Combines CheapIJ

[Deerebines]

Well gobble them up if you love them so much. The whole countryside is covered in them worse than "00" series maximizers. BTW....I've got a 750 and 860 I'll sell you to while were at it. I'd love to unload those jewels onto someone who thought they were the cat's meow.

 

[johnboy]

You do tend to go off half cocked don't youIJ It sounds like you had a bad experience well thats fair enough if it has a nut and bolt it can and probably will break.In the last 2 years I have worked or worked with the new models of Gleaner,Deere,Massey,New Holland as we are not wedded to one colour and bought a different rotary this time but not one of them is perfect.One reason we kept the last 850 so long is that the smaller farmers prefered it over a huge rotary turning up and overloading their grain handling systems.We can not bring second-hand machinary into Australia from the States because of your bunt problems,we would have loved to have bought a 8 row 40inch corn front as a new one here will cost from $75 to $100-000.The new rotary cost over $360-000 and we average $12 for wheat and $13 to $15 per acre to harvest every dollar counts that is why i said that if we were just doing our own crops i would spend $30 to $40-000 on an older combine,yes it might break down a little more but think of the difference in price.john

 

[Deerebines]

My Time in the field is far to valuable to be screwing around fixing those older machines every so many hours. When I hit that field to harvest that's exactly what I expect out of the machine. Not daily and constant breakdowns to keep me from getting in the crop and worrying my self silly about a hailstorm coming through and getting to utilize what little bit of crop insurance I do carry. The first year the 750 was brand new it was sent back to the factory because half the bolts were missing in it and an entire load of them had fallen out. That is what I mean by quality control.....not grain quality. By the time it hit 1800 hours I decided to take the injectors out and clean the tips and reset the pressures in school. The pressures were so out of whack it's no wonder the p.o.s. never had much power and smoked like a chimney stack. Afterwards it had plenty of power but still smoked and was still hard on fuel. The 860 is no different and it's the same engine putting out more horse. From day one both machines had to be worked on the field daily. Bearings were going out left and right. The power steering lines under the fuel tank on the left side were cracking out. Fuel tank almost fell off that 860 from the crazy vibration that mickey mouse perkins produces. In mud the variable speed belts will walk off those multi groove pulleys and trash themselves in a matter of time. The return is another extra set of bars to keep in shape and watch belts on instead of returning it back to the original cylinder like deere. Plug that jewel on the massey and it's a mess to clean out. We had to install a different hyrdo cooler on the right side of the machine because it got so hot. Part for part the mf name is higher than deere. I'm getting irritated just listing this much crud. Yes, I may seem to go off half cocked but I tend to get pi$$ed off when people insinuate I'm a liar. I know these 50 and 60 series masseys like the back of my hand and to tell me they are easy to work on and run a long time between breakdowns tells me that people either let thier mechanics work on them while they are drinking a cool soda or they only put 25 hours a year on them. What about that crazy a.c. compressor that you have to be half monkey to get to to put lines onIJ Or.....the fuel pump manual pump on the back side of the engine where it's hard as heck to get into and then workIJ Oil filters that drain right onto the floor of the engine compartment unless you cut out an antifreeze jug and put it under them and even then it's messy. A combine that didn't even come out with a factory reverserIJIJ How damm stupid is that.....very!! A murphy switch that half the time won't work and you end up bypassing it with a hot wire just to finish out the day. Yep....I can list just as many things I did like about the machine. Small cab less cooling area. The header raise and lower switch in the hydro lever. True, they were a machine ahead of their times in some areas but for the most part if your out of that cab working on it you cannot enjoy the creature comforts they offered. That MF was very proper going on the back of that combine. Only in this farms eyes it stood for Mother F****r!

 

[Massey_Man]

I don't let anybody else work on mine and when I traded them for a couple of Massey rotories they ran and looked brand new.My 865s had about 3500 hours on them when I got rid of them and they very seldom broke down in the field,in these parts they are known for there excellent reliability.And as far as a vibrating Perkins engine,not a chance,you have something else out of balance.

 

[Rockpicker]

Every farmer I have talked to who says the Massey 750_760_850_860 are the best combines ever only because they have driven them since their combine was new, is used to working on them, and just haven't moved up to something like a JD 8820 or CH 1660 that doesn't break down as much.

 

[johnboy]

deerebines, for a start who said you were a liar and secondly we can not afford breakdowns in the field either. It sounds like you have the 354 perkins if it was the same as the 750 and yes shifting the oil cooler to the right did help although massey at the end placed it behind the air-cond. core. As to the vibration some of the 800 series had out of balance pulleys on the output shaft of the motor and if this was the case your combine could really shake.Where we live the soil is a heavy black type and when it does get wet the combines can leave a track over a foot deep but the mud shields seemed to keep most of the mud out of the belts the biggest problem there for us seemed to sorghum or sunflower stalks knocking the cleaning fan shields off or marking the drive belts.Yes that repeat drum wasn't the best but as i said before there is no perfect machine.Anyway it's not worth getting into a dispute over,besides life would be boring if everyone did everthing the same.john

 

[Deerebines]

If these combines you traded were so wonderful in shape and runability why did you tradeIJ Don't even tell me the tin was wearing out. That can be rebuilt as well as replacing a bearing. I know of a big farmer in this area that had over 9000 hours on a white rotary before he tree rowed it. And as for the perkins.....that at6-3544 does vibrate and I will argue with anyone on that matter. I don't buy the pulley story as listed above.

 

[hv_user]

I think its great that you like Deere combines. But if all you do here is have negative comments about Masseys I think that gets old. You don't see me on the Deere site telling about all the things that came apart on my Deere.All combines have there good and bad.I like hearing from guys on how they fixed this or how they farm in other parts of the country .The reason I am here is I have been around Masseys for 35+ years and combines have always been of interest. I started out as a mechanic be for I started farming full time, and have always done my own work. In 1975 I went to work for A Caterpillar,Massey dealer the shop rate was 12.00 per hour , my times have changed.

 

[john]

we owned massey all along 860 v-8 hydros would run them up to 3000 hrs never opened an engine then trade em in case brought out there 1680s thinking they would leave us standing still wrong they had a little more capacity until the sun went down.We ended up buying a 8460 mf (claas) good machine reliable and good capacity did little better than a 1680

 

[Massey_Man]

I traded because I wanted to try a rotory,I grow a lot barley for malt and a rotory seemed like the combine to have.