Combines How are prototypes builtIJ

I heard that when Allis Chalmers was playing with the idea of a rotary combine that the prototype of the first N series had two engines on it. It would be fun to go back and see the scrap yard with all those ideas that did not work.

I worked for Gleaner for 22 years - through 1989. Until 1987 Gleaner had a great RandD fab shop including from about 1980 a state of the art laser NC (numerically controlled) punch press. Things like a cage -- hole sizes could be changed to any configuration we wanted by programming the laser. Some items were too much for the RandD shop -- like where it took one of the big hydraulic presses to form a part, or rolls for rolling circular parts. In those cases we did what we could in RandD, then did the operation needed in the production shop. Sometimes we engineers designed something outside the boundaries so they had to go to an outside vendor with specialized tools, but there wasn't much RandD couldn't do. Castings and forgings of course were outside the limits. We bought them from foundaries and forges and machined them in the RandD shop. Things changed big time in 1986 - 1987 when people started copying Japanese styles. One is to build prototypes on production tools to insure what we design can be built on a production basis. That was a problem when the N6 was developed -- parts that could be built in RandD turned out to be very difficult to build in production so quality suffered. I now work at a Caterpillar plant. It is about the way things were when I ended at Gleaner - try to get prototype parts on production tools to make sure things can be built on a production basis.

Remember that back then (1968 for that first machine) 100 HP was big. The first unit had a down front rotor, blacksmithed on a C2 frame. Unfortunately the only pic I have is a slide taken when the lighting was poor. The rotor overloaded the cleaning shoe so bad we had to develop a high capacity cleaning system so accelerator rolls and high velocity air followed. So, if my memory serves me, 10 years from that blacksmithed proto to the pilots, but you couldn't recognize any similarity between the concept machine and first production.

Very interesting! Thanks much for the info. Could you possibly explain how that C2_rotary was set upIJ Where was the rotor at and how wide_long was itIJ Did that proto still use the raddle chains, etc like the conventionalsIJ It seems I was also told by a custom cutter who tested prototypes that he ran an l or l2 for awhile that had a rotor mounted up in the grain tank somehow. If I remember right, he said it couldn't hardly be told from a regular l_l2 from the outside so it didn't draw much for crowds when cutting with it or transporting it. Do you remember any such beastIJ Does anyone know if larry James is still working with GleanerIJ Thanks! Tom langan

yup, had lunch with him last week. Hasn't changed in ten years.

Good to hear he is still with the company. I had the pleasure of sitting at a table with him during lunch when we toured the plant - ate at the KC Chiefs stadium. Sure would be fun to do a Vulcan "Mind Meld" with a guy like that!

if we could just cure the "if it aint my idea it won't work" gene all the engineers would take a step up the evolutionary ladder....