wheat with an M3 Gleaner, by myself including hauling loads. Ben
 
800 acres with a 1995 JD 9500. I could upgrade I suppose, but it does a good job and preventative maintenance keeps it from leaving me stranded. The header is more and more shot every year but the prices of new ones are just stupid. All of the buildings and drives/fences here are build for the size of the 922 header so it would do me no good to upgrade to bigger.

It doesn't matter what you get. Make sure it's been shredded, there's no mouse/wiring damage, and they have a maintenance schedule for it and have kept it up. I've seen machines with 1000 separator hours that are shot. I've seen 5000 hour machines that could go another 5000.
 
A lot depends on where you are and what you grow. I notice that those in the Midwest harvest their beans before corn here in Virginia we harvest corn first prepare the ground for wheat then harvest beans even into December. I grow corn, beans and wheat total area is 56 acres with the field split 20 and 36 acres that lets me get it all done and still work full time in DC. The combine is a 1978 Deere 4400 which is old and parts are becoming a issue. It take a while to get it done as the machine a little small and the crops are bigger then when it was made. For example when was the last time you had to slow down going through corn or wheat? Beans she'll handle up to at least 50 bu. per acre. After I retired time wasn't so important so I could handle more acreage but at 73 age begins to get in the way. I teamed up with a younger guy so age isn't such a big problem and we'll do something in the 7720 size for 17.
 
I would upgrade to the IH 1600 series, like a 1660. Does 6 rows easily. Not all that expensive for a slightly newer machine. I use a 1660 and can do as much or as little acreage as I want. Nice easy to use machine. Are you good with the big diesel engine? I'm better with old gas engines. Repairs can be super expensive on the diesels if you have an issue...like mine spun a bearing on #1 two years ago. Not a repair I could do. Costs as much or more than the combine to fix. Replacement engines are common but it is still a pricey repair. Just something to think about.
 
I've got an Oliver 7300 for about 20 acres of oats every year,but if I was going shopping,I'd come home with a Gleaner.
 
9500 Deere. We run a dairy, so it harvests what doesn't go through a chopper. 270-320 of corn, 200+ beans, 50-120 of wheat. Does a great job. We run an 18 foot platform and a 6 row corn head. It handles either with ease in big crops and / or tough conditions.

Prior to the 9500, we had a 105 Deere for the corn, and hired the beans and wheat done.
 
Have CIH 5088 doing about 1200 acres. There are a number of "green" farmers in the area that run red combines. Case IH combines are bulletproof and easy to work on.
 
Gleaner M2 - 40 acres corn 40acres beans 40 acres small grains.

It only cost me $6000 with 4 heads (6rn 4rw 20' bean, pickup head) and 2 parts combines. It's been super easy to work on, very easy to set-up and operate, and does a very good job.
 
good luck; I ran the numbers, so many times, that i was burning out calculators from using all the red numbers. i'd look for a different custom operator.
 
9500 Deere. The only reason I would steer away from the 77 or 6620 is the offset cab. They are nice machines but the offset and the extra heat/noise from the motor being right beside you would make me look towards a 95 or 9600 or 9500. With few acres I have a hard time seeing how getting your own combine carts and trucks to do your own makes financial sense that being said it's not my pocket book and I'm the kinda of person if I can do something myself I much rather would. Good luck
 
I drag this funny looking thing around to thresh oats and barely, never more than 100 acres per year.
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Wheat, beans and corn. Use a JI Case 1660 for wheat because I sell the straw. Two years ago I bought a 3500 hour 1640 for beans and corn. Like them both but one is 50 years old and one is 25 years old. Both are very simple machines that handle a 20' head and 6 row corn head easily......
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IH 1440 1063 corn head 100 acres corn 1st gear on hills 2nd on the flat 16ft 1020 on 24 acres beans and 810 windrow pick up on 24 acres of oats dads retiring next year so more beans and corn next year. if you get a 1640 i would get the IH engine over the cummins
 
In the long run I'm with tomNE. Look around to find another harvester you can work with. Can you help them back in any way, like drive a tractor or truck in your off hours?

I just wrote out a check for a twitch over $28,000 to have 640 acres harvested including four experienced men, grain cart and hauling to either the bin or to town. I even pay them rent for the use of their auger. That might look like a sizable check to some but I can't own and maintain all that iron and have experienced help for that cheap. I make sure I have easy access to the fields, meaning wide lanes and I have consolidated fields to make them larger and easier to harvest. That way they are more willing to come back next year.
 
I have a 1640 for about 200 acres split between corn and beans. And a 1440 that I have been unable to sell. I have owned most brands of combines and the easiest ones to work on and most dependable have been the conventional Gleaners and the IH axial flows. I have neighbors with rotary Gleaners with lots of problems. In the last two years most of the R series Gleaners have caught fire and burned to a crisp. One fellow has an old M and his friend with a R52 came to help, and the M covered twice as many acres as the R52 due to something always wrong with the R52. The 6600 thru 7720 John Deeres are way to complicated to work on. The IH 1440 and 1460 are selling well worth the money now.
 
My neighbor combines my open ground with a new-to-him this year JD 9510, same old 6rn head, but a newer 30' platform. Cut combine time more than half from his neat little 6600JD.

My buddy that farms 2500+acres has not owned a combine since the late 1970s- quite a lot of his corn ground is seed corn which Pioneer harvests themselves, all the rest is done by a custom crew, he and his son and hired man just keep it all running smoothly at t
he drier and with empty wagons/trucks.
 
180 corn, 180 beans, 30 small grain. 2144 CaseIH. 6 row chopping corn head, 15 ft. platform, 810 pickup head. Could handle bigger platform but don't want to remove for road travel.
 
In reference to hiring it done- that does have an advantage- you know what your cost will be.

A grain trucker (an independent guy whose been around awhile, not your typical steering wheel holder) made a comment a few years ago though. He said, "You don't know what you are losing when you hire it done, because when you have your own machine you can pick when it is ready and work accordingly." In a crop like wheat or beans where the moisture can vary by time of day, etc. that is very true. If you want to wait 3 hours, you can. If you wanted to start yesterday, you could have. And if it breaks, it is your responsibility.

You do have more flexibility and control when you own the machine.
 
I know. That's why I've hired it done for 8 years. I have my reasons for wanting to do it myself. Got soybeans ready now, and combine guy said he won't make it back until this weekend, when it's supposed to rain. Wheat would have been done a week sooner. Corn would just now be getting done now instead of 3 weeks ago when they had time and nothing else to do. Also just flat out like doing things myself. On my second custom harvester. Both have been good people, just think things would be more on my time line.
 
In my experience if you have hills stay away from a John Deere, I don't know about an IH but had bad experiences with John Deeres, the drive shaft will brake and the dummies put the brakes in by the transmission so when the drive shaft breaks you go for a heck of a ride, and you only have one brake left. BTDT happened more then once, a guy was med flighted 2 years ago because of it.
 
About 400 soys 100 corn and if planted around 100 wheat so then the beans are less. Will be adding 230 acres next year to that total. So about 700 acres in 17 with a 7720 925 head and 8 row corn head. Works good with both heads. I wish we had a 30 some days for the beans. Wheat a 20 would be good. I just slow down a bit more. Our biggest problem is getting rid of the crop from the combine. 1 truck and a 40 mile haul one way.
 
I do a Soy and ww rotaion. Best I have found for soil and hbitat management. Minimum input level and nice harvests. I do 1 bean and 2 WW Pheasants love the WW for nesting in spring and feeding roosting in weeds in fall.
 
One thing to keep in mind with hiring a custom harvester is you gain the extra person driving the combine. That may not mean much if you have other help that can disk end rows, set wagons, and unload wagons while you run the combine. But if you are a one-man-harvest-crew, your hourly harvest capacity can drop to about one third of what it would be with two people and the same combine. Unloading on the fly is not possible with one person. You do more unproductive driving with the combine to get back to where you parked the wagons or to where you last parked the tractor. When you need to move wagons you spend extra time walking between the combine and the tractor. Shuttling equipment home at the end of the day and back to the field the next day gets a lot more complicated too. It's something to consider if you don't like to leave equipment and wagons in the field for 20 hours until you get back from work.

If you are a one-man-harvest crew, having your own combine will get some of the crop harvested earlier, but you may not finish harvest much sooner than if you hired it done, and you will work a lot harder. It may help to buy some extra wagons along with a combine.
 
doing 100 to 125 ac year, caseih 1680 in corn and beans, I end up buying a bigger machine do to the price of some of the others.
 
I just looked at a 1460 with 6000 hours on it. Was expecting something ready for the bone yard. Was in remarkably good shape. Thought his price was a little high for the hours though. Wanted 9k for the combine with an OK 1020 head. Non working ac.
 
Run about 350 acres with a 9500 and a 7720. Mainly use the 9500 but the 7720 is a good back up and imho it does a better job cleaning beans.I mostly do it by myself and work full time so a spare is a must.
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We run a Deere 105 and a 95 as well. Both were gas machines that we changed over to diesel. We do about 70 acres corn,60 soybeans, 30 rye and 10 oats. Tom
 
Gordo, where in SD are you? How's the bird population this year. I heard it was down, but not sure I believe the person that told me.
 
I ran a twitch over 500 corn/soy acres per year through a 105 for 19 years. I was glad to see the season end every year, mainly because of that dinosaur 635 corn head.
 
(quoted from post at 15:42:54 11/16/16) I drag this funny looking thing around to thresh oats and barely, never more than 100 acres per year.
Click to expand...
Good looking 851 Massey. They used to sell a lot of those and the earlier 751 here in Sask.
I've always felt buy the biggest combine you can afford. With the lousy weather and short window of opportunity to harvest we get some years we need to be able to do a lot of acres in a short time. Not that I ever accomplished that but I do own a 1660 IH and a JD 7721 pull type. You would think that would be overkill on 700 acres but I've been trying since September 1 and still not finished in the middle of November.
 
(quoted from post at 22:31:14 11/16/16) 60 All Crop Allis-Chalmers, 8 acres of soybeans and wheat.
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My uncle (R.I.P.) and I ran a lot of beans through an A-C 60 back in the '70s. 8)
 
90 acres of corn and another 90 or so split between wheat, oats, rye and buckwheat. Ran 50 acres of wheat for the neighbor.

Run 2 MF 550 gray cabs, 2 1143 heads, a 13' rigid and a 13' 1859. One has air, the other doesn't; one gets most of the summer work, the other the fall work. Always a spare around in case things go sideways. People like to bad mouth them, but they are good to me, 4 breakdowns this year; a flat tire, a broken master link, one bearing, and a water pump.
 
If the head is any good at all its worth 4,500. Does the seller have any info on work done to the 1460? If you have the room a parts one could be bought around here for around 2,000.
 
No. I know the guy a little. He bought it 5 years ago from a dealer. Said an old guy traded it in on a new one. He said he hasn't had to do a thing to it in that time other than regular maintenance. The engine is a reman with 1500hrs in it. I tried very hard to find something wrong with it. AC and a couple lights not working was it. Very tempting being only a couple miles down the road. Might try and beat him up on price in a couple weeks. Seems like combines are not selling well right now.
 
Yes it's down. SD is going just like Iowa, Kansas and NE went. Low grain prices, low beef prices means farmers till and mow every available acre. They are down in the sloughs mowing canary grass, First year for 66 years I didn't buy a license.
 
We had an IH 303 back in the early '70s that we ran 300 acres with. I know this doesn't help but the post brought back some memories of a great machine.
 
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