The Gleaner "L" and "M" Combines: New firsts in harvesting

As the 1960's turned into the 1970's, farms were growing in size, and with it came the demand from custom harvesters and larger farmers who were quickly out growing the Gleaner "G" combine. Well it was not long before AC and Gleaner answered the call with two new combine models with a lot of new innovations.


The Model "L" Gleaner:

The Model "L" Gleaner was introduced in 1972 and took over the title of "Flagship of the Silver fleet" from the Model "G" Gleaner. The "L" was the largest conventional combine built to date by Gleaner. The "L" was designed to handle grain heads from 13- 24 feet wide, while it was able to handle 4,6,or an 8 row corn head. One of the biggest changes on the new "L" and "M" Gleaner was the more modern and updated cab, which featured new electric over hydraulic controls. With the push of a electric rocker switch, nearly every function on the combine could be changed on the go, with out stopping. The new electronic "state of the art" "Tattletale" electronic monitoring system was introduced, in which sensors alerted the operator to such issues as an open rock trap, or a plugged separator. It was really an advanced system, made to make the farmers life much simpler. Gleaner also introduced the famous "Swivel" unloading auger design on both the "L" and "M" combines. The Swivel design unloading auger has since become the trade mark on Gleaners. The design has proven so successful, that todays modern Gleaner S9 series still use the same basic design. The Grain bin capacity of the Gleaner "L" held 120 bushels which made it one of the largest in the industry at the time.
Like the previous "G" Gleaner, the "L" and "M" combines featured a Walker style separation, in which the width of the Separator on the "L" was 53 inches while it had a length of 216 inches. While the diameter of the cylinder remained the same size as the "G", the width of the cylinder on the "L" Gleaner was increased to 48 inches, from the 44 inch cylinder width in the "G".
Total Area in the new Gleaner "L" combine 11,634 square inches, while total cleaning area was at 5,525 square inches, which was 1,387 square inches bigger in cleaning area over the "G". This new bigger combine was exactly what the larger farmers and custom operators were looking for. For engine options in the "L" Gleaner, it was offered with a Chevy V8/350 cubic inch gas engine that put out 120HP, or the Farmer could choose the Allis Chalmers 6 cylinder/ 301T cubic inch Diesel engine option that put out 109 HP. Both the "M" and "L" offered the same engine options.

For Transmissions, the Gleaner "L" was available with the standard gear transmission which had 5 forward, and 1 reverse gear, or the optional Hydro- traction Hydrostatic transmission. By the early 70's, Hydro transmissions in combines were starting to take off, especially for the custom harvesters.
The "L" Gleaner was truly the new Flagship of the line up, and it remained in production until 1976 when the "L2" replaced it for the 1977 Harvest season.


The Model "M" Gleaner:

The Model "M" Gleaner was introduced a year after the "L" in 1973 and it would remain in production until the end of 1976 when it was replaced by the "M2" Gleaner for 1977. The "M" Gleaner featured all the new features as its slightly bigger brother. Although it could only run grain heads up to 22 feet, While only a 4 and 6 row corn head was an option for the machine. The width of the cylinder in the "M" Gleaner was 8 inches smaller then the "L" Gleaner. The bin capacity of the "L" Gleaner was at 105 bushels. Total area for the Gleaner "M" was at 9,850 square inches, while the total cleaning area was at 4,667 square inches, which was 529 square inches bigger then the total cleaning area in the "G". The engine options between the "L" and "M" were pretty much the same, as well as Transmissions. The Farmer could choose a 5 Forward, 1 Reverse gear transmission or the optional Hydro- traction transmission.


The biggest new features and important milestones that Gleaner set with the "L" and "M" combines, was the introduction of electronics to the harvesting world with push button controls on the "L" and "M", plus the new tattletale electronic monitoring system which was an industry first. The new swivel unloading auger was also a big improvement as the operator could now swing the unloading auger in and out with a push of a button from the cab. There was no more need to climb out of the cab and pull out the unloading auger manually and lock it into place, like was found on the previous Gleaner machines. This new feature was a time saver, and eventually the swivel auger design worked its way down to the smaller "F2" and "K2" combines when they were released. The "L" and "M" combines were another example as to how Gleaner led the way into harvesting history.