Combines 1688 Tell me all about it

You are correct in that the guts of both the 1688 and 2188 are the same, no difference in performance in that aspect. With the 21 you get the nicer cab, a few different cosmetic differences, and will be spending a bit more money from what I have seen. I would expect a combine that only runs in wheat to be able to ran quite a few more hours than our corn and soybean machines simply because its not that tough on them. At 2100 hours I'd check all the typical wear points on the machine and make sure they have been replaced as needed. If you plan to bale straw behind it, it will not be as good as a conventional Deere if the CIH has the standard rotor. A friend of mine has the specialty rotor and says he can bale just fine behind it, something to keep in mind, although I've heard that the standard rotor will give better results in small grains than a specialty will. Price I would guess at in the 60s somewhere, but I haven't looked at pricing on the 1666s or 1688s lately, more at the 2300s as we are looking for a 2366. Seriously give the Axial Flow a consideration in your search for a combine. I think it is a good design, and being out for over 25 years it has proven itself. Hearing from us on these forums will give you an idea of what to expect, but nothing beats trying one for yourself and making your own opinion.

Got a 1688 with a specialty rotor in it not quite a year ago. Still doing the first harvest with it. Have a 25 ft. platform. Haven't really been able to test it much yet. The wheat was really dry and I still didn't know what I was diong. Through all the messing around and the fact there was only about 20 acres of wheat anyway, I was done before I figured out what was going on. Then this fall, the beans laid down really bad so I have had to go slow to try to rake them up a little to pull them in. Haven't done any corn yet. Really easy to set it to get a good enough sample. Haven't got a really good sample yet, but haven't really tried too hard. I love the 8.3 engine in that thing. Really snappy and sounds good too. Mine has 900 hrs now. I found the bearing was out on the rock trap beater when I got it home. Would have been a real pain to replace if done correctly, I guess, but I kinda cheated and got a new one in there without dropping the drum. When I was looking, I saw one at an auction one time that had the entire rotor cage broke loose, I imagine that was not a good deal. Rocks can cause problems that way I guess. If you get the 1688, let us know what you think of it compared to the 9600. You are pretty much correct on the main difference between 1688 and 2188 being cab and cosmetics. The 2188 allows the concave clearance to be adjusted from the cab, the 1688 makes you get out and use a ratcheting handle. In general, the 1688 seems to be considerably cheaper. A much better deal in my book. As for things to look for, I would just say normal wear areas, belts, chains, augers, feeder chain, impeller blades, rotor bars, concave. That's pretty much all there is. As for the price, I would think you should get it for between 40000 and 50000 with 2100 hrs on it. One month, I saw a 2188 with ~2000 hrs and 4x4 advertised for 55000 in fastline. Wish I could tell you something valuable, but I really don't know what else to say. Just look one over and go with your gut feel.

After running three 1688 in 98 and overhauling them after that with 2500-3500 hours on, I'd say they don't give any more trouble then the green ones. The most important part to look at is the shoe arms. The main arms have a bearing on each side of the machine what likes to break out of its frame. CASE finally improved that for the 2388 in 2000. You can't grease those too much. Also check those rubber bushings on them arms. If anything doesn't look perfect around the shoe system, fix it. Otherwise the machine will destroy itself. Check the clean grain augers for wear and the vertical unloader. If you're able to hardsurface stuff yourself, they will last a long time. Check the feed chain, they have a hard life in them axial flows. Cylinder bars and concaves can be easily worked on without pulling the rotor. However, a rotor can be pulled fairly well with the help of a loader bucket. If any hydraulics don't seem to work, its usually the switch in the cab. Those collars what hold the drive shafts to the wheels together like to wear off the splines. Just have a spare collar on hand. It's an easy fix. Overall I think, the 1688 is a fairly reliable machine with lots of power and easy to fix.