John Deere 45 combine tails

Hi Guys. I'm looking for any story's-tails-likes-dislikes-comments on A john Deere 45 Combine. I Might be looking at buying one. it has factory cab. heat. factory front tires that still have the rubber hairs. and look like new. no rust. was kept inside all its life that it wasn't in the field. says 2339hrs. watched it start on a 31 degree day first crank. so all around in great shape. and comes with 10ft cutter head. some questions I have is. what would be a good price for this? Around here there isn't even collectors for these combines and nobody uses them. So I was wondering a good price. second. what two row wide corn head Goes on this machine?
I've seen A 234 corn head on it. would that be the head? Also with this machine dose the throat go with the head or stay on the combine? Any info is appreciated. along with stories. thank you.

never ran a 45 deere ,Just been around them ,They have a throat chain and cylinder similar to massey. Gleaner is the only combine i know of with the Cylinder immediatly after the head.. Sounds like You found a nice Clean one. is it Diesel?, all i ever saw were gassers. They Probably made a narrow 3 row for a 45 , but ,i Never saw a 3 row head on a 45, so therefore they could be scarce. Deere made a lot of 45s than Gleaner and Masseys . so there is always a possibility someone saved a good head and has one in the shed .. I Think a Massey 300 is slightly bigger ,they had a slant 6, 225. It will handle a 3 row in 200 bu corn set at 30 inches on the low end of 1st gear . all i can tell you is what i know , rhe 234 is probably set for 38-42 inch rosw. a Clean nice combine can still have major issues that will park you under the shade tree for a week before it is fit for the field , but i would say you are ahead of the game ,from what you are describing ,. if you have never ran a combine ,find someone to teach you the ropes , the mistakes made can be expensive in so many ways. just knowing what each componets do and why and how and the cause and effect will help resolve alot of mysteries and problems, when they expose themselves. You will hear Guys Say Certain Machines are JUnk . since others master all these supposed junk machines perfectly welland proficiently . the facts suggest Those guys that proclaim junk are misinformed,impatient fools.. although it is true , some could be considered better for one crop or another .. the ability to understand and master the combine is the best benefit,. and sadly failed experience is the best teacher of all .

I never had a 45, but I did have a 55 and a 105. Good combines, simple and easy to work on, and about as reliable as they come.

What I'll never forget about the 55 was one wet fall when the ground was muddy, if it got stuck going forward it would always back out so you could take a different shot. The main reason I went to the 105 was the extra bin capacity so I wouldn't have to cut a field in two.

It's been so long since I've been involved, I won't try to take a stab at a price. I guess whatever you can get it for.

I lost my religion with a 45 combine. If you are buying it to just look at it might be ok. However, if you are going to actually use it may God have pity on your soul. In 50-60 bushel down wheat, the most I could cut was about 5 acres in a long day. After running it for 10 years, I finally bought a 55 which wasn't much better. One of the happiest days of my life was finally buying a late 95! Instead of 5 acres I could now do 20 or 25 acres of heavy wheat. If you plan on using it on more than a few acres, that 45 would be very high priced if they gave it to you!

I started farming with a 45 round back with a 12' platform and a 210 corn head. Both heads had the feederhouse attached to the head. At the time it was okay. Had a cab but no heater. It did exceptionally in mud where my uncle could not go with a massey. My 9670 is no compareson for getting work done. But I started farming in 1966 on $10000 with a 70d, 530 case, 4 row jd planter, wagon, plow, disc, cultivator, and combine.

Sounds like a nice machine but would not know what the corn head will cost.

The first combine to harvest corn on this farm was a 1967 45. It did a good job and rarely broke down in the 250 or so acres it went through every year but the owner darned near tore it apart and rebuilt it every other year. The corn head was a 210 and the bean head took 4 38" rows so I assume it was a 12 footer. I did drive it some and worked on it a little but that was 45 years ago. The one thing that stands out in my mind is it seems to be more of a bargain built machine compared to the 55 if I want to call it that. It seemed like the framework was lighter weight to make it a cheaper to buy combine. I've heard the engine is the same as a 2010 but I doubt if that engine was made in 1967, the year this one was made but maybe i'm wrong on that. The gas engine in this combine was never overhauled in the twenty years he and the next owner used it. Power wasn't it's strong point but it got by and if one or two big weeds went in you hit the clutch and sat there and prayed. We only harvest corn and soys here so I don't know anything about how a 45 handles wheat. I would say for the hours, the 45 you are looking at should still be in fairly good shape if it has been shedded and well maintained but I wouldn't have a clue what it is worth.

(quoted from post at 15:18:57 10/30/17) The first combine to harvest corn on this farm was a 1967 45. It did a good job and rarely broke down in the 250 or so acres it went through every year but the owner darned near tore it apart and rebuilt it every other year. The corn head was a 210 and the bean head took 4 38" rows so I assume it was a 12 footer. I did drive it some and worked on it a little but that was 45 years ago. The one thing that stands out in my mind is it seems to be more of a bargain built machine compared to the 55 if I want to call it that. It seemed like the framework was lighter weight to make it a cheaper to buy combine. I've heard the engine is the same as a 2010 but I doubt if that engine was made in 1967, the year this one was made but maybe i'm wrong on that. The gas engine in this combine was never overhauled in the twenty years he and the next owner used it. Power wasn't it's strong point but it got by and if one or two big weeds went in you hit the clutch and sat there and prayed. We only harvest corn and soys here so I don't know anything about how a 45 handles wheat. I would say for the hours, the 45 you are looking at should still be in fairly good shape if it has been shedded and well maintained but I wouldn't have a clue what it is worth.

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Oh yes, I hauled the corn from that 45 to town with a John Deere A pulling 300 bushels and on a very good day I would make four trips so that's about 1200 bushels a day in 130 bushel corn coming out of the 45. I get cold just thinking about it! LOL

Corn head would be 234 or 235 . (They are basically the same)

There were a few 45 combines around back in the day and a couple had corn heads. The one farmer up the road had one and he liked to complain about everything but I don't recall him complaining about it. Very few 95's or 105's but this was not big grain country back then. More 4400's and 6600's than anything else for JD machines in terms of number sold over the years. Of course those coincide with more farms and the 1970's grain boom.

Thanks for all the info. I Figured it was the weaker model. And trust me I know all about major break downs. I started running a gleaner K when I was 9 and I thought a large rock wouldn't hurt it. that combine is now in a selvage yard. but I plan on doing 50 acres of corn and soybeans and some oats. saw this machine and thought it would be a good starter combine. otherwise I was looking at a ih 515. or 302. the engine is gas. I will try and get some pictures and put them up on here.

My first combine was a 45 square back. It had never done corn and did not have a cab. I found a nice 235 corn head and did enough custom work the first fall to pay for it. Next year added a cab off a parts machine. I lost that machine in a barn fire (struck by lightning) and bought a second machine just like it with no cab. Ran it for a year and added a cab. I then bought one of the last 45's made with the 180 engine and v belt seperater drive but it had water in the oil. The plan was to put a 202 or 219 diesel in it but we bought a farm in WI and moved 850 miles. I decided a 45 was to small and bought a 95 then a few years latter a second 95 and a 55. The 55 finally wore out and we bought a sharp 105. I still own the two 45's. They are setting in a shed on my land in MD. Not sure I want to spend what it would cost to haul them here. I never had any problems with any of my 45's. It was slow going when corn yeilds got over 100 bu and was slow in 60 bu wheat but did a good job. Yes the 45 was the lower priced machine compared to a 55 but Deere did not short change it in any way. Parts are getting harder to get so you might consider picking up a parts machine. Of all the machines I had and even the three we now use (95,95 and 105) the most expensive was $1500. I have changed the one 95 and the 105 over to diesel engines and paid more for the trucking on my 105 than I gave for the machine.If it is a good shedded and maintained machine do not be afraid of it but I would not spend much on a wore out one. Post some pics. Tom

My brother and I worked for a neighbor the fall I got out of the Army (67) that had a 45 and a 55. Course we got to racing and slugged them
both about 20' apart on 12' oats windrows. Owner wasn't happy. Dad had a 77pto Case at that time so we thought we were pretty smart driving a
couple self propelled combines.

That isn?t as bad as my uncle tearing the unloading auger off on some trees on their brand new 95 in the first round. Thing is his father didn?t know my uncle had taken the combine out. He was so mad my uncle still doesn?t like to talk about to this day.

We had a neighbor who had a 45 round back without a cab. The thing I remember, in corn the clean grain elevator was small. He just creeped through the field, but he got the job done. I never heard him complain about it.

Lets just start out with some information. Bacicly 5 different models of the 45. the first a round back Hi model with a flat head engine, second version same machine exceppt an overhead engine. The No. 10 corn head was made for these machines. Then the Hi-Lo round back came and corn head was 210, then Squareback with flat belt drive and 165 CU engine and earlier heads were still the 210, then the later corn heads were the 234 and they would not fit on any of these machines without putting in axle extensions, some say turn wheels around but that makes the tread width too wide hitting the next rows. Then the last version with the V-belt drive and 180 CU engine and they had a wider wheel tread than earlier models so you did not have to use those axle extensions. Very unpopular head and one to stay away from. Then they brought out the 235 head that fit any of the machines from the earliest to latest without modifications. Then the 3 row head was a 313 for 30" rows and worked good on the machine with the 180CU engine but the smaller engine versions did not have enough power to operate. And in corn they say you can just remove the knives and leave the choper on but then you will tear out the bottom of the chopper (did that) after that took chopper off when corn head went on. The 234 corn head would take in corn the 210 would not. I had a 210 head first on a 62 model Hi-Lo, then on a 63 Model Hi-Lo, then on a 65 Model Square back with the 165 engine (round backs used a 145CU engine, same engine as in the 2010 tractor). When could not get the corn thru the 210 head got a 234 head to put on the 65 square back and found out it would not fit between the drive wheels. Had at that time gotten a 1969 model Square back with V-belt drive and 180CU engine so put it on there as it had the wider axle. Wish it had been the better 235 head. When went to 30" rows then got a 313 head and put it on that 69 model (last year for a 45 machine) and it handled it with no problem. The 63 model was the only machine with a cab when bought, added from parts yard to the rest. And the first one the 62 model had a 12' head, after 2 years was able to trade it off on a 10' head, combine handled it way better, 12' head should have never been sold in any place except headed grain areas as it was too much head for putting tall wheat through that might have been down. Have run loads of acres with them. When got the second one changed platform to corn head on second machine so could do corn when not fit to do beans and switch back to beans in later afternoon. When got 3rd machine just kept corn head on all the time. And the feeder was part of the head. Then later on they came out with a feeder head that you could keep on all the tome and use a platform or corn head from a 3300 machine on them. Those feeder housings were very scarce. I think a corn head for that was a 244 head but not sure. If there was a 234 corn head on then it had to have been a wide axle version or had the axle extensions on. And none of them had a hour meter on to be able to say how many hours a machine had on. Never saw an hour meeter on any. So did somebody find some kind of afterbarket unit? My 69 machine was one of the very last built and was sold new after the 3300-4400 was on the market. And supposedly they could be had with a diesel engine at the end but I have never seen one, Run 45's for over 20 years.

I don't think that I have seen a 45 with a diesel engine. Not many 95's with a diesel engines, also. I am surprised at the number of 4400 and 6600 gas combines that were around back in the day at least locally.

I had a chance to buy a 45 diesel in MN. Passed it on because we had just bought a 69? 55 diesel hydro and didn?t want to make another trip to MN. Around here the only diesels were the 105s and that was only about half of them. There were a fair amount of 7700 gassers. My great uncle had one with a hydro. My neighbor had a 1975 6600 gas. Had to have been the last one off the line because it has the rotating vacumm screen on the side. I know it?s factory because I have the manual for it and it shows the 359 gas engine option. I always thought when JD added the rotating screen and changed the airflow they dropped the gas engines.

I don?t know the exact year when JD started offering the diesel option but it was offered all the way up to 1967. JD dropped that option when they switched over to the newer engines that replaced the 2010 engines.

I've got a 69 model 45 with 1900 hours setting in my barn.I sold it two years ago and haven't heard from the guy since.

The 2010 engine was used in the Hi-Lo machines, round back, the early square back used same basic engine but with a different deck plate and pistons to make it a 165 cu in engine instead of the 145" used in the tractor and the round back machine. That same engine was used in the 1010 tractor and the 40 combine but with still a different deck plate and pistons for a 115 cu in engine. So the 115" or the 145" can be made into a 165" with just a change of deck plate and pistons, don't know if carb is same or not. I think the 165" engine was used in the 2510 tractor but do not know for sure.

But still a lot different with the 235 being newer and way better,

How do you know the hours? Mine was a very late 69 and DID NOT have an hour metor and looking for parts on dozens of machines in parts yards never seen an hour meter on any of them.

Have you figured out model it is? and the 45 is not a weaker model, just smaller for smaller farms. Few inches narrower cylinder than the 55. The 55 was considered too big for the farms around me.