Combines gleaner guys tell me about the N7

[larry]

Rotorman I have wondered about the same thing. When I bought my 1480 at the time I could have bought a newer N series with alot less hrs. for alot less money. But the info I had found was to stay away from the ealry N's. Also I need straw and wasn't sure if the old N's can make it good enough.

 

[Dan]

Rotor Man, If you are a do it yourselfer 1 to 2k will go a long way on moding cage and rotor for high threw put. You will need a experienced trained eye or a good look for yourself on what ever else it may need from feed chains to cylinder bars to shoe bushings. Get a list together and have your dealer price it out with original and or jobber parts. Most everything on a Gleaner combine is straight forward and a do it yourselfer can handle just fine with a little guideance. A 15 or 20 year old Gleaner is like any other machine it could take $20 to $20K to get her in tip top shape. Best of luck in whatever you do. Dan

 

[Art]

I bought a 1983 this year with 2800hrs on the engine. Put about $4000 in it before harvest and had to replace the hydro part way through harvest. We went to a Sundstrand(the Dennison likes to lock up solid when it goes) so that added about 8500 to the bill. Paid 38K for the machine. Chrome was good (we need it here in E. Wash) and the machine ran well. As for leaving straw, I have a chopper and in easy threshing wheat with the blades out, you have long straw just like my J.D. did. If you have to speed up to a 1000, it breaks up more. FWIW

 

[Kelly]

I have a 85 N7. It has over 3000 hours on separator. If you have a wire welder

 

[Greg]

I am not a Gleaner expert, but we did buy an N7 2 years ago. We like it. We have not modified it yet, that is our winter project. Right now, 10 acres per hour in 50 bushel wheat is the best it will do. Although my brother the operator will never be accused of running any piece of machinery too hard. Our research befor buying included talking with John Keller. He was very helpful. He suggested the N7 over the N6 because he said the N7 had one of the best engines Allis ever made, taken from a crawler or something. The early Ns had some problems. There were some 104 upgrades. The Series 3 (end of '82 and starting '83) had most of the bugs worked out. Just shop around. For about the same price range we found combines that were patched together and seting out in the weather to the one we bought that was shedded and taken care of. Hope my little bit of experiance helps. Greg