History of John Deere Combines (Part 2)

[@generoshon9261]

Dad had a pull-type when I was a very young kid. I never saw it run. My nephew, who is older than me, had a 45 with a cab. I had a few hours of run time on it. I sent a message to my youngest sister, who is much older than I, asking if she remembers anything about the pull-type. Videos bring back a lot of memories.

[@clayfarnsworth5750]

I’ve run too many to remember. I was lucky as we not only farmed but Dad owned a dealership. I remember in 1966 taking. Brand new 105 off the lot to help a farm family that had suffered a death in the family during harvest. 14 machines showed up and I remember Massey, Case and International. All dwarfed by the new 105. Spent many hours pulling 65,95,6601 and 7721 before we jumped to a self propelled model 9500. I ran many 95s, 105s, 6600s, 7700s, 7720s, 8800, and 8820 before moving on too the 9600 and of course the list now gets smaller as I no longer farm and only help out on occasions. Hopefully I will get to run an X9 before I’m too old. That will be my bucket list.

[@LocustMotorWorks]

Awesome story, thanks for sharing👍🏻

[@jeff_burkhardt]

We ran a JD 105 for most of my childhood, but eventually "upgraded" to a MF 510. My grandfather had an IH 915 that I ran one summer, and an uncle had an IH 503. Kind of a hodge podge of old dinosaurs.

[@3069mark]

Love these combine videos. My first memory of Dad's combines was in 1964 (I was 6) and while Dad was combining late at night one night he went to get up on the back of the combine and instead of grabbing the ladder he grabbed one of those big belts (before guards) that was spinning. He lost the 3 middle fingers on his right hand and only had the thumb and little finger left. Thankfully the hired hand was there and was able to get Dad to the hospital. I am pretty sure that combine was a JD55. I think Dad had two 55's (one after the other). Not sure what year exactly but somewhere in the mid-60's Dad upgraded to a JD95 and then a couple years later to the JD105 "Corn Special". I think it was 1972 when Dad got his first JD4400. It had a gas engine and Dad said it was underpowered and so in 1973 he traded it in on a JD4400 Diesel. Dad really liked that one. He let me use it one time to cut timothy for a neighbor and that is the only time I ever ran any of Dad's combines. Due to his health Dad cut way back in 1976 on rented crop ground and only had the 80 acre homestead and so he didn't need a big machine for that and so he bought a used J.I. Case 1660 with a 318 Chrysler engine. That combine was before J.I. Case & IH merged and was the true 100% Case combine and not to be confused with the more modern Case-IH 1660's. Dad sure loved that Case combine. Dad died in 1983.

[@jerrydewitt8585]

My fondness memory is my father putting me on the operator seat of a 55 in 1965 when I was a big kid at 10 years old. My uncle was on a 95 keeping an eye on me from across the field as we ran side by side. I'll never forget the opportunity they gave me then.

[@berniemarkley]

My dad bought a 45 in 1963, then moved up to a 95 EB (Edible Bean), then a 105 in 1969. That combine was a beast, no doubt!

[@LukeLong-oi4uc]

I started farming with a 1960 45 round back. We used it to cut soybeans and oats. I used it on my first crop of soybeans in 1983, I was 14 years old. After a couple years I bought a IH 615 with cab and air conditioning. The 615 had right around 300 hours on it when I bought it for 4500.00 dollars. It still had the original plastic on the seat, it was a slick machine. It came with both a bat and pickup reels.

[@jeff_burkhardt]

We ran a JD 105. My grandfather had an IH 915 that I ran one summer. Both awesome machines.

[@craiglacey9827]

We had a 95 round back on our Montana ranch. It did a great job of putting out clean grain. I completed a summer internship at the Harvester Works in 1980, working in Process & Tool Engineering. We put out 64 combines a day, with the largest being the 8820 Turbo! Great memories!

[@LocustMotorWorks]

That is impressive to get 64 out the door a day! Thanks for watching

[@garyvornhagen4656]

I remember watching the neighbor using a pull type on oats and seen a 95 working in a bean field. Your viedo brings back good memories. Nothing Runs Like A Deere

[@FailureatRetirement]

In the early ‘70’s my dad was growing corn, barley, and sometimes kidney beans as well as doing quite a bit of custom work. He always seemed to have a revolving door of 95 round backs with a couple of 55’s mixed in. I learned to wrench on them every time he came home with another one. We live in rice country so we switched several of them from tracks back to tires. Some of my first tasks were to get in the bin to switch the bin extension from one to another. He would run one or two at a time and get at least one “new” one every year. Finally, about the time I started high school, he bought a really low time 95 square back, high low with a cab. Not long after he gave up the custom work and started doing a lot of other work off the farm. He taught me how to run it and after that I ran it about as much as he did.

[@darrowlinn7407]

I really enjoyed the video. The first combine I owned was a 1968 model 55 R. I bought it used in 1974 It had seen a lot of use on a rice farm but I needed a rice machine because I farmed a black land Delta farm in Eastern Arkansas. I rebuilt the machine and used it several years until it burned. I bought a 410 Massey to replace it. Mistake. So I then bought a 6600 John Deere. I m still farming and using John Deere combines

[@BakewellCompany]

1st combine in 1976 was a 40 round back w/10' head, next a 55EB square back with 14' platform and 234 corn head. Converted to quick attach heads in 1978 trading 234 for a 244 head. Best $ I ever spent. Left the reservation with a Gleaner CII in 1980, back in 1982 with a 105EB w/ 404 diesel, 13' FCB and 635N corn header. This machine was my favorite, a real beast!

[@joescheller6680]

John Deere never got into combine world till they came out with the 7720 machines they finally got it right. All the 20 series machines were great machines.

[@kevinschiermeister3608]

Ran a 1968 John Deere 95. Sund pickup. Harvesting small grains, mostly spring wheat. Factory cab with a fan. Was 13 years old. Good machine.

[@jeff_burkhardt]

We had a 105 with the dutch door cab. The a/c never worked very well. We'd open up the cab when we were heading into the wind, and close it up and sweat it out with the wind.

[@kevinschiermeister3608]

@@jeff_burkhardt "Dutch Door" cab. I never heard it called that, ours was the same. No a/c. Like you said. Windows open then sweat it out if it was dirty. Ha.

[@bwlyon]

I’ve ran a 55 round back and a 6620. I was a kid in the mid 70s running the 55 on my Grandpa’s farm. The 6620 was as an adult as a hired hand on a farm.

[@kevinwittstruck8764]

My dad had a 55 John Deere combine he wouldn't let me for grain but he let me run it by myself for corn boy did I love it I felt like big man I thought that I was bigger than the combine itself

[@gregskidder5146]

We started out with an old McCormick pull combine, then upgraded to 55H 14’ header, then to 95H 16’ header wheat and grass

[@richardnorthern6945]

I had a 40-45-55-4400-6600 all good machines my 4400d 1976 model most trouble free 213 flex head with electric header control was great up grade for cutting beans 444 corn head great in its day some still being used❤

[@mattw6585]

Our Dad had the 40 round back. I remember too well pinching my fingers on the folding ladder!

[@jamesbarbour8400]

Massey Harris' model 21 A combine utilised an auger table and was introduced to market in 1943, beating Deere & Co by some margin. Anyone would think they'd invented it ! Massey Harris also marketed the first commercially successful self propelled combine, with the model 20, in 1938 thru 1941. Some 925 units produced over 2 years, but was considered too big, expensive and heavy to appeal to the wider mass market, and so introduced a model approximately 2/3rds the size, in the MH 21 model, in 1941, the slightly later MH 21A being a development of this. Fun fact - Massey Harris made straw walker crankshafts for John Deere in their earlier combines.

[@ThatMowerMan]

Man, I still remember your 110 video, it’s nice to see how far you’ve come.

[@covo12virginia20]

So true, sometimes it’s nice to go back and watch some of the older videos as well, very interesting and informative. Great job LocustMotorWorks!

[@LocustMotorWorks]

Really appreciate it!👍🏻 thanks for following the channel for so long

[@wilsonfutrell1833]

My uncle ran a 55 and he would be covered with dust and trash blowing up from the dry corn over the head at the end of the day. I sometimes operated my daddy’s 4400 which you may cover next. Also, I would love to see information on the self-propelled peanut picker. My daddy was a peanut (and corn) farmer in southeastern Virginia and even though we didn’t have one, I remember a neighbor having one. Best I can remember, it did not perform very well, however.

[@LocustMotorWorks]

Sounds good, Ill look for some info on the peanut pickers, if i come up with some ill make a video👍 Thanks for watching

[@billydavis6305]

I owned both a 4400 combine and a jd 111 peanut combine. The 111 was absolutely the worst machine John Deere ever put their name on. I remember telling an employee that I would not purposely set the machine on fire, but if it did catch on fire to slowly walk to town and fill up a eyedropper, then walk back to exting

[@galen3406]

I ran my dad's 1955 JD 55 with a sacker when I was 7 years old. In 1964 he bought new 105 square back with Cab. Then in 1968 added another 105. Then a couple years later upgraded to two 7700 JD.. and then to 8820's in 1979. All had pickup headers for grass seed crops and 13' headers for 130-140 bushel wheat - here in Salem, Oregon.

[@lawnmowerre]

My grandpa owned a 3300 harvester, would be awesome if you featured it as in the next video the 6600 will likely be the most famous transition to more modern style combines.

[@LocustMotorWorks]

Definitely will have the 3300 included in the next video, thanks for watching👍🏻

[@jimwoidyla5139]

My younger brother has two 55 combines, a turtle back open platform and a square back with a cab. The turtle back he has set up for small grains and the square back for corn with a three row head.

[@GermanShepherd1983]

We had a 105 and a couple of 7700's. The 105 was much easier to work on

[@jeff_burkhardt]

We had a 105 when I was a kid. I put many hours in that machine. I loved that old dog.

[@matthewkabanuk443]

Hey Locust, I have written down all the design changes between each production year of the New Generation Series combines and would not mind sharing it for a future video. If your interested, let me know how I can message you.

[@LocustMotorWorks]

That sounds good and would be a lot of help!👍🏻 My email is [e-mail] Thanks

[@richconroy7346]

My step-dad bought a squareback JD 95 combine -- probably a 1966 model, as my younger brother born 1966 was a baby. It was my favorite machine on the farm, but I didn't get to ride in it nearly enough (compared to our 4010 and Wagner tractor) . . . I was too little to run any of this stuff. For milo, he'd sometimes put a Hesston Headhunter on it (which I thought looked like a corn header). Before he passed away in 1973, he started growing irrigated corn, but I don't recall every seeing him use it for corn or having a corn header for it. It was mostly used for wheat. Because he could plant about 30' of wheat using his Wagner WA17 and 3 John Deere drills, he felt that the 95 was too small to get harvesting done quickly. Maybe he should have bought a 105 instead. All his equipment was sold when he passed away. But I'm pretty sure a neighbor bought the 95 and I was around there during college in the 1980s and saw that 95 cutting wheat and looking great doing it!

[@griggsfarmsllc]

Just found your channel. Loving the equipment history videos. Your videos are also very high quality and put together! Looking forward to more! If I could make a request, I’d love to see a series on the history of Deere cotton pickers!

[@LocustMotorWorks]

Awesome! Glad you enjoy. I will look into some cotton pickers and see what i can come up with. Thanks for watching

[@Marvin-fn7ks]

Thanks for the history lesson. My dad had a 105 then a 730 . I just drug out from 22 years in storage,a 1958 model 30 . It seems to be a bit of a misfit considering what was available by then. It had hardly been used as the knife,rub bars and sprockets show no wear.

[@jhanlarosh6620]

Great video I grew up on 55 combines on my dad’s farm and the first one I bought was 1959 model 55 which I still have today in the shed and in working condition 👍

[@LocustMotorWorks]

Awesome it’s still in working condition, do you do any combining these days with it? Thank you for watching👍🏻

[@jhanlarosh6620]

@@LocustMotorWorks the last time the 55 harvested was 2015 weeks ago got it out for a harvest video check out LaRosh wheat harvest 2015 thanks for your posting on the history 👍

[@kswaynes7569]

Great job, great video!

[@LocustMotorWorks]

Thanks for watching

[@Tactical_Tism]

I would love to see a video on the John Deere 8000 series and its development. Great video as always

[@LocustMotorWorks]

sounds good👍 Thanks for watching

[@DS75921]

John Deere 45 was all we ever used up until we quit grain farming in the mid 70's the unit was sold and cut fescue until sometime in the 90's a well made machine

[@davidriggs3962]

I use to run the old 55 round back. I love the video but would have loved to seen more on the pull types of the 50's like the updates to the number 30

[@LocustMotorWorks]

Will be covering them in a future video👍 Thanks for watching

[@charlesbennett6242]

Started on a 7700 then 8820 when they came out. Still using them today

[@LocustMotorWorks]

Both great combines!👍🏻 thanks for watching

[@bernardniesen8694]

Thank you for the incredible informative video. I wait with bated breath for your next video.

[@Deere703]

I am a IH fan here but Deere called there experimental rotary combines the axil flow system back in 1958. There’s a video here on KZbin that explains Deere’s experimental rotary combines.

[@LocustMotorWorks]

That’s interesting, I’ll have to check that video out👍🏻

[@Deere703]

@@LocustMotorWorks kzbin.info/www/bejne/onmklo2Ymd-XpMk&si=87MbE33C6UIDYGtI

[@scottcormier4647]

I have a model 40 round back that I just used to harvest my first wheat crop this spring.

[@bruceklassen8261]

105 was amazing, for its day

[@mikekahl4745]

I started with a 30 pull type. Then a 55 square back to a 6600 level land, to a 6600 side hill, to a 6620 side hill.

[@paulmawditt8679]

The 105 with tracks or any of the combines with tracks they're my favourite

[@LocustMotorWorks]

Me too! Thanks for watching👍🏻👍🏻

[@paulmawditt8679]

@@LocustMotorWorks I love learning about the history of the John Deere combine I find it very interesting

[@angus4202]

could you please do a video on the old hay cubers and peanut combines

[@LocustMotorWorks]

Definity can try👍 Thanks for watching

[@farmboyplayz6717]

I have a John Deere 530 S6 which has a 6 Cyl Perkins and I have seen a few of them here in Australia but in the states I think they are called the 530MD and have a 4 Cyl John Deere motor I have a video of mine running when I got it on my other channel called Reggie’s ride-ons and tractor repair videos If you happen to mention that model you can use the video if you like

[@noelstractors-firewood57]

Great video.

[@LocustMotorWorks]

Thanks for watching👍

[@thunderstormjoeyhaneypart3809]

My favorite combine was the John Deere no.95

[@LocustMotorWorks]

Awesome machines! Thanks for watching👍🏻

[@EarlMcdaniels]

My dad had acquired a 95 John Deer combine from a neighbor.

[@paulenglish1769]

Started with a 45 gas then a 4400 Diesel and still running it today

[@daleladd2359]

We ran jd30 pull type sack tie then JD40 self propelled

[@nathanlarson8816]

You should do the history of ager wagens and gravity wagens

[@LocustMotorWorks]

Good idea👍🏻👍🏻I’ll put it on the list, thanks for watching

[@danielbeiersr3642]

I’ve harvested with 95 B, 105 R, 4400,6600,7700 and 7700 turbo

[@user-ij3op9dw3u]

First combine i ran was a 1963HILO55

[@duanebolen543]

Back in the 70s. I work for a farmer that had a 55. And then later on, I drove 105EB Annette would have been in the 80s. In a 105 was a lot better combine.

[@georgethurlow7253]

I have run a 55 in red clover and buckwheat and a 65 PTO in wheat, oats barley rye and triticale

[@davidkimmel4216]

Thanks

[@cv21a]

I've ran the 95 in soy beans. Sitting over the feeder house means you were in the dust.

[@abbaskayyum9700]

I work for Deere can you please tell me which books are you referring since I create catalogue and need such info. Thanks

[@duaneplummer1715]

what about the no. 40 combine?????

[@kevinfrerichs8589]

1969 105 Diesel with A/C.

[@boonecountygenerators3052]

I enjoy your videos, but… @ 1:38 the cutaway to video of running ear corn through an International feed grinder is relevant… how? My dad had a square back 55 with a cab. Interesting that certain technology was only available from aftermarket companies, like the “Eagle Air” air conditioning for the cab, and the “Robot” automatic header control for soybeans (flex heads didn’t come along until much later). Lots of fond memories riding in the cab of that 55 with my dad, picking corn 2 rows at a time.

[@jacobrife7694]

I still use a 40 round back have a 10 foot table and a 2 row corn head

[@jeff_burkhardt]

We ran a hydrostatic, gasoline 105 with a 19' auger header for sorghum and a 444 corn header up until the early '90s. It had the cab with the dutch door.

[@379insk]

Funny how headers started out with draper heads then abandoned . Now virtually all grain heads are draper heads again.

[@Herman-s2t]

My uncle has a John Deere 95 with a cab

[@georgethurlow7253]

Hi Lo was not an option but a change in later years

[@jaysteidinger6193]

The G went one year more then the A and B 1953 was its last year

[@LocustMotorWorks]

Your correct

[@elephantcompany6061]

What do you mean you'll catch me in the next video??

[@georgethurlow7253]

They could only make one combine during war time

[@tedwilcox817]

95

[@Corvacar]

While You’re enjoying this vid don’t forget the Co. that developed the self propelled Combine from scratch. It wasn’t JD not even close. It was Massey Harris eventually to become Massey Ferguson.

[@mleppert8535]

John Deere junk!

[@shaunault7538]

Ran a diesel 105 an 95 too

[@LocustMotorWorks]

👍

[@patriotstanding6292]

Great content