Last fall grain grower Corey Loessin of Radisson, Sask. posted images on social media of his restored John Deere 55 combine harvesting a few acres of crop. The video caught our attention, so we asked Corey to tell us about how he came to acquire the old combine and how the restoration went.
Here’s what he had to say:
The combine is a 1967 John Deere 55. It was originally purchased from Kaul’s Farm Service in Radisson [about 60 km northwest of Saskatoon] by my neighbour. I have a copy of the original bill of sale. $9,400 was the price, although they traded another combine in on this one.
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I purchased some land from this neighbour about 10 years ago, and rent the remainder of his land. This combine was sitting in an old shed in his yard, and I always thought it looked rather nice. The shed was kinda falling down on top of the combine, and the roof was only partially covering it — which resulted in some rusted areas that needed repair.
One fall I did some D7 dozer work for the owner, filling in an unused dugout in his field, and rather than take payment for the work, I suggested I take the combine home instead.
The next summer, we went and freed the machine from the resting shed, which included cutting some trees away from the entrance. Surprisingly, both drive tires were still full of air, and the rear tires were low but just needed inflation and they all hold air now! It was parked in the spot since 1980, when the owner bought a new one and kept the old one in case the new one gave trouble. So, it had not moved or run for 42 years.
We towed it home to our yard, and late that fall, towed it into the shop to look it over and see what all it might need to get the engine running. Fortunately, the engine was not seized up and had reasonably good oil in it with no moisture. We removed the two six-volt batteries, replaced the cables, put a 12-volt truck battery on and got it to turn over. Then [we] changed all the spark plugs, points and condenser and cleaned the carburetor. This was the first old-style-ignition engine my son (25) had seen, so it was a learning event for him to help do these repairs.
With some priming, we managed to get the engine to fire and come back to life. We didn’t run it long at first since the radiator was very corroded at the base, wouldn’t hold coolant, and the water pump seized up.
We got the radiator rebuilt in the city and got a water pump kit, gaskets, new hoses from John Deere. Amazing that you can still get most of the parts for this machine — some only had to come from Regina. That was about all we did the first fall. Likely spent about three or four days working on it but once it was running and driving, then we didn’t start on the rest till this past summer.
Like many projects, there is always more that needs to be done than it first appears.
Turns out the combine hadn’t been cleaned that completely when it was parked, so over time, moisture combined with dirt, grain and straw caused many areas to rust. Most of the roller chains were quite rusty and we replaced almost all of them. The belts are all original, as in “have green paint on them” original — clearly different quality than some of what is made today.
This model machine has a drag chain under the cylinder to take the threshed grain back toward the sieves — that chain was rusted solid. With a lot of diesel fuel and persuasion, we did get it turning again. Most of the work was making and replacing metal on the clean grain auger trough, the clean grain elevator, the returns elevator and the grain hopper. We formed all these pieces out of sheet metal, and my son Aidan is a certified welder so was able to weld in replacement metal where needed. There is still more to do, but the majority is replaced and painted.
Other than the replacement parts, the only other parts we painted were the reel bats. They are fir boards, so not rotten, and a few coats of John Deere yellow and they are quite good, with the worn grooves on the working side from being used on some acres of wheat.
Some of the mechanical linkages for gears, separator clutch et cetera were rusted and immobile. We spent some time disassembling those, cleaning rust off pivot points, and lubricating them so they now work like new. Many moving parts have grease nipples on them, so the machine was definitely built to last (in some areas).
We likely spent about a working week of time on it, during showers through harvest. The goal was to see if we could get it to harvest a few acres this past fall.
We (my son and I) did all the work ourselves. Other than getting the radiator rebuilt, and buying a replacement operator’s seat, almost everything else we made.
Why do this? Hard to answer that. I guess initially thought it would be fun to see if it was possible.
Fortunately, the machine was complete and not missing any parts, so that made it much simpler. Also, restoring a combine seems a little different than, say, a tractor. Many people seem to undertake tractor projects, but fewer do combines. I thought it would be a fun father-son project and a good learning opportunity for him to see how some of this older equipment is made. I had never harvested with an open-station machine, and thought that would be a good perspective to have and compare to the comfort and sophistication of our modern combine.
Lastly, I think it’s important to preserve some of this history and respect the farmers that used these machines. The original owner is very pleased to see someone take an interest in it and get it going again. We drove it in the local fair parade, and he was taking lots of pictures.
Anyone could organize a combine demolition derby, and in an hour or less, these machines could be reduced to scrap metal. Spend some time and money, and preserving some of Prairie farming history is a better route for all generations; [it] brings back memories for the older ones and exposes the younger generation to “things weren’t always this easy or comfortable.”
Some things still amaze me about it. The lights work. The gauges (two) work. It has an electric header-feeder house clutch that works. And the engine runs beautifully.
Also interesting: we found out when getting parts that this combine had the engine changed at the dealership while it was still new. John Deere had a program to upgrade from the Hercules gas engine to a JD 303 CI motor with more power.
There is more work to do if the goal is showroom condition. I’m not sure if we will get that far or not. I think I’d like to mechanically restore it to near-new condition. I’m not sure if it will eventually get repainted or not.”
We thank Corey for sharing his story with us and with you, the reader.
Have you restored a vintage farm machine, like Corey and his son did, or know someone who has? If so, let us know, we may be able to highlight those efforts in a similar article here in Grainews. After all, we’re all machinery enthusiasts, right?
