I ran this JD 36 three seasons 85, 86,and 87, this machine was a pleasure to run! After we put the feeder assist on it got even better, it did a real good job of saving grain and would make a clean sample a whole lot better than a lot of modern machines can do. I have cleaned seed from a lot of different machines and none can do any better than a JD 36! It rarely broke down and if it did you could just about fix anything with a 10 and a 12 inch crescent and a pair of pliers. I quit running it because of some other things but I still have it and hope to get it running again, they are one damm fine machine! Today’s farm equipment engineers need to go BACK and take some lessons from the past and make something that a farmer can buy and repair without breaking the bank or needing an electronic degree. I bought it from the original owner I think they paid about $3750.00 for it with the extreme side hill. Fred and his wife Marian ran this harvesting about a 1000 acres a year during the war while his brother Harold was in the Army for WW2 this was when we had Tough Men and Women!!!  A Time I don’t think we will ever see Again.  17afarmer

I turned the picture for you. I agree with you, not all changes are good.
Craig
 

I can barely remember the 36's here in the rice - Massey Harris was one of the first "push rigs" and then the JD 55 came along. Many used the Massey to "open up", the first pass along the levee's (checks as we called them). Both the Massey and JD 55 were tracked machines, the JD 55 using Caterpillar D2 tracks.

If memory serves correctly - JD made a 17 -- very similar to a 36 but 17 had straw walkers, 36 - rattle rake?

One farmer in the southern end of Colusa County told about having the combines on sleds - these were placed beneath the machine to allow them to be pulled through the mud where wheels would just bog down. That was indeed long before laser leveled fields and the crops were of taller stature and longer growing season. He spoke of cutting rice in standing water - I would like to see one of these modern machines do that - computer would have fits!

The harvest crews were tough people - no cabs, tough conditions, long hours.

I.G. Zumwalt Co. had a "bone yard" that was packed with the pull rigs - some sixties and some sixty conversions along with a lot of other "junk". Of course, there were many other pieces of equipment but those stick out in my memory.

Today - I wish I had the foresight to take pictures of that long gone era and equipment.

CTS

Thanks for the memory. There are a couple of old JD green pull combines out here in the rice country, not sure which model, seem to be fully intact. Maybe thankful reminders of the owners how well they served them prior to the monster track machines available today, as I know some had scrapped out other iron, but would not have their employees take a torch to any of them. I really like seeing the track pads shined up from the straw. BP mentioned to me about some guys coming from WA just to play in the slop too; skids worked better that the wheel on one side? Yes, precision farming and advances in rice varieties have allowed many to minimize water use and "cut" rice on perfectly level fields. Ahh, the good old days. JM

Yes the good old days. My dad an uncle ran a JD 36b until 80 or 81. In 65 or 66 the help got mononucleosis in the middle of the season, so they bought another 36 that had auto leveling and header had a air ram to lift and lower. So the man on combine was eliminated. My uncle was talented as a fabricator, and added a ladder from the front of hitch to the existing operator platform. Much shorter route to the main clutch on the separator and control of the unloading auger. Also he had a rope to the throttle. They talked of adding another air ram to engage the clutch but never did it.

They always ran that combine. I only remember running it a half hour or so in tall standing barley. As there are rocks and more rocks around here and picking one up was a major problem. So at 16 I was the truck drive in 1972 with a 48 and 49 Ford F6's.

The tractor of choice was always a Cat RD 6. But they did put the Cat 35 D on it at times.

From being around the 36 I know green weeds were to be avoided if at all possible, as there were several places they liked to rap and then plug. So I would think rice would not be a good combination with a 36. But from being the truck driver and seeing what others brought to town, what the JD 36 put out always looked very good.