Chain Extenders Grab Down Corn

Chain Extenders Grab Down Corn COMBINES Accessories 26-5-29 When Buddy Itzen was helping a couple farmers combine down corn a couple years ago, he noticed that most of the missed ears fell back out of the header because debris - broken stalks and leaves - piled up over the gathering chains. He also noticed that when that pile of plant debris finally did feed into the header, it came in all at once and often choked the feeder auger. Itzen owns Elkhorn Equipment, Fort Dodge, Iowa. He figured if he could make the gathering chains more aggressive, he could solve both problems. "The plant debris would be pulled through the combine more evenly so the ears would feed into the gathering chains instead of bouncing out." He made some small extensions that bolt into the existing holes on the gathering chain fingers. His gathering chain extenders reach about 1/2 in. past the tip of the existing finger and are about 3/4 in. higher. It doesn't seem like much of a change, but he says they work. "It's the added height that seems to make most of the difference," he notes. Itzen makes the extensions from a high-density plastic material. "It's safer than using steel because it can't generate sparks and cause a field fire," he says. Itzen sells kits with extenders for each finger and all the hardware needed for $25 per row. He says they should work with all combines that have two holes in the gathering chain paddles. "They won't work on some older combines without drilling holes, but should fit all the more recent models," he says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Buddy Itzen, Elkhorn Equipment Co., Inc., 2427 Elm Drive, Fort Dodge, Iowa 50501 (ph/fax 515 576-4500 or toll-free 800 972-4585).

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