LET'S TALK RUSTY IRON

- Sam Moore grew up on a farm in western Pennsylvania. He now lives in Salem, Ohio, and collects antique tractors, implements and other related items. Contact Sam by e-mail: letstalkrustyiron@yahoo.com

A Gleaner at a glance

The Gleaner self-propelled harvester-thresher was mounted on a Fordson\tractor, and driven by a shaft connected to the tractor's belt pulley drive. The combine head cut an 8-foot 3-inch swath, which meant the combine harvested 1 acre for each mile the machine traveled. Fordsons could travel about 3 mph in second gear, so about 30 acres , could be harvested in a 10-hour day if conditions were favorable.

Cut grain was carried into the rasp bar cylinder by a spiral auger behind the cutter bar, a feature that didn't come into general use on small combines for another 25 years. The Gleaner is usually pictured with an attached grain bin, but one patent drawing shows a bagging attachment and a seat for the bagger.

Gleaner offered several accessories to make the Fordson perform better with the combine attachment. Extensions to raise both the steering wheel and the seat gave the driver a better view over the header, and got him above some of the dirt and dust. An auxiliary water tank mounted above the hood and radiator increased the tractor's cooling capacity. The 'Camel Clenair' attachment consisted of a long, vertical air intake pipe, complete with cloth filter, to draw clean air into the engine from above the dust zone, while a long, vertical exhaust pipe helped eliminate fire hazards.

The 1928 Bateman Bros. catalog listed the Gleaner self-propelled harvester-thresher at $960 complete (less the tractor), with a net price (perhaps a dealer discount) of $800. In contrast, a Gleaner Baldwin 10-foot pull-type, with a Model T Ford engine, sold for $1,290 or $1,075 net. A six-horse hitch cost an extra $18.