Combines K2 Rear wheel assistIJ

the only gear drive RWA I have ever seen was on a 4420 Deere, not a pretty site nor was it effective. Way back in '72 the best results were from taking a 24" rim and slipping it inside the 26" and using all thread to bolt it solid to the drive tires. Then a series of paddles about 6" tall were welded to the smaller rim. When the unit sank the paddle wheels kept it moving until the belt slipped, an axel twisted or the clutch gave way. About 200 hours got the input shaft this way. The later K2 diesels we sold were equipped with 23.1-26 rice tires. They would almost float. Almost every one rolled the front axel out from the frame. We had to put the tiebar kit off the 4 row kit for the corn head on and beef'd up the frame to keep them going as the diesel engine was more than the tranny could stand.

Sometime back someone posted a link to a K2 with rear wheel assist I believe. I think it was a manual transmission....looked unusual. Sorry to hear about all that mud trying to do plots...that has to be a major pain. I assume corn is going down pretty bad now too. How much rain did you get to make a K2 sink so badIJIJ

We have one field that is very springy and heavy ground, last year it was all into corn, we got lots of rain and my K2 with rice tires (18.4-26's) sunk out of sight real fast. Waited till it froze then I was golden. I saw that K2 pic with rear assist and it looked pretty tough, still don't know how they rigged it to work with the manual gear trans.

Back in the late 70's or early 80's we had a series of muddy harvests. Some guys took the front ends of old army 6x6's and made them into RWA for the old gear drive combines. They ran a drive shaft off where the parking brake shaft comes out of the transmission over to a 45 degree gear box off an old AC baler and then another shaft back to the back axel. I don't remember all the engenering that went into this conversion but they didn't look to pretty but they did work.

This is the K2 that Worthington hasIJ Rumor says it was a university research machine that had been customized with various electronics, a hydrostatic transmission and the mud hog rear axle. Why it ended up at salvage, I don't know. Maybe the modifications made it too much of an orphanIJ

I know of a few F's and F2's with this setup with the military axle one is still sitting outside since the farmer quit i approached him about it and he had a very high price on it it looks kinda strange how they made it work but it would always run unless you pulled the shaft off on one end email me of interested

The test plot machine at Worthingtons' is a "K" and it is two wheel drive. I saw that one at St. John's MI yard, pretty nice, a shame to junk it out, it was loaded with mod's for testing purposes. Worthington's had a K2 somewhere else that had the rear wheel assist, I just can't remember which yard it was.

ewbeye I farm just north of DuQuoin so I know how the mud is. Still have 500 acres to go myself. I had a neighbor across the road that had a F2 gear drive with 4wd. A old front truck axle with a drive shaft along the side to the final drive to power it. Had to put a gear box on it. It would not turn to short. It did work. I have a landlord that has a real nice F2 hydro with mud hog 4wd that has been sitting in a shed for almost 10 years now. I ask him why don't you sell itIJ He says nobody would want it. I don't know how many things is rusted on it now. It didn't have many hours on it. Ilnewholland

Ilnewholland drop me a note in my email with the condition of your landlords combine and if he is interested in selling it with the headsa cause I am looking at purchasing a second F2 or F3 and would like another with RWA so they will be setup the same for hired help running them my email is dairyfarmer1997@yahoo.com thanks in advance I am up around Germantown Il so I am not to far from you either and I am finished went three nights straight on thru but I am finished Thanks in advance dairyfarmer

Around here (western NY) there were quite a few JD 4400 gear drive and severl Gleaner F and K seires combines with Greeson, I think thats the spelling, RWA units on them. It shouldn't be to hard to find info on one. They had a pump and a flow controle that changed the speed and direction of the rear wheels to match the front ones. They weren't as good as a hydro but they worked better than nothing. Hope this helps