Giant 36 Ft Header Fits Combines, Swathers

Giant 36 Ft Header Fits Combines, Swathers COMBINES Headers 12-6-31 A new 36-ft. wide "two-in-one" swatherheader from MacDon Industries Ltd., Winnipeg, Manitoba, mounts on either a combine or swather. "This is the first production header that can be used for both swathing and combining," says Roger Patterson, company representative. "It's ideal for farmers who do both swathing and direct cutting, depending on the crop or weather conditions. It's so easy to transfer the swather-header between your combine and self-propelled swather, you can swath in the morning and combine in the afternoon." Farmers who don't swath have also shown interest in the new header because it's the widest combine header on the market. The biggest header up to now has been 30 ft.," says Patterson. "Mounting our 36-ft. head in place of a 30-ft. head lets you do 20% more work with the same machine." Key to success of the new head is the use of a draper instead of an auger because it allows the company to build a wider and lighter header, notes Patterson. "It's difficult to make a large auger header straight and rigid enough to work. A draper header is light and flexible." Another benefit is that the draper table feeds smoother than an auger header, in-creasing efficiency, says Patterson. "Augers tend to feed grain in bunches, but a draper table feeds grain `heads first' into the combine so there's less bunching." The hydraulically operated header comes with separate adapter packages for combining and for swathing. The swather adapter package includes two frame members and mounting brackets for tractor hook-up. The combine adapter package includes a spring suspension float system supporting the header's weight, a feeder draper that feeds grain into the combine, a small auger that's mounted above the feeder draper to feed bulky crops evenly, and a hydraulic system to drive the draper. The header is equipped with spring-loaded flotation wheels that follow rolling ground contours. "The spring loaded gauge wheels help the cutterbar follow ground contours and prevent the corners of the header from scooping dirt," notes Patterson. The swather header is currently offered only in the 36-ft. width. It fits Deere 7720 and 8820 combines, as well as the Case-IH 1680 model. The company is designing the unit to also fit other combine models and may build smaller header units. Suggested list price for the combine header and adapter is $17,980, for the swather header and adapter, $14,510, and for the header and both adapters, $18,870. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, MacDon Industries Ltd., 680 Moray St., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3J 3S3, (ph 204 885-5590).

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