Combines 1859 Flex Head vs Regular

[JJS]

Only difference is the floating bar mounted on the front. All other things are pretty much the same. Also, the Flex Head usually has the long dividers on it . Joe

 

[cookie_jar]

There are several significant differences between a straight cut head and a floating cutter-bar soybean head. 1. The knife and guards are mounted to a flexible cutter bar (3" x 3_8" thick) that sits about 6" ahead of the table, and can move from about 6" below to level with the table. 2. This cutter-bar is mounted on arms attached to the rear bottom of the table, has skid plates underneath mounted its full length, and has springs to counterbalance its weight so it glides on the ground rather than digs in. 3. There is a longer pitman arm connected between the knife and the knife drive, guide bearings for the knife where the pitman arm connects, to prevent the knife from lifting while in action, and another strut to keep the cutter-bar from moving sideways from the action of the knife drive. 4. There are cover plates that go from the flexible cutter bar to the table across which the crop flows to the table auger. 5. There is a set of feeler arms that measure the height of the cutter-bar to the ground, which either work a cable or switches that control the automatic header height control by a mechanical valve or electric hydraulic valve. 6. The reel is usually a pickup reel with fingers mounted on the bats. There is a mechanism that controls the angle of the bats, so that they are vertical as they come down into the crop, and remain vertical until they sweep the crop on to the table. 7. The crop dividers are mounted to the ends of the cutterbar. In the early days, there were cutter-bar kits available from love Manufacturing, as well as pickup reel kits. I wouldn't suggest you try to convert a rigid grain-head to a soybean head from scratch, but rather get the bits and pieces from a combine wrecker. Better you know the price of a used head before you start a frustrating conversion.