Gleaner N series

[IH466]

Why do they get such a bad rep? Is it all true? should i stay
away from them?Any personnel experiences on them? Any
information on them would be greatly appercatied
 

[JMS/.MN]

First N series, the N5? Lots of factory updates. Would I buy one? NO!!!, and anyone here knows I'm a Gleaner fan! It's like buying a 1960 Corvair...BTDT! Later Gleaner rotaries.....heck yeah!
 

[IH466]

What's goes so wrong with them?
 

[JMS/.MN]

Pretty much everything that moves.
 

[Grampy]

We have owned a N6 for 7 years, after 2011 season, we parked it - will probably have to sell for parts or just scrap it. Thats due to the outrageous cost of parts it needs and the engine is getting weak. It always was somewhat underpowered ( previous owner said same thing ), was always hard to keep cool - radiator was cleaned inside and out when we first bought it. had to be blown out every morning. When the ambient got above 90, just had to slow down and let engine temp dictate speed.
This machine seems to work better in a heavy crop, we always got a cage sweep warning when running in light stuff - never figured that out. We ran it with a neighbors JD 9500 once, of course the JD beat it, but didn't shame it. When everything was right, it would cut a lot wheat. right now it's problem is on the drive end of the hydrostat, Agco calls it a quill, we need both the driver and the pump input shaft. Agco's price on the driver alone was $2500. You could put that thing in an old fashioned lunch box,. Parts man at dealership couldn't believe it either, just not that much iron or machining involved for that price. Called a couple of junkyards, of course they want 1/2 of new - still to much for that part. Parts man and I both thought $600 would be all it should be worth. that's just an example - seems like everything that we tried to get from AGCO was priced out of reach. So here we set with a machine that has been well cared for, most of the belts are near new, tires are excellant and just the few parts it needs to go back to work are out of reach !! Ken
 

[Averyman]

We have run a '83 N-6 for two years now with no problems except a broken rear spindle.. Going to hyperize it this season with modified P3 processor and modified helicals.They have lots of potential to increase capacity with a few modifications. The early N-6s had problems which gave them a bad name, mainly the high reving engine which usually blew up at about 1000 hrs. Once they slowed down the rpm's the engines seem to be quite durable. No problem with cooling. I agree that parts are pricey but that seems normal for all equipment nowadays...
 

[Grampy]

Mines also an '83 - want another one ??
 

[Daled2]

What year is yours. Where are you located and what would you want for it?
 

[dboll]

yeah, we know that but won't hold it against you! A family not too far bought a new N6 and finally gave up on it and got an L3. Some R series are getting reasonable and have a pretty good reputation. The only negative thing I have heard was that the feeder house on the R50 was too small.
 

[JMS/.MN]

Thanks, forum bud- seems like every color has an orphan child in one machine or another. Some go beyond being an orphan, they are a bxxtard! Yeah, N5 would be that guy!
 

[dboll]

I typed that with a smile on my face! The biggest problem with a Gleaner around here is lack of dealers, the closest is Madison, Mn-70 miles or so, some used to go to Westbrook, Mn. A Massey is no better, 80 miles or more to Hull, Ia. I still have a few Olivers, long trip to Sheldon, Ia! I don't know who agco thinks they are going to sell their stuff to with few dealers in western, Mn or the Dakota's.
 

[ihman73]

They have the same problem in IL. They have a few good dealers but our local Massey dealer is useless. We replaced our White 12 row with a 1780 JD because of this. The N series I was told by an old AC mechanic came out with an egg shaped rotor cage and wouldn't give a passable sample along with the engine trouble. The AC dealers were drying up around here about that time and that sped it up. I personally thought it was a silly design to begin with, why carry the crop almost all the way to the back of the machine before threshing it. They had the same problem as the New Holland Twin Rotor machines. Rotary machines were supposed to be simpler than walker machines and have more separating area than a comparable walker machine and they didn't. White and IH got it right, then MF bought White's design and later Deere copied from both of them. The Deutz engines after the merger weren't exactly a selling point in my opinion either.
 

[Averyman]

When I bought my 83 N-6 at auction four different N-6 owners came over afterwards to congratulate me and give me some pointers. All were happy with their machines and some of them had run up pretty high hours. Not everyone hates them....
 

[GreenEnvy]

If you think about it, any N series that has made it to this day was one of the few good ones. We never owned Gleaners but our custom cutter that cut for us did and they almost broke them. Also, at least around here you will find most N series with alot fewer hrs then other combines of that era like JD 8820s and IH 1480s series which tells me they don't run long between breakdowns. They are a good product now but there was nothing that did more damage to a companies market share from a product stand point then the N series.