Gleaner Manufacturing Company was the name of a company which made the first self-propelled combine harvesters. They are best known for their production while part of Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company. Gleaners were silver in color, unlike the Allis-Chalmers field tractors, which were unique for their bright orange paint. Gleaners were unique for being the first to use galvanised sheet metal. Gleaning itself is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers’ fields after they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest.
History
Gleaner combines date back to 1923, when the Baldwin Brothers of Kansas, inspired by Jean Francois Millet’s famous 1857 painting, The Gleaners, decided to use the term as the name for their radically redesigned self-propelled harvesting machine. The Baldwin Brothers’ Gleaner incorporated reaping, binding and threshing all into one machine. Gleaner Baldwin Combines of Independence, MO fell into bankruptcy in the 1930s as sales plummeted. William James Brace became the receiver and with his son-in-law, George Reuland and others brought the company back. During WWII, they also produced war-related machinery parts. They were among the pioneers in the “self-propelled” machines, that is combines which had integrated propulsion and were not pulled by tractors. These machines were often considered the “Cadillac” of the industry. Allis-Chalmers purchased Gleaner in 1955 and continued to build the Gleaner machines in Independence, MO. When Allis-Chalmers folded, it became part of Deutz-Allis and in 1991, AGCO (Allis Gleaner Company)was created. The Independence plant was moved to Hesston, Kansas in 2000, near its roots where the Baldwin brothers started.
In 1979, Gleaner released another major innovation, the traversal rotary combine. The N6 was the first such combine produced by Gleaner, followed by the N5 and the N7, the largest combine of its time, with grain headers as big as 30 feet.
Firsts
Some of the firsts introduced by the Gleaner are: an auger that replaced canvas drapers, a rasp bar threshing cylinder instead of a spike-tooth arrangement, and a down-front cylinder that put threshing closer to the crop. In 1972 Gleaner was the first manufacturer to use electro-hydrualic controls,something that other companies didn’t have until 25 years later. It also introduced the use of galvanised sheet metal and the name “GLEANER” – two trademarks that have remained unchanged for over three-quarters of a century.
Allis-Chalmers
In 1955, Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company acquired Gleaner. This was what launched Gleaner into success and the production of numerous new models, as well as a wealth of new technology. Allis-Chalmers is the name under which Gleaners are most well known. These combines superseded the All-Crop Harvesters for Allis-Chalmers.
In 1985, Allis-Chalmers became Deutz-Allis, and Gleaners were produced under that name.This was the start of the dowmfall of the Gleaner combine. Gleaner lost a tremendous amount of market share between 1985 and 2000. They have never recovered. For a full list of Allis-Chalmers tractors please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Allis-Chalmers_tractors
AGCO Allis
In 1991, Deutz Allis became AGCO Allis, and Gleaners were consequently sold under AGCO. In 2000, AGCO moved the Gleaner manufacturing facility to its AGCO facility in order to have a more modern facility and to centralize many engineering and production functions at one location. This facility is located in Kansas, just a few miles away from where Gleaner originated.
Today
Even though Allis-Chalmers aren’t here today, Gleaners are still in production under AGCO, which actually stands for Allis Gleaner Company. The class 8 Gleaner A85 is the largest combine harvester made by Gleaner.
All-Crop Harvester
All-Crop Harvester, or All-Crop Combine, was the name of tractor-drawn, PTO-driven (except the All-Crop 100 and the All-Crop SP100) combine harvesters made by Allis-Chalmers from the mid 1930s to the early 1960s. Aside from small grains, these harvesters were able to harvest some flowers, as well as various grasses and legume crops for seed.
The first combines under that name, the All-Crop 60, had a 60 inch, sickle-bar cutting head, and the popular Model 66 had a 66 inch cutting head.
Many of these units are still in working condition, and they are well-known for their dependability and low maintenance; however, as they are quite small machines (and now very old), they are not practical on today’s large farms. They were superseded by the Allis-Chalmers Gleaner combine harvesters.
All-Crop 40
Specifically designed for the Allis Chalmers Model B and C tractors, this model had a 40-inch cut and could harvest approximately one acre per hour. Produced from 1938 to 1940; only about 15,000 made.
All-Crop 60
Five foot (60-inch) cut; replaced flat belt with Texrope V-belt system. Produced from 1935 to 1949, with over 100,000 produced, this was by far the most popular All-Crop model. Harry C. Merritt and Charles J. Scranton each earned the prestigious Cyrus Hall McCormick Medal of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers for their work on the design of this machine.
All-Crop 60A
Introduced in 1950 as a slightly improved Model 60, ths model was only made until 1952, with about 75,000 built.
All-Crop 66
Introduced in 1953 as seccessor to the 60A, this model featured a 6-inch greater cut than its predecessor. It was on this model that Allis-Chalmers introduced their “Big-Bin” model, which held 25 versus 17 bushels. Produced for six years, 72,839 of ths model were built.
All-Crop 72
On this model, a new header design was implemented; an auger feed instead of a canvas conveyor. Produced from 1959 to 1969, approximately 75,000 of these were built.
All-Crop 90
The largest pull-type All-Crop, this model had a seven and a half foot header and was matched to the Allis-Chalmers D-series tractos. Produced from 1957 to 1960, about 7,540 units of this model produced.
Gleaner A85
All-Crop 100
Powered by an Allis W-226 engine, the 100 could be equipped with a 9-foot or 12-foot header. Weighing in at 6,760 lbs, 4,500 units of this machine were produced from 1953 to 1957. It was replaced by the Super 100 model in 1958.
All-Crop SP100
Essentially the same as the All-Crop 100, te Super 100 had a few more luxuries. It was replaced by the Gleaner series when Allis acquired the Gleaner Harvester Corp. Built only in 1958, there were approximately 1,000 of these machines produced.
Gleaner E
The Gleaner E was a combine harvester manufactured by the Gleaner Manufacturing Company while part of the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company in the 1960s. 17,300 machines were manufactured in total from 1962 to 1969.
These harvesters utilized a 36hp (27 kW) 226 cubic inch (3.7 Litre) 4-cylinder gasoline powered internal combustion engine.
Gleaner A85
The A85 is a Class 8 combine harvester made by Gleaner Manufacturing Company. The A85 is the largest Gleaner made, boasting a 459 horsepower Caterpillar C13 engine. It has a 350 bushel bin capacity, which it can unload in less than 90 seconds; unloading 4.5 bushels per second.
The A85 has a 4-speed hydrostatic rotor drive train. The engine is a 763 cubic inch inline 6-cylinder turbocharged diesel. Production of the A85 has been from 2006 to the present.
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