Deere 7700 Combine Converted To Grain-Hauling "Monster"

Deere 7700 Combine Converted To Grain-Hauling "Monster" GRAIN HANDLING Wagons (63E) 23-5-44 "I can run full throttle across the rows, loaded with 600 bu., and not leave a track," says Jim Henning, Hennepin, Ill., about his "Corn Monster" self-propelled grain cart that he built out of a 1973 Deere 7700 combine and a 600-bu. Kill Bros grain cart. Henning works full-time in construction and farms 900 acres, so time is at a premium. "The self-propelled cart is much easier to maneuver alongside the combine, much easier to unload, and it moves fast. I have a J&M 750 bu. grain cart parked in the shed that I only used one season. I'm going to trade it off because this worked out so well." FARM SHOW has featured other self-propelled grain carts made from combines. What makes Henning's machine unique is the way he attached the Kill Bros grain cart to the 7700 combine frame. He first removed the original grain hopper and all grain-cleaning components, leaving the cab and engine in the same place. Then he unbolted the axle from the Kill Bros wagon and mounted the grain box and the wagon frame on back of the Deere frame, building a new frame around it out of 5 by 7-in. square tubing that's welded to the frame of the grain cart. Then he replaced the 7700's original steering axle with an axle off a Deere 7720 combine because it's much heavier. "If I needed to, I could take the Kill Bros wagon off the combine with a cutting torch, remount the axle, and use it again as a pull-type wagon. That's why I used the Kill Bros wagon û because it had a bolt-on axle. I already had a J&M 750 grain cart but the axle on that cart is welded in place. I wasn't 100 percent certain this conversion was going to work so I wanted to have the option of converting back, if necessary," says Henning. He says the "Corn Monster" works better than he ever dreamed it would. It's fitted with oversized flotation tires on front and back. He says visibility for unloading is outstanding thanks to the position of the cab on the left side of the machine. "I can see right into the truck when I unload so it's easy to spread the load around. It takes a lot of the stress out of harvest by making it easy and fun to haul grain," he notes. "The hydrostatic transmission makes it easy to operate." Henning drives the unloading auger off the combine's main drive, via an add-on gearbox and a single drive chain. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jim Henning, RR1, Box 63, Hennepin, Ill. 61327 (ph 815 339-2688).

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