Cornhead Rebuilt for 30-Inch Ridged Rows

Cornhead Rebuilt for 30-Inch Ridged Rows COMBINES Headers 12-3-8 When Iowa farmer Lester Peters, of Plainfield, switched to ridge farming on 30-in. rows last year, he also rebuilt his Massey 550 combine's 4-row cornhead, converting it to a 4-row narrow offset model. In addition, Peters widened the combine's rear axle, and installed narrower tires. All of the changes keep the combine's tires off the ridges. To gain yield advantages, Peters had switched from 36-in. rows to 30-in. ridges. He'd traded in his 8-row 36-in. planter and cultivator for an 8-row 30-in. planter and a matching cultivator. He couldn't use his 4-row combine because its model 1144 corn head was set on 36-in. rows. "An 8-row combine with straddle duals would have worked," says Peters, "but I didn't want to spend the money for a combine big enough to handle an 8-row corn head. There are commercial 4-row narrow corn heads, but no commercial 30-in. 4-row offset corn heads. So, it was either trade combines or narrow up the row units on my corn head." To make the conversion, Peters re-moved all the sheet metal on the corn head. Then, he slid the left-hand row unit as far left as it would go, and slid the other 3 row units left to obtain 30-in. spacings. He then cut 26 in. out of the right half of the corn head and cross auger, welded the shortened auger back together, and put the right end panel back on. Next, Peters cut a wedge-shaped piece out of each divider snout and a 6-in. piece out of each middle cover. He then squeezed them together 6 in. and wire-welded them, then added a wheel shield on the right side and painted the entire unit. The rear axle's tires were spaced 6 in. closer together than the front axle's tires, making it difficult to keep them from running on the narrowed up ridges. Peters solved this problem by widening the rear axle. He cut the axle on both sides of the center pivot, then welded in 6-in. lengths of square metal tubing, which he formed from 1/4 x 6 in. flat steel and scrap metal plate. Peters replaced the rear axle's 7.50 x 18 tires with wider and taller 9.50 x 20 tires, which he removed from an old manure spreader. "The bigger tires provide extra flotation," says Peters, "and the widened rear axle gives them plenty of turning clearance." Peters also replaced the front axle's 23.1 x 26 tires with taller, narrowerl8.4 x 34 tires. "They fit right down the centers of the rows," says Peters. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Lester Peters, RR 1, Box 186, Plainfield, Iowa 50666 (ph 319 276-4734).

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