New Corn Rooter Picks Up Down Corn

New Corn Rooter Picks Up Down Corn COMBINES Down Corn 7-5-24 "It'll salvage up to 99% of any downed corn crop, even if it's laying flat on the ground. What's more, you can harvest at the same speed you normally travel harvesting unlodged corn," says Nebraska farmer Les Kalkwarf, of Aurora, inventor of the new "Corn Rooter" which fits virtually all combines. The Corn Rooter, which replaces each existing snout on the corn head, consists of two snouts with a rotating cylinder in between. The unit attaches to the same holes and hanger chain on which the original snout was mounted. Each snout travels about 5 in. from the corn row to pick up down stalks and guide them up and into the feeder. The clean-out cylinder between the snouts is powered by a hydraulic motor run off the feeder housing, and rotates at 80 to 90 rpm's. Controls for the Corn Rooter mount in the combine cab. "Snouts are available for 30 to 40 in. row widths," says Kalkwarf. "In good standing corn and on end rows you can bring the two adjacent snouts together to form one snout by loosening two bolts and pushing them together. That way you can always leave the Corn Rooter on." Key to the system are retractable fingers, mounted on each revolving cylinder, that help feed stalks into the machine. Heads for 30-in. rows have a cylinder 10-in. wide with three 7-in. fingers. The 36 in. model has a 16-in. wide cylinder with 4 retractable fingers. Kalkwarf explains that the lack of room inside the cylinder for the fourth bearing prevents the 30-in. model from having an additional finger. The Corn Rooter fits any combine but Kalkwarf is unsure how it would work on crops other than corn. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Midwest Irrigation, Henderson, Neb. 68371 (ph 402 723-5374).

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