New German Cornhead Has Built-In Chopper

New German cornhead has built-in chopper COMBINES Accessories 14-6-23 That German-made cornhead with a built-in chopper that FARM SHOW first reported on three years ago (Vol. 11, No. 3) is now available in the U.S. Canadian representative Joseph Christi Sr., Bowmanville, Ontario, says there are now at least six dealers in the U.S. including Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, and Michigan, and several more in Canada where the header has already been sold in Ontario and Quebec for three years. Huron Tractor, Exeter, Ontario (ph 519 235-1115) is the importer. The Geringhoff cornhead, which is also the only folding cornhead on the market in North America, is so popular in Germany it's already used to harvest 70% of the corn in that country. According to Christi, the cornhead-shredder saves trips over the field, reduces soil compaction, and eliminates the need for a flail chopper or tillage equipment to break up stalks. "A separate tractor and flail chopper would require much more maintenance than this header, and chopping or disking stalks takes time and manpower," says Christi. "Our header sells for 20 to 25% more per row than a conventional header, but in the long run it's a less expensive investment than owning two machines." Unlike conventional headers equipped with two snapper rollers, the Geringhoff header has one rotor with a concave as a counter hold. Saddled into the rotor is a comb of stationary knives held by the con-cave. As the rotor turns it draws corn stalks down through these stationary knives and shreds it as it passes by, distributing the shredded stalks evenly between the rows of corn. "It's far superior to other systems that have been developed for shredding stalks because it requires no new mechanical drive systems or changes in the way you normaly operate the combine. Also, the shredding system is mounted above any possible obstructions unlike underslung shredders which can be damaged by mud and rocks," says Christi. "Maintenance cost of this header is very low. The knives will last 1,000 to 2,000 acres. They cost only $6.70 each to replace. I picked and shredded 1,500 acres of corn this fall and my maintenance cost was only $80." Hydraulic deck plate control from the cab lets you open or close deck plates on-the-go according to field conditions and cob size. Available in 4, 6, and 8-row models. The 6- and 8-row models can be ordered with hydraulically folded outside rows which reduce width to 10 ft. Fits all makes of combines and can be painted any color. A 4-row model sells for $21,500; 6-row, $27,000; and 8-row, $36,000. Hydraulic fold-up option sells for $7,000. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Joseph B. Christi Sr., Geringhoff Co., Rt. 2, Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada L 1 C 3K3 (ph 416 436-2306).

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