Combines Gleaner

Isn't the 635 the one that was too wide to put on a truck, so they put a 40 MPH reverse gear on it and added an operator station on the separator hood facing rearwards, the idea being that it could be driven on the custom run instead of hauledIJ

That was the plan, but it never reached the prototype stage. Back in the days the G was introduced, combines for the custom harvest were still hauled on the grain trucks. Trailers proved to be more practical. The original 635 prototype kept getting major modifications trying to improve cost and reliability, but only the one proto was built and the high speed reverse with second op station was never built.

The Gleaner K was produced from 1969-1976. Auction price of most gleaner K combines in my South Central Illinois area bring $600 - $1300 with a platform head (10', 12', or 13' wide pitman arm drives). Dealer will usually ask from $2000 - $3500 with platform head and maybe an orange corn head. The K usually ran a 2 row 38inch cornhead, or a 3row 30inch. These original cornheads were "orange cornheads" (they were painted orange). They were ok for their time, but they don't bring much at auctions ($10-25). The black cornheads (painted black) were made in 1977 - and up. A 330 (3row-30")black cornhead will bring $600-$2500, depending on wear. And yes, all heads are quick attach.

Two years ago we bought a 1973 Gleaner K corn_soybean special for $2,200.00. Ours has the 13 ft. header on it. They are fairly reliable machines that will run all day if taken care of. Ours does ok with the 13 ft. header in soybeans and oats, however,a smaller header would work better in crops like grain sorghum, which we back down to 4 rows. They aren't bad machines, just don't push them, because they will slug easily. We also have a JD 55 and I think the 55 may be a little bigger. Our K has a spreader which does a decent job, but I would prefer to have a chopper on ours. like the other post said, the rear axle is a weakness, as ours has been welded up. Have no experience with the corn heads, but the previous owner of our machine ran the 3 row head and said he had no problems. The previous owner also rigged our machine up with an added on A_C from a ford truck which keeps us comfortable(pretty slick idea). The thing I like about our machine is the fact that it takes up very little space in our barn and it is easy to work on. Good luck.

This year,yes. Most years no.

The CII could handle up to a 24' in wheat. Why can't the enlarged CII, G series handle a 20'IJ My CII handled a 15' flex in 50bpa soybeans without a sweat. My F was happier with a 13' and the M2 wasn't even close to capacity with the 16'. Just a thought!

John, I know that the 'G' was offered with up to a 23' rigid head (odd size!). I've never seen that size, as most used a 20' in small grains, but I've got some old ads (1968) that said that the 23' was offered. I don't think I've ever seen a CII with anything over 20', but there may have been a 22' offering. I would think a 'G' wouldn't handle 20' in soybeans very well, although I used a 20' on an 'M' for many years. The smaller heads worked much better in beans, though. Got a little ground speed that way. Gleanerpilot

Right from the CII manual, header widths, 12,13,14,16,18,20,24. 13 to 16 seemed the most common for the floating bar heads here.

COOl!!! I've just gotta get one! Thanks for the post.

It's true, the R series is not dead...yet. Agco has "Masseyized" the tractor line and will, in my opinion, at some point in time do the same with the combines. From a business standpoint it makes perfect sense. Why spend money doing RandD on two lines of combines when You can do as they have done with the tractors and just change the paint.