The last combine I owned was a John Deere 95. It was a decent enough combine for what I need, but you couldnt get parts. If you guys had the urge to cut some grass seed on the stump. What combine would you be looking at? Maybe something built in the 80's would still be serviceable.
Needs to be small enough to fit through 16ft gates.
Capable of grass seed.
Only plan to do 40-200 acres a year.
Probably JD or Gleaner, just for parts availability.
Bonus points if it's a pull type. Never been around 1, but my tractor is reliable and it seems like 1 less engine, battery, and tires to worry about.

Just throw some ideas out, I'll look for examples on tractorhouse.

First thoughts were JD 4400 or Gleaner F. Lots of those runnig the fescue fields when I was a pup.

Those are good, Maybe an IH 715

Didn’t know pull types were made anymore

Newest 1 I've seen was probably a 80's model IH... it was being pulled by an 86 series IH tractor, so same Era. Pull type probably isn't feasible.

I would advise you not to get one of these:

Lol. I had one like that up above. Edk

John Deere is the worst for getting parts, why is that?

I wouldn't say that. It's just that the 45-55-95-105 series and the old pull type 30s, really most of the ones I've been around were built in the 50s or 60s... it's an obsolete problem, not a JD problem. Not like people are restoring these and cruising them in parades.

Those old JD 30s had a 5 ft cutter bar. They would look like a June bug next to a new combine.

The guys that around here that combined the grass seeds always said that JD combines were the worst for doing that. If I remember correctly, it had something to do with the way the threshing mechanisms were designed. Massey and Gleaners were okay.

As far as a dependable machine, those JD 4400's were among the best.

Going to bump this for the western crowd. Might start calling around to dealers tomorrow, ask the parts counter what they think.

A lot of them did not like the rotary throat design. For fescue seed purpose. But I think there was more to it than that how the rotary throat was designed and other stuff that I really don't know. The old gleaners is all I ever used for fescue. Most complaints were with the early John Deere rotary throats. I have neighbors that use newer big deers and don't complain about it and new gleaners. The generation of like the 4400s to like the 4420s is what I hear the most complaints about

My buddy said they used John Deere conventionals over in Oregon for grass seed.

F2

All I know about combines is that I do not want to own one and that old time conventional combines make for way better straw bales.

Now there is something that I hadn't even considered, that point weighs in on my bullshit operation.

I'm thinking the Gleaner F2 and JD 4420 might be the sweet spot for reasonable size, parts, something I can work on.

That gives me a good place to start. I got to hatching this plan a couple weeks ago. Seems everyone that knows anything about combining fescue is dead. Used to be big business here before it all went to Oregon.

I never drove but one Gleaner, and that was back in the late 70's, cutting soybeans. I am 6'4" and weighed around 200 lbs at that time. Not much elbow room in the cab. miles