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| I am getting ready to purchase my first combine and have been looking at an R-50 or R-60 Gleaner. Does anyone know what to look for in these rigs or what avoid in them. I have also heard they are good with hills, that is what I farm, is this true? I will be farming around 780 acres what rig will do best for the amount of money. I will be running a 6 row corn head and 20 or 25 foot bean head. Thanks |
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North Central Kansas | There is a break in the R50's and 60's where they made some major improvements on them. 89-90 maybe. Not sure about year. I used to run L2's. One neighbor has an R52 and the other one has a R62. Seems like the R62 has less problems. Mainshaft has been out of the R52 twice. My theory on combines is to get the biggest you can afford. If the R60 is close to the R50 I would go bigger. My harvest window is pretty narrow so I want to get it done. What engine does it have? Looks like there are alot of R60's on Tractorhouse in the $15-30,000 range. 62's look to be in the $35-100,000 range. Do you have a good dealer? You will need that with any combine. Has your dealer sold alot of R series combines. Some dealers don't sell many combines and don't like to mess with them. |
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Nance County, Ne | I would strongly advise you to disregard the R-60 option. We owned one here for 5 yrs (1991 model)and that machine was the biggest pile of s#$t we have ever owned. My uncle had one also and would agree with our hate towards that machine. Another uncle has had an R-50 (still has it) for 10yrs and loves the machine. It however is different than the 60. There was just to many moving parts on the 60's that went wrong and could go wrong. We always had it taken in for yearly work and still would cost us as much in repairs than the payment itself for the combine. The local Agco dealer has I believe 1 R-60 left in the country and they are trying to get the person into an 62. Mechanic said when it happens it would be alot better knowing there isn't anymore of them left to service.
We leased Green 9510 one year and it almost made us switch from silver to green. Ended up trading it in for a R-62 and we thought we were in heaven with it. Now have an R-65 and it's comparable to the 62 except for some cab improvements along with some others. |
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Kansas | I would go with the R60, more capacity and hp. R50 will handle 6 row corn header but don't think it would be too good with a 25' flex, even though most of them have 24' rigid heads I always thought that was pushing it on them. A 20' flex would be fine. |
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Cambridge, southwestern Nebraska | Stay away from the R-60. It will have more capacity than the R50 but has a LOT more belts, pulleys, and other parts. Just was a complicated design.
Beginning with the R50 they cleaned it up and simplified the machine. The R50 was the fore runner to the R42, 52, 62, 72 series. The basic design has not changed appreciably up through todays machines. For the acres your talking the R50 would do fine. It will easily handle a 6 row head. A 25' head in green beans might be a stretch.
There were some changes that made the 1989 1/2 machines better than before. I don't know what they were.
The design of the machine with the accelerator rolls does make it a decent hill machine. The narrower shoe goes against that a little. The rolls need to be in good shape to work properly.
The Duetz engine was good if it has been maintained and cared for.
Overall, a decent machine with good capacity. |
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| Sir
We have a 2004 R55 with approx 550 seperator hours for sale if you are interested. Includes 6 Row 30 Hugger and 16' 8000 series flex head.
You can email me at [email protected] or call @ 256-574-9851 for more info |
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Valparaiso, NE | I have a 95 model r62. Good power, simple design. I have the higher output turbo deutz engine. Overall a good machine. I was in the same position as you this year and decided to go with the 62 over the 60. If you want to discuss further, email me and i'll give you my phone number. I run an 8 row 30 corn and 25' flex. They only time in the hills i have problems throwing over is on the slopes of terraces or tying to go to fast in high yield corn. |
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St.Clair Co. IL. | I now have a "98 R-52 with the cummins engine, I like it but the bottle neck is the throat between the front and rear feeder chains, I understand now they have a modification to fix this sounds like it really helps hope to have it in mine by next harvest, prior to this one we had a R-52 with the deutz engine I my self did not really like it, too many hot spots for fires, had three small fires on that one, none on this one plus I'm just not a duetz fan,if you are set on a 50 or 60 be sure it's newer than '981/2 thats where they made the header hyd. drive change over, go to combinetalkshow.com for more info. good luck Bob |
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SCPA | I have an R50 and I will assure you that there is no way in any kinds of bean yields you are going to push a 25 foot flex head. 6-30" corn head, not a problem.
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Seneca Kansas 66538 | Im my opinion the big stink with the 60-70 series R combines was that they lengthen the discharge shoot from the previous N series and in green soybeans or green wheat you could have issues with the material hanging in that discharge shoot too long and getting kind of plugged back there. To solve the issue they installed a rattle back there to keep material flowing and worked well but as other said it added to the moving parts therefore more things to possibly give fits. They also had a dual spinner straw storm straw spreader which did a good job but at the same time, lots more moving parts back there also. Not that is a bad combine but if this is your first Gleaner, I would tell you to step up to the 62 series. We had a 70 series without the discharge rattle and only had a plugging problem in green soybeans once, but like I said before if is your first Gleaner I would move on to a newer model because those issues will more likely show up for someone who isnt familiar with the machine. |
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| I have had an R50, R52 and a R62. Spend the extra and get a painted R52 or R62. The larger shoe and adjustable threshing cage helps greatly on hills. Also make sure it has lateral tilt. Personally, I would not try a 25' head on a 52 if you have substantial hills. |
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just a tish NE of central ND | RWIowa - 11/18/2008 08:24
I have had an R50, R52 and a R62. Spend the extra and get a painted R52 or R62. (Quote)
SOHK asks: Whats a painted Gleaner????????? Arent they all galvanized with no paint ? Right?? = silver seeder?Matched duct tape well my neighbor says.
Edited by School Of Hard Knock 11/18/2008 09:24
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Carbondale, KS | I typed this on another forum. Didn't want to retype it all so just copied and pasted it here.
I'll start w/the engine. I would want to know the history of that machine as far as how well it was kept and maintained!!! We absolutely loved the deutz engine UNTIL (always a but) that thing developed a head leak. WHAT A FRICKIN NIGHTMARE! Look for any, i mean any, oil or buildup around the jugs. If you see any then don't buy it...if you are tempted to overlook the problem, kill the urge by hitting yourself in the head w/a hammer until the temptation subsides. 2300+ hours should have had a fan replaced imo - pop the side engine panel off and look - fan is on the right side of the motor. Sharp flemsy egdes means it hasn't been and should've been about 600 hrs earlier. Ask if the valves have been adjusted - they run tight and probably need to be ck'd every once in a while. Also, take a flashlight and look thru the coolers, air to air cooler is closest to the rotor access door - hydraulic oil is the one looking at you when you are looking at the engine and the engine oil is the lower left (shooting down to the floor) of the hydraulic cooler. If they are dirty, then it is another sign of lack of care and the machine should be avoided. If tempted, see control method above. On the 'back' side of the motor (intake/exhaust side) look in and around the panel covering the jugs, again looking for dirt and oil. A small pocket flashlight is handy for this part. After all this negativity I will say if it has been taken well care of or if the engine heads have been reworked i wouldn't be afraid of it. It has plenty of horsepower for the machine i think and is very fuel efficient. We avg less than a gallon per acre.
A 20' head will be no problem for that combine - a 25' or 30' would be a better fit. We ran a 6 row corn head but really an 8 would be no problem either. W/a 6 row head we could run 4.5mph in 200+ bu corn w/no problem. 4 mph is all we could run w/our flex head as we would overrun the crop - could fudge that more in wheat than beans.
The cab is ok, probably the 'worst' at the time but it is ok.
Ck the grain bin floor - it likes to wear just inside the swivel - swivel brkt likes to rust out at the cleanout hole. It does unload nice but really needs to be a touch higher. Ours would unload like 2.3 or so bu per sec. (timed) Ck both feeder house chains.
When the engine access door open you can look at the accellarator rolls - you should look down and not see the grain pan - if you have to replace them it isn't a bad job if you shop vac the trough out good and lay a piece of plywood on the seive - don't do it after milo harvest - lol. Helical channels that wrap around the inside of the cage should be taller than 1/2". Oh, one other thing is the cleaning fan shaft on the drivers side. If that is a threaded sprocket on there and you pick corn you will break that sprocket at some point. We took our fan out, after it broke, took a piece of 1.5" stress proof - turned the end down to 1.25 and bore the sprocket out to 1.25" plus milled a key way in the shaft. Small fix of a horrible oversight. Look at the sieves - they have a tendency to start coming apart around this time frame. In the grain bin there is 2 u-joints at the base of the auger - might ck to see if they ever saw grease in their life.
These are just some rambled thoughts. They are an easy combine to work on if something does go wrong not counting the motor. We really like ours until the engine issue. It still work fine after having the motor redone but left an awfully bad taste in my mouth.
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southern MN | Last number of years they say they can't get even colored galvinised, so they have been painting the galvinised combines a silver-grey.
--->Paul |
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| a hammer has many uses ha ha |
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Cambridge, southwestern Nebraska | The R50 has the in-line Duetz. 70's had the V-8 |
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Cambridge, southwestern Nebraska | They've been painted since 1998. A few before that. |
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Ludington/Manistee MI area | We have a 92 R52 I love the machine ours handles a 520 head great. One thing when you first start it or throttle it up if it makes a poping sound run away far away from it. We have done 4 firing rings on ours since 03 when we bought it and that by far is our biggest gripe. About a grand each to repair their is a place in Wayland MI( West Michigan Deisel ) that can you parts for alot less than Agco. Not all of the Gleaners have a tailings return to the rotor some just a return to the acc. rolls. The 500 series heads are better than the 300 heads. I've been told if our over 5'9" go with a 2 series or you'll have a sore head. If we had to do it over again we'd get another but with a cummins instead. I learned to go with the bigger unit as a rule. |
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| The issue with headspace in pre-Series II machines has to do with the door. for some reason, the cab is set lower on those machines compared to the conventionals - and you had to step down into the cab, or step up to the ladder platform when leaving the cab. You have to duck your head when entering or exiting. Once in the cab, there is plenty of headroom.
I also agree with the other's advice - the Series II machines are better. AGCO has spent the $$ in R & D that Allis and Deutz didn't and it shows. Good, reliable machines. |
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| With regards to a dealership there one that is with in 30 miles. The reason I was looking for a Gleaner that age is because this is second year farming and haveing to purchase other equipment I am trying to run a pretty tight buget. I also have been looking at Case 1660'S. I normally run mostly Deere equuipment but a 9500 Deere is out of my price range. Any other advice is much appricated. |
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| your post reminds me of the "silver seeder" not too far from here that had -- in great big vinyl letters on the back of the machine for all the world to see, "NEVER AGAIN" |
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| watch the hours. We have 1800 hours on our 99 R62 combine. Had nothing but trouble this year. Rear conveyor floor wore threw, return chain shot, rear axel broke,fuel problems, front feeder bearing out, header auger shaft broke, Front drive shaft splines shot on feeder house and needs new chains and sprockets. Head casket. Most repairs start at $500. but are closer to $1000. We do have a turret auger and this is a high priced peace of S**T. We have replaced the elbow inside the auger 4 times now $1000. each time. Would never get another combine with it. So if you are looking at an older combine you better look it over good. Paying more for a newer combine will save some head aches later on.
PS. If anyone knows how to keep the turret auger from breaking the elbow and gears inside I sure could use some advice. [email protected] |
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Seneca Kansas 66538 | Nehunter, most of those your looking at are general maintainance issues. Do you have a good dealer or someone who can do combine inspections and at least give you advice on what needs to be fixed in the off season? If not I would advise you to go to this website and do some questioning there to help you. The auger I have no idea about. I have a buddy that just replaced his on an CaseIH 2388 and he was moaning also but the price was higher than yours. Get it fixed right, go to the website and ask questions.
http://www.harvesting.com/combine/gleaner/index.htm
Edited by Silver Shoes 11/19/2008 06:54
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Cambridge, southwestern Nebraska | I just went through what you did. At about 2,000 hrs. (for me), I needed the floors, grain and return elevator chains. Conveyor chains...every thousand hours, A few other items. Cost quite a bit but since then I have ran 300 hrs virtually breakdown free.
I still think Gleaners are the least expensive to keep going in the long run. |
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Gleaner Combines
