Listening to those belts engage when you push that long lever forward never gets old. It brings back memories of riding with my grandaddy on his 4400 that he bought new and later my 6620 that I bought when I started farming.
I am grateful you re telling these stories about these old machines. I had a military career that started out in the reserves, then some active duty time and then ended in the reserves. When I came back home, I had a little farm to go to. A dream I'd had since childhood. My grandpa farmed, and my family did live rurally and we had cattle. I kept buying more and more land from the neighbor as I could and was always reclaiming as much of the stalled out timberland I already owned as I could, making it suitable for grazing. It was old, VERY old equipment that got me through that phase. To be honest with you, I miss the more simple times. I had tears in my eyes watching the last of my sound guard era tractors leave the farm. They themselves were a HUGE upgrade for me at one time. This equipment has it's place because it's still very dependable and productive. In 2-3 years when we're staring down double digit interest rates, farmland is going to get cheap again, and the saver types will be able to buy some and farm it with simple, older machinery.
My family was in the custom harvesting business for many years, we had 3 6600's and 3 7700's . They were very good machines, but when JD introduced the 7720"s , man what a helluva great combine!!!
Awesome video! I’ve became a big fan of BTP, so thank you for what you do. I get to stay up with the modern era of farm equipment as well as see these oldies but goodies! I’m no longer associated with anything in farming industry but I have a son that is. I miss it but don’t miss the long hours! I’m now a Flight Medic in FL. Still get a few long hours though… My family and I used to do custom harvesting. We cut from wheat Vernon TX. To Malta MT. Then rice and soybeans in AR. LA. And MS... I began driving a combine when I was 8 years old. Drove from sun-up to sun down every day in the Summers. My first combine was a 1972 6600 with variable speed, no hydrostat then! My Dad bought it new in Grant NB. Then when I was 17 or 18, I was given one of the first flex header ever produced to try. By this time, I was driving a Turbo7700. I remember it well because we were in Helena AR. cutting soybeans is wet ground. The ridged headers were a nightmare in moist conditions. I got the header around mid-day and the difference was amazing! We bought our first 8820 in 1982. I drove it for everything. When we sold it 1990 it had ≈5900 hrs. on it. I but those hours on it myself! I have so many interesting stories and memories from my early days.
Such an awesome video. I remember when my dad bought a second hand '78 6600 to replace our aging 95R. I thought we had hit the big league since that thing had A/C.🤣
My grandad bought a 1978 6600 with a 224 (Titan series) grain header in 1982-83. It was his first deere combine. Man he was proud of it!! I was 4 and thru the years I rode in the cab with him over 10000 acres cutting wheat and maize. He even did custom work locally. It was replaced by a 7720. Great memories thanks!!!
It was my grandad and prior to the 6600 he had used a local custom harvester that had 3 or 4 Gleaners. Before the custom guy grandad and great grandad had 2 Allis 60 all crop pull types and 1 Allis 100 self propelled.
Hi BigTractorPower! Thank you very much for this video. Like most of the other people writing on here, I too spent a lot of time on a 6600 with a 6 row head. I miss the old ones but the new ones are so much better. Thank you for caring enough to put this video out with so many different combines on it. Thanks, Bill
+wgberg thank you for watching. The 6600 is one of my all time favorites. It was a great year to find classic combines to film a 6600, 3300, 7700, 815, M2 and an 8600. I wish I could have found a Massey 750 and New Holland 985 or 1500 to include.
I ran a 6600 & a 7700 , custom harvesting in Texas , in the 70,s, two great combine,s . & yes that price tag going from 32,000 in 70-75 to 70,000 in 79 !!!! wow may be the reason im not still in the game !!! but i miss it dearly .. thanks for the vid....
I learned to drive combine in a 6600 Deere. At one point in time, we had 3 of them. 2 were diesel, one was gas. They were all gear drive, and if remembering correctly, '76 was as new as they got. Thanks for the video.
Boy are we every spoiled with comfort and technology with these new modern day John Deere combines.But i must say these old classics are pretty cool, i would actually like to drive one for a couple of hours to see how it is and feels.Thanks for the awesome video a usual.
One key feature you did not mention, was that the 1978 models, featured a fixed catwalk [like the '77 ones] and the safety rail. The safety rail itself, was a 1976 addition, but those combines lacked the fixed catwalk. For service, the lower portion of the engine covers folded down. A combine not mentioned, almost a match in cyl. width, Hp and even bin cap., not mentioned, is the Massey-Ferguson 510. In it's peak, 1972-1976, M-F built about 8,000/year of the Model 510. It's total production was from 1964-1977, making it one of our longest-produced combines, too. John Deere's Model 55 [1947-1969] still holds the record for the longest-produced S.P.C.!!!
Fascinating old machines. It would be real interesting to see a cab comparison between a 1969 and 1978 version of the same machine, just to see how things improved.
+l wilton it would. The 1969 Model has a different style roof. I have a short video clip on Big Tractor Power Instagram of a 1969 6600 harvesting sunflowers in Byron, NY.
I enjoyed vid as never known much about JD combines models, like competitive combines match up. I was surprised with cost of M2 and price tag of new titan $69000 that was a lot money back then.👍
Glad you have this. We used to have a 6600. God damn, brings back some memories. We used to keep the auger out just because some of the grain would spill if we were on a terrace. /not a side hill model. Engine was on the side of the cab, which didn't help the balance compared to the newer ones where it's on the back. I'm not a driver, but I'm told it helps a whole lot. Especially in wet fields.
Thanks for the video some of the finest combine ever on the market. Oh how the price tag has grown on these machines. The other day I stopped and looked at a 6620 side Hill I always enjoy the small machines have a great day talk to you later
Learned a few things I didn't know on the 00 series combines. I put a lot of hours on our old 4400. It wasn't a bad machine, but there where a few things that I used to cuss the engineers over haha. I remember the day we first had 200 bushel corn on our farm, that was the only time we ever plugged the cleaning fan with corn. Dad claimed the 715 he and his brother bought new couldn't and wouldn't keep up with the 4400 in good corn. I was happy to see that thing go down the road though, the 6620 we have now is light years ahead of that 4400.
Good video & information as always. It's amazing just how much the price of those combines have increased in 40 +/- years. Hope you & your family have a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.
I live in northern Illinois. Just south of Huntley there is a series of a abandoned barns. None of them have doors anymore so A Buddy and I went “urban exploring“ and inside one of them is this exact machine in there! I John Deere 6600 combine! There is a wheat picker head on a trailer outside the barn.
I will have to ask my father if he know some one who is still running one in the area. We live in Walla Walla, Washington. You don't see them as much any more, most have moved to 6622's, 7722's or 9600 with hillco levelers.
bigtractorpower on our 6600 after we fold the auger our we have to get out of the cab and lock it I didn’t see that on any of these combines the only ones I see them on are the non hydraulic gold ones do I think ones did they take it off or did it not come on it would you know?
We used a 6600 until the mid 1990's, when we replaced it with a 7720 titan 2. Our 6600 had a hydraulic lift auger that needed to be manually latched. Once latched, the auger would not move. I remember the 6600's predecessor being totally manual. I didnt have the muscle power to put it in place. Lol
Love too see more on older equipment like this. Love old equipment. I farm as a hobby and have older equipment. Like your channel keep up the good work.
Probably one of the finest combines ever built we had a 78 model till the end very reliable and dependable harvested corn soft wheat dry edible beans and soys
Cut my teeth running 6602 and 6622 full hillside machines. Nothing more fun than cutting wheat on a 45 degree hillside having steer with the foot brakes because the rear wheels just slide. Great old machines!
Great job on another awesome and informative video. Reminds me that my 1979 4400 may still have a few more years left in her. I noticed that you video a lot in Western Kentucky...I assume we are from the same area. I farm over in Caldwell County.
+Commonwealth Farms I am in Christian County. Do you still use your 4400? I would love to film a 4400 to get the complete set from the 3300 to the 7700 on film.
I've progressed over the years....the first combine I ran was a John Deere 30 (pull type). It cut 3 rows of soybeans at a time, planted on 30" rows (everybody planted on 30s back in the 70s around here). The first self propelled combine was a 1962 Gleaner E. My JD 4400 is pretty modern compared to those days.
Our 6600 was a 1973 with a gas engine no airscreen on the side and a hydraulic cylinder to raise and lower the unload auger, all contradictory to this video. But still a very good video thanks for sharing
When did A/C become popular in the combines? I see a lot of these are running with open windows. My Grandpa's Gleaner F had a manual unload spout. As a kid; I wasn't able to put it up & down.
bigtractorpower, YES it did, just not hydraulic latch, I know I work at a deere dealership, I have never seen a manual fold 6600. The 6600SideHill I grew up around was built in 1976 and was hydraulic fold manual latch.
The early build 6600's may very well have been manual, but I know that from 75 up they folded hydraulically but latched manually regardless of what the literature says.There's a very distinct possibility knowing John Deere from working at a dealership they just did not change the wording in the literature they are famous for that they only change what they have to because change costs money, deere likes profits not spending. I'm not knocking your channel at all just trying to make sure that what you say is correct because the 6600 that I grew up around had hydraulic fold and each of them that I've seen back as far as 1975 model year which would have been Built-in 74-late had hydraulic fold but manual latch.
@@bigtractorpower, that's because the catalogs were not only printed in advance, but the one prelude to the intro, did emerge in 1969...the Model 6601. That's the pull-type of the 6600.
You forgot that Gleaner built the MH/MH2/MH3 machines that were direct competitors to the Deere sidehill versions and of course the N series did not need a sidehill version in most cases.
Farmers with 1300 acres or less of corn and soybeans could use one of the older combines with a 6 row corn head and as close to a 30 foot wide reel head as possible and be more profitable.
Don't forget the Massey (10) series. Only combines I've ever ran in my life were a 510 Massey and new Holland 1400. Those are as unique as those whites and Molines
+Garrett Salsbury I completely agree plus the Ford 642. I just don’t have any video footage of a classic Massey, New Holland or Ford. Hopefully I can find some to film.
From what I was told as a kid there was nothing that could come close to keeping up with the 510 for a couple years when they first came out. And we have run ours with a 14ft head (fairly small for that machine) at 6mph and still didn't lose any grain. Except through the licence plates and silicone patches on the belly lol
Don't forget the Ford 620, 630, and 640, which were rebranded Claas combines imported from Germany. Ford and Claas discovered a loophole in the import tax laws at that time-- Claas could manufacture a combine 95% complete (less the engine) in Germany, ship it to the US, and import it as "parts" since it was not a complete runnable machine. Ford then installed their engines (either the 300 cubic inch industrial inline 6 cylinder gasoline engine (same as the F-100 pickups, but with cylinder sleeves) or a 4 cylinder diesel) and repainted them Ford Power Blue and added their own number and stickers to them and sold them as Ford 640 combines. We ran a Ford 640, with the 300 c.i. I-6 gasoline engine, and an 18 foot platform head, which was a BIG head back in '72! The 630 was a little smaller for a 13-15 foot head, and the 620 was smaller yet for a 10-12 foot head. There were a couple of other Fords, a 630 run by some farmers/custom cutters about 20 miles north of us, and a 640 run by some kin folks of my seed/chemical/fertilizer dealer over near Inez, Texas, about 70 miles away. Dad and Grandpa paid for that machine in less than two years doing custom cutting of grain sorghum. We could combine stuff nobody else could get. A big farmer planted a bunch of river bottom flood plain ground in grain sorghum one year-- the prices for sorghum was REALLY good in the early-mid 70's, back before Carter's grain embargo against the Soviets collapsed the grain markets and precipitated the general farm economy collapse of the 80's. Anyway, this guy had planted several thousand acres of sorghum (this was back when most farmers were still running just a couple hundred acres or so mostly) and it "got away from him" and morning glory vines took over the fields just before harvest due to excess heat and wet weather. There was a LOT of grain out there, but the morning glory vines had climbed the stalks and crossed the rows and wove themselves together like a mat... making most machines incapable of harvesting it. The guy put out the word to anybody wanting to do some custom harvesting that they'd get paid for as much as they could harvest, so Dad and Grandpa drove the Ford 640 20 miles over there and got to work. That morning there were probably a half-dozen to a dozen different combines lined up to take to the field. Everything from Deere's and IH's to Gleaners and Olivers, Massey's, White, you name it. They all started off and the vines simply choked up most of the combines. After a couple tries Dad got the hang of it and figured out how to keep the Ford from plugging up, for the most part. Unlike all the other combines on the market at that time, the Ford/Claas machine had two things going for it. First, the cylinder was a smaller diameter with six rasp bars and was wider than most other threshing cylinders in competitive machines, like Deere and others that used a larger diameter threshing cylinder that was narrower. This kept the mat of incoming material spread out and thinner, and the smaller diameter cylinder was easier to turn at a given threshing RPM than the larger cylinder (less torque required for the smaller cylinder). Claas also designed in a twin variable-speed cast-iron pulley system with two large V-belts running about 6 inches apart to give variable speed drive to their cylinder, where most competitive combines of that era used only a larger single belt with variable speed, or required changing sprockets to set the cylinder speed. Claas also extended the cylinder shaft about a foot out away from the right side of the machine out over the drive tire, and put a big cast-iron "turning block" on the end of it-- this not only gave a way to easily "bar the combine over backwards" to back out slugs if the cylinder and feederhouse DID plug up, but it also acted as a flywheel to help conserve momentum in the cylinder when a slug entered the threshing cylinder and concave, helping "beat it on through". Secondly, the Ford/Claas machine used a lever just below the seat to set the concave clearance quickly "on the go"... Other machines of that era used either fixed concaves that the clearance was adjusted with box wrenches on either side of the machine between crops, or like Deere, a small "crank wheel" beside the operator station that moved the concave like 1/8 inch per turn or whatever for 'on the go' adjustments. Dad found that when the cylinder started vibrating from a slug of vines entering it, he could reach down and throw the concave lever all the way down "wide open" and the slug would roll on through the cylinder/concave and be thrown onto the straw walkers, and then he could pull the concave lever right back up after a couple seconds or so to the "third notch" (regular setting for threshing sorghum) in the quadrant and go right on combining without missing a beat... Other machines that lacked the features, particularly the lever-adjusted concave, would quickly get a slug hung in the cylinder and concave, and would plug up. They would then spend minutes to hours cleaning the trapped vines and mess out of the cylinder and feederhouse, since reversers were nonexistant on ANY machines at that time. When Dad and Grandpa DID "slug the machine" and had to stop, a 6 foot iron prybar in the cast iron turning block on the end of the cylinder shaft made it easy to turn the thresher backwards, expelling the slug back down the feederhouse and out under the auger, like a manual-powered reverser... so they could be back to work in a matter of minutes without having to pull shields and covers and trying to turn the machine over by hand by the pulleys with little/no leverage. The ability to throw the concave open to expel potential slugs of vines before they plugged the machine meant they were going a LOT longer than competitive machines. Basically, by lunchtime or early afternoon, everybody else had had enough and were sick and tired of fighting the vines plugging up their combines, so they quit and left the job to Dad and Grandpa... The old Ford could cut up to 13 railroad cars of grain per day in good conditions if you kept her running nonstop and had enough trucks to haul the grain away to the elevators... IIRC at the time the Ford/Claas 640 was the largest combine you could buy in North America (1972). We still have the old Ford 640. With Carter's grain embargo collapsing grain prices in the US in the late 70's, Grandpa planted his last sorghum crop in 79 or 80 IIRC. Dad was working full time by then and Grandpa wasn't particularly mechanically inclined, and complained the sample was lousy and he was getting docked heavily for light test weight/foreign matter, but didn't know how to fix it. We already grew mostly cotton and he was just rotating sorghum anyway to "rest the land" and with the price collapse, the next year we went all cotton and planted nothing but cotton for the next 10 years or so. In the mid 90's sorghum prices recovered and cotton expenses grew to the point I wanted to rotate in sorghum again, and try soybeans and corn as well. I fired up the old 640 that had been sitting in the barn, unstarted since about 85 after Grandpa died in 83... Dad would fire it up once a year and drive it around just to "blow the dust out" but hadn't started it since 85-86, when I fired it up again and got it ready to harvest in the mid-90's. Ran like a top and the problem Grandpa had was a rubber flap that connected the cleaning fan to the cleaning shoe had come loose and dropped into the airflow path from the fan to the shoe, cutting off most of the cleaning air, allowing a lot of crap to get to the clean grain tank. Fixed that and it ran like a champ! We harvested grain with it until the early 2000's when we quit row cropping and went all cow/calf with both our farms. It's still in the barn, though a couple Gulf storms/hurricanes have busted the barn down around it... Now they don't even build a combine that small anymore... Later! OL J R :)
Very cool combines. I would really like to find a New Holland Clayson built combine to film here. They were sold as the New Holland 985 in red here in the U.S.
If I could find a 6600 on I would love to film it. When I was growing up a farm in town had a 7700 Turbo and a 7720 Turbo on steel tracks. Today they run an S680 on tracks. This video compiled machines I have filmed. The story could be even better if I could film a 6602 and a 6601. They are just very hard to find working these days. I am not sure people would like just seeing scans of brochures.
+generationll yes it was. I wish I could have included one but unfortunately I have not found one to film. I knew this comment would be made. I wish I could find a Ford 642 and a New Holland 985 or 1500 to make a complete 70’s line up.
I love these combines,but YOU MISSED A MAJOR Competitor Massey 510 was huge in the 70,sand 410,550,750. I've owned the M2 and three 6600's and the Deere is superior in every way except the hopper and unload auger and header attachment
Massey is very important in this story but unfortunately I have not found a 510 to film to include. I included combines I have found in person to film to help tell the story.
Unfortunately I have not found a 750 or 760 to film. I very much want to. I like Massey combines. With out footage of a 750/760 I could not reference it. I hope to find one in the future. It’s too on my combine wish list. O like this generation because they have Massey Harris yellow wheels.
The first buddy seat was introduced in 1966 on the Ford 640 combine. It was not until Deere introduced the Maximizer combines in 1989 that buddy seats became main stream. Buddy seats sure make it easy to film in the cab. Older machines are super tight beyond the drivers seat.
Listening to those belts engage when you push that long lever forward never gets old. It brings back memories of riding with my grandaddy on his 4400 that he bought new and later my 6620 that I bought when I started farming.
I am grateful you re telling these stories about these old machines. I had a military career that started out in the reserves, then some active duty time and then ended in the reserves. When I came back home, I had a little farm to go to. A dream I'd had since childhood. My grandpa farmed, and my family did live rurally and we had cattle. I kept buying more and more land from the neighbor as I could and was always reclaiming as much of the stalled out timberland I already owned as I could, making it suitable for grazing.
It was old, VERY old equipment that got me through that phase. To be honest with you, I miss the more simple times. I had tears in my eyes watching the last of my sound guard era tractors leave the farm. They themselves were a HUGE upgrade for me at one time.
This equipment has it's place because it's still very dependable and productive. In 2-3 years when we're staring down double digit interest rates, farmland is going to get cheap again, and the saver types will be able to buy some and farm it with simple, older machinery.
Thank you for sharing. I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s. I enjoy any time I can get to film and share the classics.
My family was in the custom harvesting business for many years, we had 3 6600's and 3 7700's . They were very good machines, but when JD introduced the 7720"s , man what a helluva great combine!!!
Awesome video! I’ve became a big fan of BTP, so thank you for what you do. I get to stay up with the modern era of farm equipment as well as see these oldies but goodies!
I’m no longer associated with anything in farming industry but I have a son that is. I miss it but don’t miss the long hours! I’m now a Flight Medic in FL. Still get a few long hours though… My family and I used to do custom harvesting. We cut from wheat Vernon TX. To Malta MT. Then rice and soybeans in AR. LA. And MS... I began driving a combine when I was 8 years old. Drove from sun-up to sun down every day in the Summers. My first combine was a 1972 6600 with variable speed, no hydrostat then! My Dad bought it new in Grant NB. Then when I was 17 or 18, I was given one of the first flex header ever produced to try. By this time, I was driving a Turbo7700. I remember it well because we were in Helena AR. cutting soybeans is wet ground. The ridged headers were a nightmare in moist conditions. I got the header around mid-day and the difference was amazing! We bought our first 8820 in 1982. I drove it for everything. When we sold it 1990 it had ≈5900 hrs. on it. I but those hours on it myself! I have so many interesting stories and memories from my early days.
Kenton, are you one of the Senath, MO Ozbun's? I remember Cleo having the harvest service. I also remember Don & Shirley.
@@SteveHolsten Yes, my dad was Cleo. He died a few years ago...Ozbun's Harvesting! I live in Marathon Fl. now...no farm ground here!
@@kent4799 Ok. Thanks for responding. My cousin Beverly married Richard as well.
first combine I ever operated, brings back some good memories, thanks for posting!
Thank you for watching. The 6600 is one of my all time favorites.
@@bigtractorpower mine, too, as it was the combine I learned to cut with.
We had a 6600 back in the 70s. They seemed so big back then, but compared to today’s machines, they look tiny. Still, great machines.
I agree. The 6600 was an awesome combine in its day. The big machines of today are unbelievably fast compared to a 6600.
Such an awesome video. I remember when my dad bought a second hand '78 6600 to replace our aging 95R. I thought we had hit the big league since that thing had A/C.🤣
My grandad bought a 1978 6600 with a 224 (Titan series) grain header in 1982-83. It was his first deere combine. Man he was proud of it!! I was 4 and thru the years I rode in the cab with him over 10000 acres cutting wheat and maize. He even did custom work locally. It was replaced by a 7720. Great memories thanks!!!
Great post. Thank you for sharing. What did the 6600 replace on your dad’s farm?
It was my grandad and prior to the 6600 he had used a local custom harvester that had 3 or 4 Gleaners. Before the custom guy grandad and great grandad had 2 Allis 60 all crop pull types and 1 Allis 100 self propelled.
Hi BigTractorPower! Thank you very much for this video. Like most of the other people writing on here, I too spent a lot of time on a 6600 with a 6 row head. I miss the old ones but the new ones are so much better.
Thank you for caring enough to put this video out with so many different combines on it.
Thanks,
Bill
+wgberg thank you for watching. The 6600 is one of my all time favorites. It was a great year to find classic combines to film a 6600, 3300, 7700, 815, M2 and an 8600. I wish I could have found a Massey 750 and New Holland 985 or 1500 to include.
I ran a 6600 & a 7700 , custom harvesting in Texas , in the 70,s, two great combine,s . & yes that price tag going from 32,000 in 70-75 to 70,000 in 79 !!!! wow may be the reason im not still in the game !!! but i miss it dearly .. thanks for the vid....
Thanks for the video. An iconic combine design for sure.
+Larry it’s one of my all time favorites.
We had a 4400 and a 6600 in the early 70's, traded both of them in on a '78 7700 Turbo with a 6 row corn and a 6 row bean head.
I learned to drive combine in a 6600 Deere. At one point in time, we had 3 of them. 2 were diesel, one was gas. They were all gear drive, and if remembering correctly, '76 was as new as they got. Thanks for the video.
Boy are we every spoiled with comfort and technology with these new modern day John Deere combines.But i must say these old classics are pretty cool, i would actually like to drive one for a couple of hours to see how it is and feels.Thanks for the awesome video a usual.
One key feature you did not mention, was that the 1978 models, featured a fixed catwalk [like the '77 ones] and the safety rail.
The safety rail itself, was a 1976 addition, but those combines lacked the fixed catwalk.
For service, the lower portion of the engine covers folded down.
A combine not mentioned, almost a match in cyl. width, Hp and even bin cap., not mentioned, is the Massey-Ferguson 510. In it's peak, 1972-1976, M-F built about 8,000/year of the Model 510.
It's total production was from 1964-1977, making it one of our longest-produced combines, too.
John Deere's Model 55 [1947-1969] still holds the record for the longest-produced S.P.C.!!!
Fascinating old machines. It would be real interesting to see a cab comparison between a 1969 and 1978 version of the same machine, just to see how things improved.
+l wilton it would. The 1969 Model has a different style roof. I have a short video clip on Big Tractor Power Instagram of a 1969 6600 harvesting sunflowers in Byron, NY.
Thanks for posting and thanks for the detailed history!
I sure appreciate your videos like this. Love the history and informational videos. Thank you!!!
Thank you thank you.I put in many many hours in both a 3300 and 6600.Some of the best time I had farming was in the seat of a combine!!
I enjoyed vid as never known much about JD combines models, like competitive combines match up. I was surprised with cost of M2 and price tag of new titan $69000 that was a lot money back then.👍
All the combines had hydraulic folding unloading augers, the later ones had a hydraulic LATCH, the earlier ones where manual.
Glad you have this. We used to have a 6600. God damn, brings back some memories. We used to keep the auger out just because some of the grain would spill if we were on a terrace. /not a side hill model. Engine was on the side of the cab, which didn't help the balance compared to the newer ones where it's on the back. I'm not a driver, but I'm told it helps a whole lot. Especially in wet fields.
The 6600 is one of my favorite combines.
My Absolutely favorite combine. Real Beauty. Thank You!!!
Another great video. I like old combines.
Thanks for the video some of the finest combine ever on the market. Oh how the price tag has grown on these machines. The other day I stopped and looked at a 6620 side Hill I always enjoy the small machines have a great day talk to you later
+The Farming Life thank you for watching. Prices sure have gone way up in 40 years.
uk6iik 7kikk6
Yes I did enjoy and we have farmer here in south jersey still using these combines👍🏻🐝⛄️🎄 take care my friend🎉
Learned a few things I didn't know on the 00 series combines. I put a lot of hours on our old 4400. It wasn't a bad machine, but there where a few things that I used to cuss the engineers over haha. I remember the day we first had 200 bushel corn on our farm, that was the only time we ever plugged the cleaning fan with corn. Dad claimed the 715 he and his brother bought new couldn't and wouldn't keep up with the 4400 in good corn. I was happy to see that thing go down the road though, the 6620 we have now is light years ahead of that 4400.
Great history and great video, enjoyed watching very much
Thank you for watching.
Good video & information as always. It's amazing just how much the price of those combines have increased in 40 +/- years. Hope you & your family have a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.
+crslyrn Merry Christmas. Yes the prices have grown. You can even buy a header today for the cost of a whole combine 40 years ago
Hey my good friend another great video just wanted to say happy holidays man
+Roy Nelson Merry Christmas. Thank you for watching.
bigtractorpower you're welcome and thank you as well my good friend merry Christmas
I live in northern Illinois. Just south of Huntley there is a series of a abandoned barns. None of them have doors anymore so A Buddy and I went “urban exploring“ and inside one of them is this exact machine in there! I John Deere 6600 combine! There is a wheat picker head on a trailer outside the barn.
Thank you for your informative video, Merry Christmas.
+interman 77 Merry Christmas
Great video, I wish I had some film of my fathers the 6602 in the field. We still have it in the equipment shed but it has been sitting for 15 years.
+eddt466 now that’s awesome. I have each brochure Deere put out on the 6602. I would like to feature a video on the 6602.
I will have to ask my father if he know some one who is still running one in the area. We live in Walla Walla, Washington. You don't see them as much any more, most have moved to 6622's, 7722's or 9600 with hillco levelers.
I have a 1/64 scale Turbo 7720 JD toy combine Awesome Videos Thanks for sharing!!
+gerard werner very cool. One of my favorite combines and toys.
I love videos like this.
This J.D.6600 is in excellent shape,the owner has taken really care of it.
My dad runs a 1978 6600 diesel with the hydrostatic drive it’s a nice machine we run a 4 row 36 inch corn head on it and a 218 grain platform
+Grussing Farms very cool.
bigtractorpower on our 6600 after we fold the auger our we have to get out of the cab and lock it I didn’t see that on any of these combines the only ones I see them on are the non hydraulic gold ones do I think ones did they take it off or did it not come on it would you know?
We used a 6600 until the mid 1990's, when we replaced it with a 7720 titan 2. Our 6600 had a hydraulic lift auger that needed to be manually latched. Once latched, the auger would not move. I remember the 6600's predecessor being totally manual. I didnt have the muscle power to put it in place. Lol
Awesome video, thanks for posting! Best regards from germany
+seppl hochlader thank you for watching. Always an honor to have people watching from other parts of the world.
I was born on a 6600 combine and grew up on a titan combines... Today I have a 7720 turbo excellent machine
Very cool. The 6600 and 7720 are two of my all time favorite combines.
Would be a great video to film a John Deere 6601 pull type combine. There were hundreds of them in the Dakotas. Very simple machines.
I would love to film pull type combines. I hope to see some in the field some day.
Mike as always a nother great video . I have hauled soybeans and corn from a GLEANER M2 good combine thank mike MERRY CHIRSTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR .
Great video!
Love too see more on older equipment like this. Love old equipment. I farm as a hobby and have older equipment. Like your channel keep up the good work.
Probably one of the finest combines ever built we had a 78 model till the end very reliable and dependable harvested corn soft wheat dry edible beans and soys
Great job on video
Awesome video they where great machines
They sure are.
Cut my teeth running 6602 and 6622 full hillside machines. Nothing more fun than cutting wheat on a 45 degree hillside having steer with the foot brakes because the rear wheels just slide. Great old machines!
Apparently, Dad, had the '78 model...6 row 218 platform...Good memories.
Very cool. The 6600 is a great combine.
Great stuff
My grandpa used to have an 815, but he sold it after it caught on fire 5 times (YES, 5) and bought a John Deere 7720, which we're still using today.
Great history.
Worked for a farmer who had 6 6600s. All were gas except one. This was in 84' so they were quite wore out, but they did the job.
I remember back in my day the 7720 and 8820 where the most popular around here... I did see a few 6600s around though
+Northern farmer I would like to film an 8820. I did film three 7720s this fall.
We almost bought one a few years back.. but waited and got the 9600
Johnbeer6o65*
Northern farmer 2 recette muffins
Buen video frendt
Great job on another awesome and informative video. Reminds me that my 1979 4400 may still have a few more years left in her. I noticed that you video a lot in Western Kentucky...I assume we are from the same area. I farm over in Caldwell County.
+Commonwealth Farms I am in Christian County. Do you still use your 4400? I would love to film a 4400 to get the complete set from the 3300 to the 7700 on film.
Yes'ir, she gets used every year.
4400 was the first combine that I ever ran
I've progressed over the years....the first combine I ran was a John Deere 30 (pull type). It cut 3 rows of soybeans at a time, planted on 30" rows (everybody planted on 30s back in the 70s around here). The first self propelled combine was a 1962 Gleaner E. My JD 4400 is pretty modern compared to those days.
Our 6600 was a 1973 with a gas engine no airscreen on the side and a hydraulic cylinder to raise and lower the unload auger, all contradictory to this video. But still a very good video thanks for sharing
Do you have one on the F2 gleaner? That was the last combine my grandpa had
I have not located an F2 to film but I am always on the look out.
The international harvester 815 has a 125 bushel grain tank not a 330 bushel grain tank
Wish you would have included the pull type combines in this
I would like to have featured the 6601 unfortunately I have not had the opportunity to film one yet.
Reminds me of watching the farmer where I lived as a kid.
When did A/C become popular in the combines? I see a lot of these are running with open windows. My Grandpa's Gleaner F had a manual unload spout. As a kid; I wasn't able to put it up & down.
I would air Condtioning grew in popularity in the late 60’s and really took off in the mid 70’s.
@@bigtractorpower Thanks, I'm a softy when it comes to hot weather & I love that A/C.
The auger folded HYDRAULICALLY before 1978!! You DID have to manually latch the auger prior to 1978.
The 7700 had hydraulic folding before 1978 but not the 6600 according to the sales literature.
bigtractorpower, YES it did, just not hydraulic latch, I know I work at a deere dealership, I have never seen a manual fold 6600. The 6600SideHill I grew up around was built in 1976 and was hydraulic fold manual latch.
The early build 6600's may very well have been manual, but I know that from 75 up they folded hydraulically but latched manually regardless of what the literature says.There's a very distinct possibility knowing John Deere from working at a dealership they just did not change the wording in the literature they are famous for that they only change what they have to because change costs money, deere likes profits not spending. I'm not knocking your channel at all just trying to make sure that what you say is correct because the 6600 that I grew up around had hydraulic fold and each of them that I've seen back as far as 1975 model year which would have been Built-in 74-late had hydraulic fold but manual latch.
Correction. Introduced in 1970.
The Model 6601 was the 1969 intro.
I have John Deere sales literature on the 00 series dated 1969.
@@bigtractorpower, that's because the catalogs were not only printed in advance, but the one prelude to the intro, did emerge in 1969...the Model 6601.
That's the pull-type of the 6600.
You forgot that Gleaner built the MH/MH2/MH3 machines that were direct competitors to the Deere sidehill versions and of course the N series did not need a sidehill version in most cases.
Wasn't the 6600 sidehill the ground breaker in the hillside combines?
Maybe for corn belt hills . They had self- leveling combines out in Washington since the pull type ones they pulled with Caterpillars.
nice
I have hauled away thousands of bushel from a 6620 and a Titan 7720 or 40. They could harvest a lot of grain for their size.
Great video, I didn’t know the 78 model 6600’s had a hydraulic swing auger. I thought all the 00 series were manual fold.
Back Farms must be a 78 then.
All of the 6600 had hydraulic swing. The pre 1978 were manual latched. The last year (1978) had an electric over hydraulic latch.
The first combine I drove was a 7700 Turbo. Had 2. Diesels, AC.
Must have been 78s, hydraulic swing.
I sure miss ours not sure of what year it's was had to be a 78 tho
Farmers with 1300 acres or less of corn and soybeans could use one of the older combines with a 6 row corn head and as close to a 30 foot wide reel head as possible and be more profitable.
Don't forget the Massey (10) series. Only combines I've ever ran in my life were a 510 Massey and new Holland 1400. Those are as unique as those whites and Molines
+Garrett Salsbury I completely agree plus the Ford 642. I just don’t have any video footage of a classic Massey, New Holland or Ford. Hopefully I can find some to film.
Whenever I get back farming with the 1400 I'll let you know the our 510 gone now. But I think one our our neighbors still runs one with a gas motor
I agree with the Massey. In addition to our JD 45, we added a 410 Massey in the early 70’s. Thought we were big farmers then!
From what I was told as a kid there was nothing that could come close to keeping up with the 510 for a couple years when they first came out. And we have run ours with a 14ft head (fairly small for that machine) at 6mph and still didn't lose any grain. Except through the licence plates and silicone patches on the belly lol
Don't forget the Ford 620, 630, and 640, which were rebranded Claas combines imported from Germany. Ford and Claas discovered a loophole in the import tax laws at that time-- Claas could manufacture a combine 95% complete (less the engine) in Germany, ship it to the US, and import it as "parts" since it was not a complete runnable machine. Ford then installed their engines (either the 300 cubic inch industrial inline 6 cylinder gasoline engine (same as the F-100 pickups, but with cylinder sleeves) or a 4 cylinder diesel) and repainted them Ford Power Blue and added their own number and stickers to them and sold them as Ford 640 combines. We ran a Ford 640, with the 300 c.i. I-6 gasoline engine, and an 18 foot platform head, which was a BIG head back in '72! The 630 was a little smaller for a 13-15 foot head, and the 620 was smaller yet for a 10-12 foot head. There were a couple of other Fords, a 630 run by some farmers/custom cutters about 20 miles north of us, and a 640 run by some kin folks of my seed/chemical/fertilizer dealer over near Inez, Texas, about 70 miles away. Dad and Grandpa paid for that machine in less than two years doing custom cutting of grain sorghum. We could combine stuff nobody else could get. A big farmer planted a bunch of river bottom flood plain ground in grain sorghum one year-- the prices for sorghum was REALLY good in the early-mid 70's, back before Carter's grain embargo against the Soviets collapsed the grain markets and precipitated the general farm economy collapse of the 80's. Anyway, this guy had planted several thousand acres of sorghum (this was back when most farmers were still running just a couple hundred acres or so mostly) and it "got away from him" and morning glory vines took over the fields just before harvest due to excess heat and wet weather. There was a LOT of grain out there, but the morning glory vines had climbed the stalks and crossed the rows and wove themselves together like a mat... making most machines incapable of harvesting it. The guy put out the word to anybody wanting to do some custom harvesting that they'd get paid for as much as they could harvest, so Dad and Grandpa drove the Ford 640 20 miles over there and got to work. That morning there were probably a half-dozen to a dozen different combines lined up to take to the field. Everything from Deere's and IH's to Gleaners and Olivers, Massey's, White, you name it. They all started off and the vines simply choked up most of the combines. After a couple tries Dad got the hang of it and figured out how to keep the Ford from plugging up, for the most part.
Unlike all the other combines on the market at that time, the Ford/Claas machine had two things going for it. First, the cylinder was a smaller diameter with six rasp bars and was wider than most other threshing cylinders in competitive machines, like Deere and others that used a larger diameter threshing cylinder that was narrower. This kept the mat of incoming material spread out and thinner, and the smaller diameter cylinder was easier to turn at a given threshing RPM than the larger cylinder (less torque required for the smaller cylinder). Claas also designed in a twin variable-speed cast-iron pulley system with two large V-belts running about 6 inches apart to give variable speed drive to their cylinder, where most competitive combines of that era used only a larger single belt with variable speed, or required changing sprockets to set the cylinder speed. Claas also extended the cylinder shaft about a foot out away from the right side of the machine out over the drive tire, and put a big cast-iron "turning block" on the end of it-- this not only gave a way to easily "bar the combine over backwards" to back out slugs if the cylinder and feederhouse DID plug up, but it also acted as a flywheel to help conserve momentum in the cylinder when a slug entered the threshing cylinder and concave, helping "beat it on through". Secondly, the Ford/Claas machine used a lever just below the seat to set the concave clearance quickly "on the go"... Other machines of that era used either fixed concaves that the clearance was adjusted with box wrenches on either side of the machine between crops, or like Deere, a small "crank wheel" beside the operator station that moved the concave like 1/8 inch per turn or whatever for 'on the go' adjustments. Dad found that when the cylinder started vibrating from a slug of vines entering it, he could reach down and throw the concave lever all the way down "wide open" and the slug would roll on through the cylinder/concave and be thrown onto the straw walkers, and then he could pull the concave lever right back up after a couple seconds or so to the "third notch" (regular setting for threshing sorghum) in the quadrant and go right on combining without missing a beat...
Other machines that lacked the features, particularly the lever-adjusted concave, would quickly get a slug hung in the cylinder and concave, and would plug up. They would then spend minutes to hours cleaning the trapped vines and mess out of the cylinder and feederhouse, since reversers were nonexistant on ANY machines at that time. When Dad and Grandpa DID "slug the machine" and had to stop, a 6 foot iron prybar in the cast iron turning block on the end of the cylinder shaft made it easy to turn the thresher backwards, expelling the slug back down the feederhouse and out under the auger, like a manual-powered reverser... so they could be back to work in a matter of minutes without having to pull shields and covers and trying to turn the machine over by hand by the pulleys with little/no leverage. The ability to throw the concave open to expel potential slugs of vines before they plugged the machine meant they were going a LOT longer than competitive machines.
Basically, by lunchtime or early afternoon, everybody else had had enough and were sick and tired of fighting the vines plugging up their combines, so they quit and left the job to Dad and Grandpa... The old Ford could cut up to 13 railroad cars of grain per day in good conditions if you kept her running nonstop and had enough trucks to haul the grain away to the elevators... IIRC at the time the Ford/Claas 640 was the largest combine you could buy in North America (1972).
We still have the old Ford 640. With Carter's grain embargo collapsing grain prices in the US in the late 70's, Grandpa planted his last sorghum crop in 79 or 80 IIRC. Dad was working full time by then and Grandpa wasn't particularly mechanically inclined, and complained the sample was lousy and he was getting docked heavily for light test weight/foreign matter, but didn't know how to fix it. We already grew mostly cotton and he was just rotating sorghum anyway to "rest the land" and with the price collapse, the next year we went all cotton and planted nothing but cotton for the next 10 years or so. In the mid 90's sorghum prices recovered and cotton expenses grew to the point I wanted to rotate in sorghum again, and try soybeans and corn as well. I fired up the old 640 that had been sitting in the barn, unstarted since about 85 after Grandpa died in 83... Dad would fire it up once a year and drive it around just to "blow the dust out" but hadn't started it since 85-86, when I fired it up again and got it ready to harvest in the mid-90's. Ran like a top and the problem Grandpa had was a rubber flap that connected the cleaning fan to the cleaning shoe had come loose and dropped into the airflow path from the fan to the shoe, cutting off most of the cleaning air, allowing a lot of crap to get to the clean grain tank. Fixed that and it ran like a champ! We harvested grain with it until the early 2000's when we quit row cropping and went all cow/calf with both our farms. It's still in the barn, though a couple Gulf storms/hurricanes have busted the barn down around it...
Now they don't even build a combine that small anymore...
Later! OL J R :)
I ran it would brake down frequently the main shaft had snapped I had no support replaced it
My grandfather had one
The most popular combines around my way in Oxfordshire England in the 60s -70s were Massy Ferguson ,Class and Clayson now New Holland
Very cool combines. I would really like to find a New Holland Clayson built combine to film here. They were sold as the New Holland 985 in red here in the U.S.
didn't mention the track feature they offerd
If I could find a 6600 on I would love to film it. When I was growing up a farm in town had a 7700 Turbo and a 7720 Turbo on steel tracks. Today they run an S680 on tracks. This video compiled machines I have filmed. The story could be even better if I could film a 6602 and a 6601. They are just very hard to find working these days. I am not sure people would like just seeing scans of brochures.
We still running a Titan II
Excellent. Had a 7720 Titan II. Loved it.
heir Schneider good to see a few ppl still have them
I have a 6600 combine its in fair shape runs good but we dont use it anymore
Awesome! Would you be willing to sell?
The Massey Ferguson 750 was a competitor to the 6600 also
+generationll yes it was. I wish I could
have included one but unfortunately I have not found one to film. I knew this comment would be made. I wish I could find a Ford 642 and a New Holland 985 or 1500 to make a complete 70’s line up.
They cannot hold a candle to The IH Axial Flow Combines.
I love these combines,but YOU MISSED A MAJOR Competitor Massey 510 was huge in the 70,sand 410,550,750. I've owned the M2 and three 6600's and the Deere is superior in every way except the hopper and unload auger and header attachment
Massey is very important in this story but unfortunately I have not found a 510 to film to include. I included combines I have found in person to film to help tell the story.
it's my birthday!
+Jonathan Lamping happy birthday.
Wasn’t there also an 8800?
No 8800 just the 7700 Turbo. There was an 8820 Turbo and 8820 Titan II.
You totally skipped massy fergsun 750s and 760s they were twice the combine that John Deere was
Unfortunately I have not found a 750 or 760 to film. I very much want to. I like Massey combines. With out footage of a 750/760 I could not reference it. I hope to find one in the future. It’s too on my combine wish list. O like this generation because they have Massey Harris yellow wheels.
I have a fleet of the 760s and a 860 I got to go and resurrect. I just drove one 220 km to get it home ran like a charm
If you want I’ll be harvesting a couple hundred acres with mine this fall I could send you the raw footage plus some drone footage if your interested
big engine 6600 akia 404 engine was best. 329 barely could handle a 6 row head
we tried it
I miss the old J.I. Case combines and tractors.
+Jim D me too. First farm machine I ever took a ride in was a Case 1060. I filmed a 960 this year. I hope to find more Case combines to film in 2018.
what about massey
Unfortunately I have never filmed a 750 or 850. It’s very high on my wish list to film. I just have never come across one.
I wish that 815 was on fire in the video. fire was chronic problem with 815& 915. they were not good combines
Hermosas maquinas, pero y los subtitulos en español no estarian mal.
big engine akia 404 6600 best. 6600 with 329 can hardly handle 643
6600 sure was noisy. and there was no buddy seat. very uncomfortable for a kids wanting to ride with dad.
The first buddy seat was introduced in 1966 on the Ford 640 combine. It was not until Deere introduced the Maximizer combines in 1989 that buddy seats became main stream. Buddy seats sure make it easy to film in the cab. Older machines are super tight beyond the drivers seat.
96/48/69
First
This J.D.6600 is in excellent shape,the owner has taken really care of it.