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What's your favourite Combine... Make.. Model and WHY ?


Lord Ferguson

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Just curious... we've had favourite tractor... so what's the best combine in your opinion...

For me it has to be the Massey 415... I remember these combines well from my days as a fitter... closely followed by the 865 for it's pure size and capability (in it's day of course... not much by modern standards I am sure)...

But no... I'm sticking with the 415 as my all time favourite....

Many thanks to Gavin for selling me the 415 brochure as well  :-* - stirred up some great memories..

So come on... what's yours then Lasses and Lads  ???

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My Real combine favorite as to be the Claas Matador we had 2 of them working on a 400 acre farm back in the 80s with a couple of ford 4000 and ford 5000 tractors and some old home made corn bins mounted on tipping trailers the good old days.

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My Real combine favorite as to be the Claas Matador we had 2 of them working on a 400 acre farm back in the 80s with a couple of ford 4000 and ford 5000 tractors and some old home made corn bins mounted on tipping trailers the good old days.

Cor that brings back some memories Mike... I was always sent to help load Matadors up on our lorry as the driver refused to drive them on.. and I think sending the apprentice was a big "up yours" really... I remember the ramps had to be moved once the front wheels were on the bed... scary stuff holding her on the brakes and the clutch whilst the driver scrabbled around underneath moving the ramps inwards...
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Mine is a clayson 1540 with a 12 foot header :o small by todays combines but i did manage 200 acres a year for 3 seasons back in the mid 80s lovely machine to drive setup and maintain. One problem she had was the thrashing drive was always in gear? unless you slacked the belts off. We had 3 fields that went flat as a pancake every year without fail (about 3 inches off the ground )my old girl picked every bit up most was regrowing but done one way slow but got there in the end.

found a pic not the one i used happy days

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i54/batcher/mirror.jpg

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Mine is a clayson 1540 with a 12 foot header :o small by todays combines but i did manage 200 acres a year for 3 seasons back in the mid 80s lovely machine to drive setup and maintain. One problem she had was the thrashing drive was always in gear? unless you slacked the belts off. We had 3 fields that went flat as a pancake every year without fail (about 3 inches off the ground )my old girl picked every bit up most was regrowing but done one way slow but got there in the end.

found a pic not the one i used happy days

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i54/batcher/mirror.jpg

Great old machines. The joys of swinging that auger round without getting pulled off the steps......... :D or trying to park on a slope to get gravity to help.

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Would have to be an old 97 Claas lexion 405 she was a beast used to happily drive her for hours but only ever did lunch hours etc :D :D :D but everything was right and she happily clocked 700 acres on only a 15ft header :-*:-* :-*  Oh and bosses old 480 drove her once last year before she went and she was incredible output rung rings around partners MF 7278

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well i loved all the fergys the farm had over the years, although the 525 prob holds a special place as its was the first i drove ,over all though i have to say,i do like the jd 1075/85 series a lot, still loads round after all this time, and they just looked so different when they came out, i can still see the 1085 hydro 4 the neighbouring farm had going past our in opp directions ,chopper going ,and thinking space age, at the age of 1oish, compaired to ours

still pondering how easy a scratch built 1075 would be i have to say

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My favourite combine would have to the New Holland TX34, had one for years on a farm I worked on and in its heyday use to cut 1000acres a year back in the days when you would still be combining round here in mid september and when linseed and flax was good.

MF Fan, i saw some of your pictures on another thread and do you farm with emmett's by any chance as the quadtrack looks familiar.

Pete

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Great old machines. The joys of swinging that auger round without getting pulled off the steps......... :D or trying to park on a slope to get gravity to help.

Unfortunly for me i had a ram ? reason being during the first season not used to working on hills  ::)(still very green) As i was cumming down one and a trailer at my side silly me pulled the spout round :o next thing i knew platform full of grain pulling a wheelie with the rear tyres 4ft for sure  ??? still the boss laughed a said bet you don't do that again in a hurry. so for the next 2 seasons you can guess who had the p$$s taken every time that field name was mentioned ;):D;D

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John Deere 1075 for me, When the contractor near me had 2 brand new in 1982, I've always watched them around Devon, sadly one caught fire in 2000, he still has the other,still in use! Although most of the work is covered by the newer 2254 Hilsider and a 2256. Also have a bit of a soft spot for the New Holland 8000 series. Legendary machines!

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Has to be the Claas Dominator 118sl and 108 for me, the 118 was the first combine i ever used, everything was well laid out and easy to use, at the time the 108 was its partner belonging to my then bosses brother, she sadly burnt out 2 years later and was replaced by a 118sl, the engines had a great note on them as well, sadly the 118sl i drove burnt out in 2005 due to a burst injector pipe and has now been replaced with a Lexion 480. The 118 was a vast improvement over the MF865 it replaced which was more trouble than it was worth

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John Deere and Massey Ferguson make Combines?  :o

You've got to be kidding!  ::)

Around here it's all New Holland and Claas.

For me it has to be the 1500 series, followed by the 8000 series (naturally!), although the Claas Senator/Mercator was a great machine in it's day. (The Mercator was a Senator with a Ford Engine - so good it was even sold in the USA as a Ford.)

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New Holland TX32. The combine which I spent a few happy harvests in, plodding through winter wheat, winter barley, oats, linseed, OSR and field beans.

Technically simple, very reliable, non-hyrdostatic (engine power wasn't lost through transmission), was in good condition at time of purchase and I kept her that way. She looked after me in return.

Only dislike was it's short feed elevator leading to a craned neck - a criticism of the TX range from every corner of the industry though.

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Definitely the New Holland 1530, there's almost nothing else around my area. One guy has four and a 1540S that he runs every year. The hydraulic auger is definitely a handy addition, we borrowed one from a neighbour two years ago after ours dropped a valve in the engine, the day after suffering a tyre blowout in another field! They are a great machine but with a 10ft header and a bit low for newer trailers they're getting a bit dated now, but I love them all the same :-*:-* :-*

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