Versatile going back to their old colors

they have been red and black (dunno bout yeller) for years. they's made by the same company as a lot of others, just re-badged.

I wish AGCO would follow suit and give Gleaners white cabs and orange wheels.

I'm curious why you think they are crap?
A Cummins engine and Funk transmission seems pretty reliable to me.
What problems have you seen with the tractors to give you that opinion?
They seem pretty popular here in ND. They have always had a reputation of being simpler then the other brands.

Yea, they look sharp!

I think the old colors are much better looking than the new ones were. They are very reliable tractors. Several around here with over 10k hours and still going strong. We have a 9682 that's turned to 460 hp and it has 6,000 hours on it,,, never had a tap turned on the engine, tranny or hydraulics. It has been a far better tractor than the two stingers we had before.

eighty nine wrote: victoryallis wrote: Limited edition I think. You can paint crap any color still the same inside. , I have owned 4 of them 875,936,9680, 2425. Not a bad one in the bunch. Ran the first 3 well over 6000 hrs. each & had a lot of life left in them.  Have about 3000 on the 2425.  Very reliable power & low repair costs.

My bad I wasn't clear the true Versatiles may have been fine. I have been having issues with a product of the Buehler new age. Piss poor engineering and terrible to deal with on parts.

CrestonM wrote: KY poorboy wrote: I think the old colors are much better looking than the new ones were. x2!!  I always wondered when I get to farming on my own, if I can't find a couple good 4W-305s, what would I get? I had always thought Case, but I guess if Versatiles are as good as you guys say, they might be in the running too!  But...I've never seen a Versatile dealer in Oklahoma. Where do you guys get parts? Do you guys have dealerships close by?

Ever heard of Livingston?

A Russian company owns Buhler/Versatile, I suspect they ship them to the motherland because they are simple to repair.  I've wondered if the Versatile combines are made in Russia?


Edited by JohnCO - 18 Nov 2016 at 1:42am

I saw the combines in their video, and wondered what the heck that was all about. I do remember Versatile did build a pull type combine back in the 80's, but most stayed in Canada I'd imagine. Maybe they were outsourced then too? I really don't know. Worked on a lot of Versatile tractors back before the Buhler merge, and they were great, simple tractors. I left the dealership right before the 846/876/946/976 were replaced with the 9000 series. 

JohnCO wrote: A Russian company owns Buhler/Versatile, I suspect they ship them to the motherland because they are simple to repair.  I've wondered if the Versatile combines are made in Russia?

And getting parts is like dealing with Stalin himself.

i always liked the old paint scheme the best.      all the old versitiles around here are running not parked,   but dont see any new ones around 

According to the Versatile website, there are two dealers in Colorado, Leon Atkins in extreme NE corner of the state and Prospect Equipment, in Prospect Valley about 30 miles east of me.  I deal with them occasionally for tillage parts, have a good selection of plow parts for all brands, even AC.  There are a few newer Versatile tractors around here and if you include Ford 4 wheel drives, probably more then any other brand.  Not all that many 4x4's here anyway.  I'm pretty sure I have the only Allis 4x4 (7580) in the county.
The Versatile combine has an interesting cylinder system, wonder how it holds up, also what rocks would do to it.

Prospect is where I lived, and worked years ago. I missed all the new D-6 teething pains. When I started there I got to hear lots of stories about windows falling out, but don't really remember what the other problems were. I think it was kind of a big deal for them though, since they sold some of the very first 956's off the line, and they were for Kalcevic Farms who bought 17. So, for a small place like prospect to handle lots of warranty problems, they stayed busy lol! I was still in high school when that all went down. I remember seeing all the new tractors in and out of there, as well as all the 895's they traded in for the 956's. I don't imagine there's many Versatiles over in Boulder, but you go out east into wheat country, they used to be everywhere. We had a few customer buy 555's at sales, or what not, and use it like an 850, and have all sorts of problems. The 555 is made to pull a 12 row cultivator, or a grain cart, or planter. They are a row crop tractor, that people would use like a heavy tillage tractor because it's a Versatile. Well, the 500/555 is a very different tractor. Small inboard planetary final drives with adjustable bar axles, a 15 speed transmission with live pto through it, and a wet clutch pack. And of course, we can't forget to mention the great 555 turbo engine! lol!

I drove past Kelcevic's last July and it looks like they have gone to CaseIH.  Saw some combines and CIH 4 wheel tractors on grain carts.  I remember the ad in the Farm Journal of the Versatile's all in a row.
There was one new one here about 8 years ago but he retired or moved east.  The place is being farmed with a Blue one and a 895 maybe, belongs to Keith Bateman.

In my early farming days had a Versatile 5000 combine. It was a simple machine with a hydro transmission and a gas engine. Very simple machine with all off the shelf belts and bearings. Parts were cheap and there wasn't a bearing on whole machine that took more than an hour to replace.  I particularlly remember the 2 massey 44 mufflers it used a unique sound and red hot in the dark. If they would have made this combine bigger and put in a diesel engine it would have been around for a long time.