Choosing the Right Combine Header - Successful Farming

No matter what type of header you're looking for, you want one that handles a wide range of field conditions, maximizes field time, and improves productivity while capturing the greatest amount of crop possible. Ultimately, the header you chose should enhance the features of your combine.

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There are many choices. So consider these five factors before you purchase, especially if the header is used or not built by the combine manufacturer.

1. Crop Harvesting.

Because companies build headers in a variety of configurations that cater to specific crops, determine what you intend to feed through the head.

"Ask yourself what crop you'll be harvesting and how you want to harvest it," says Kelly Kravig, Case IH product planning manager for combines and headers.

Earl Knuth, ag technology manager for Machinery Link, agrees. "For example, if it's wheat, will it be harvested as a standing crop, windrowed, or with a stripper header?"

2. Combine Size.

It's important to get a header that will utilize the capacity of your combine.

"Too many growers will buy too small a head because that's what they can get through their gate," says Knuth. "If you take a big combine and put a smaller head on it, you've lost the capacity of the combine because you have to adjust your combine for the smaller amount of crop coming into the machine."

He says if you're paying for a 300-hp. engine, you need to utilize all of that power to optimize fuel efficiency.

"I spend more time listening to what customers are trying to do and figuring out which head is going to fit best into their operation for the size machine they have," says Kravig.

3. Compatibility.

"Make sure – especially with the electronics on machines today – the header has electronics on it to be able to do what the combine's capacity offers and that the combine will recognize that head," notes Knuth. "Computers in combines are so sophisticated that they may not talk to each other – even ones within the same company."

When buying a used head, compatibility is one thing you have to be particularly careful about. "If you plan to buy used, find out what the header was on last, what it was set for, and what crops the previous owner used it on," Knuth notes. "Anybody can build an adapter to fit, but sometimes the electronics won't work."

For instance, machines like MacDon and Honey Bee have different adapters that adapt the header to a specific combine model. So make sure you get the right adapter for the header.

4. Transport.

"Transporting harvesting equipment, including headers, is becoming more important. In some cases, it's more difficult for producers with increased travel distances between fields and with the larger width and sizes of front-end equipment," says John Deere's Kim Cramer.

As an example, Knuth says if you have a 40- or 45-foot header trailer, make sure you can turn it into a driveway. "I would definitely recommend investing in a header trailer. The trailers today are easy to use and can handle almost any brand of header. They run about $5,000 to $7,000," he notes.

Some headers offer an optional transport package that gives you the ability to put wheels down and attach the header to the back of the combine.

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5. The Whole Operation.

A key factor often overlooked is the overall capacity of the harvest system already in place. "What does the rest of your operation look like? If you buy this big new combine and header, are you ready to handle what goes along with it?" asks Kravig. "How many grain carts do you need? How many trucks do you have? If you dry corn, what is your dryer capacity and what is your elevator capacity to put the crop in the bin?"

You don't want a bottleneck to occur because the rest of your operation can't keep up with the combine.

Tracking trends

Larger combines and plant genetics are driving current trends in the industry.

"As you move to larger combines, you also move to wider platforms. As a result, the need to cut consistently low over the entire width of the head grows more important," says Cramer.

"While draper platforms have grown in popularity due to smoother feeding, you also need to consider which platform design (auger or draper) provides the best or lowest cut to harvest all your crops, especially in rolling terrain. A rigid, hinged, or flexible cutterbar design and the type of header height sensing system on the header play important roles in determining whether you are able to obtain the type of performance required from the header," Cramer says.

Chopping corn heads are also seeing an increase in sales.

"Because of residue management, chopping corn heads are starting to catch on in certain areas," says Knuth. "Producers are trying to cut down on field passes and figure they are already there so they may as well chop the stalks. But it will increase fuel costs and decrease capacity because a chopping corn head will take an additional 6 hp. to 10 hp. per row."

Depending on the type, size, and configuration expect to pay anywhere from $25,000 to $150,000 for a header.

The 18 foot SR and 20 foot SR were by far the most popular models built. The machine was designed for use in both wheat and rice. The cross sectional diagram below shows that the rotor feeds the crop back onto draper belts which then feed the material back to an uncovered auger.
The SR was a very successful model and most of the original machines are still in the field today. A strong demand for a wider machine as well as customer concerns over the durability of the draper belts (mostly due to rodent damage incurred over the winter) meant that the SR range was discontinued in .

The RX was introduced as a dedicated rice header. A steel shaker pan replaced the conveyor belts as a means of transferring the wet heavy rice material from the stripping rotor to the auger. This design proved very successful and durable. Rice Special models featured many stainless and hardened steel components to extend their life expectancy and reduce the long term operating costs of the header. Stainless steel stripping fingers were fitted in , these doubled the finger life expectancy as well as providing advantages in stripping performance.
The RX was produced until by which time it had gained a reputation as the header of choice if you were serious about harvesting rice.

The CX range was released in and was Shelbourne Reynolds first machine aimed at the US prairie wheat farmer. The CX84 (28 foot wide) machine was by far the most popular. The design was shortened from the SR and the rotor placed closer to the auger trough. Crop was moved directly from the rotor to the auger. This design worked very well in dry standing crop conditions although it had limitations when things became lodged damp or tough. These machines had the same gearbox drive as the SR range. Stainless steel "Seed Saver" stripping fingers were introduced in and were a major breakthrough in stripping tougher threshing wheat and durum varieties. When fitted with the cups orientated upwards the seed saver fingers enabled previously un-strippable varieties to be stripped with decreased loss.
The seed saver fingers can be fitted to any of the CX and RX models
The CX range was updated and improved annually until pressure for a variable speed rotor drive, still wider widths and better performance in tough conditions brought its production run to an end in

In after many years of testing and product development it was decided that both rice and cereals could be harvested with the same frame design with just relatively small design differences between ranges. The auger and rotor are placed closer together and grain is moved directly from the rotor to the auger. The deeper flighted larger diameter auger is able to handle more straw than before, this coupled with a larger shear bolt gives both these machines a significant advantage when harvesting lodged crops. A new variable speed drive system was developed which enables the operator to make rotor speed adjustments from the cab.

Extensive field testing proved that a deeper flighted auger sitting in a trough will feed better than a smaller one sitting on a flat pan. It is with this theory in mind the RX shaker pan machine was discontinued in favor of the direct feeding RVS header, this allowed the use of a common main frame with the CVS.
The Variable speed drive system was also introduced from the CVS model which allowed the operator to make rotor speed adjustments from the cab.
The RVS range features more stainless steel than on previous rice special models. The crop deflector, top hood and floor are stainless and the auger flighting and retractable auger fingers are made from hardened steel.

Larger capacity combines and larger scale farming prompted the development of the XCV range. The initial model was the XCV 42, this was then followed in with the XCV32 and XCV36.
The new machine incorporates 3 stripping rotors with two equally spaced division plates. A two piece auger is used with a central joint.
New features include a spring loaded pivoting adaptor plate and gauge wheels. All XCV machines are centre mounted on the combine feeder house.

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