Back in the day, this is how....

...I unloaded a six row corn head from a car hauler trailer. Only way I had of getting it home and it was seriously wedged on that trailer. This is not at the farm. The combine was there to be worked on as I had just bought it. To the left of that picture is about 30' to the lot line and to the right is a row of trees. I could get the combine behind the head, but the trailer conflicted with the feeder house. So this was my brilliant solution! Right after this I picked that up off there with the combine. First time I ever did it and lucky nothing (no one) got broken. I drove that combine 60 miles from the auction to that house, did some work on it then drove it with the corn head another 20 miles to the farm. I sure learned a lot about driving a hydro combine with no brakes that week! Those down grades were tons of fun!

Wow neat idea to load it! Sounds like a scary drive

So combined you are talking about four hours of driving😹? +Did you have flashy lights and SMV stuff or did you just wing it. Here in my area the field hands have the blinkers on but instead of being a little polite in trafic they just drive smack in the middle of a lane on a four lane 55mph hi way. It is usually a little narrow JD tractor with an orchard dusting blower rig. Don't know how some of them haven't gotten run over. Not even a follow me pickup truck.

The only major road I drove on was M-52 and it has wide shoulders and that is where I stayed...LOL. Coming up 52 at the I-96 overpass I would have sworn there was not enough clearance but there was. Stopped at the McDonald's there and had some lunch. Left the combine outside running. No one really gave it a second look. There is a huge elevator next door. Interesting experience, not interesting enough that I care to repeat it.

I think I have blacked out on a lot of the details. I just remember that going down hill was scary if you did not anticipate. IIRC, pulling back on the hydro caused a bobbing action in the front end that interfered with steering at the rear end so after the first hill I did not care WHO was behind me...they could wait while I crept down the hill. It gets even better when you have a header on the front!

My first hydro combine was 105 miles from home when I bought it. Gleaner F3.

Thought it over, and landed the bean head on a trailer, put the corn head on the combine. Was fun learning how a hydro works at 18-20mph on pavement, but after the first 20 miles or so got the hang of it. I know they get real light if you need to slow down fast, but can at least plan for that.

Got the Gleaner L3 hydro from 70 miles away, trailered the bean head and there was no corn head. I knew I was in for a rough day, a combine without a head is miserable to road. They get real bouncy and twitchy. Hard to control. The extra width of the L series put the right wheels right on the pavement/gravel seam and the roads I was on were not well shouldered. After 2 miles I pulled in a driveway and looked over the map again. Found 90% gravel roads to drive home on, it was terrible on paved road! Yikes! Didn't help that the 'clear day forecast' started out with a fog that turned into a mist for the first hour. Wipers didn't work.

It's always an adventure.

I'm not exactly sure how you hooked that head in the air onto the combine, you would have had to drop the combine side of the head down a few feet to make the angles work? That can get scary unless you got most of it jacked back down fairly low little by little.

On my F3 I got a head on a car trailer by digging the one side of wheels down low, axle about on the dirt on that side, and then blocking the head so it came off. That worked pretty good.

Paul

Paul

So to the left of that picture the ground rises about two feet gradually. When I came at it with the combine I was actually driving downhill. So I kinda scooped it up. Took me a couple tries and it was amazing how stable it was on those blocks and bits of wood. These days I have three heads...corn, bean, pickup. I have a header cart and a header trailer. If I have to go down the road I will take the trailer any day. Winter I put one header on each and keep the smallest on the combine. First time I tried to take a head off a cart was a trial, but now I drive up and scoop them off like I been doing it all my life...and it's no secret here that's not true! LOL

One thing I never do with an older hydro is leave it set and idle unattended. I know millions of people do it, but I have this odd fear of it slipping into gear and taking off while I'm not directly near it. Probably wouldn't happen, but I don't want to find out lol

Hey you got a dollar any size drink with your lunch. That is such a joke. Even at one dollar they still make plenty of profit. To calibrate a soda dispenser there is a little measure cup that locks onto each flavor you are checking. A certain size cup is soda water and that little measure will hold the syrup. It takes very little syrup cause the stuff is a concentrated product. The bags/boxes are normal size of 2 1/2 gallons at around $ 80.oo per bag. Now for you soda it might be two thimbles full of syrup more or less. How much prophet is 5hat? Just like popcorn at the movies. Almost total pure prophet. Was fun to imagine your trip in my mind. Can hear that engine running down the road.

Do you mean like this one? Bet this combine never ran right ever again.
John Deere upside

I guess I never noticed the down hill with hydro's. Never had much of a run ahead with our 7720 road it all the time with things spread out over 10 miles from one end to the other. I notice more of it when cutting in wheat or beans if the hill is steep. I think they all suck to road when you have to run one side on the paved gravel seem. Try one with the tierod end worn out so it has some slop. Lot more fun as the wheel dives back and forth on the road. Reminds me got that to fix this winter.