Combines looking for info on John Deere 800 swather

Have had a lot of experience with the 800's. Mechanically they are very dependable. Breakdowns are nearly non-exsistant. This however is a good thing as they are a pig to work on, but so is every other brand of self propelled swather of that age. Don't know if you want to use it for hay or grain but I am here to tell ya, they lay the most miserable swath I have ever seen.In grain they lay a swath that can not take any rain what so ever, and it sounds like it's going to tear the combine in half when it goes through. I bleed green so I hate to say this about anything Deere, but it's the way it is. As far as laying a nice swath.......get a Versatile 400 if you can't buy a newer swather than you are talking about Anyone agreeIJIJIJ

Forgot to mention.......you asked about parts. Shoudn't be a problem yet I don't think.

You pretty much nailed it about the old 800. They were very heavy machines,well built but would sink in soft ground and rough ground was hard on front axle shafts_bearings. Keeping the front wheel chain drive in shape was a problem. another troublesone and expensive to repair part was the gear boxes on the draper roller drive. The rest was dead reliable. The slant 6 Chrysler 225 engine on the Deere was better than the 200 Ford on the 400 Versatile My cousin used an 800 up to 5 years ago,and some parts were getting hard to find. Agree that for the money,the 400 versatile was one of the best hay or grain cutting machines of it's day.

Yep! The Chrysler motor is a reliable old beast. As mentioned before many parts are still available from mother Deere. If a bearing fails, you will usually be turning a large number of bolts out to reach your problem bearing. Otherwise, the old 800 will get the job done, slowly but surely.

I agree that they are a pig to work on if you do buy one make sure you check it over well before you intend to use it.It seems almost any thing I had to fix took atleast a day to get it done.But they do work well and are very dependable when well maintained. GOOD lUCK.

Thanks for the information. About the canvass, how long will they lastIJ I saw a JD 800 operating last year and noticed that the canvass was slipping downward and the farmer wasn't having much luck keeping it up. Is this a maintenance or design problemIJ

Draper canvas life depends a lot on how wet_green and heavy is the material you are cutting. To adjust the canvas tracking you move roller mounting right or left to get the draper trackin where you want it. If you have a canvas that suddenly wants to run to the top or bottom of the platform,be suspicious of a failed canvas roller bearing.

Hi Rotor Man, I bought the JD 800. It came with another machine for parts. Got a technical manual. The machine runs okay. It is not the most responsive when turning. The machine has not had a lot of maintenance. The engine sounds good. I've got 2 MF 300s and they use the Chrysler Slant 6. Not a lot of power but they sure are dependable!!!!! Where are you located Rotor ManIJ I'm located in southern Ontario. Is it possible to get your email address for future questions about the JD 800IJ

I am from central ND. Glad to help if I can. I checked the E Mail box this time.