Combines Air Reels

I used a crary air real on my old head but I switch to a aws system when I bought my new head. The crary system was nice but this aws system is real slick and cheaper. They have a web site though I can't remember the name.

The Crary has an option that needs to be standard. They have fingers that bolt on the outside of the end of every other reel bat. We are on 18" rows and it seems like a row feeds in out there. These fixed the problem. The Crary works well but it kicks up alot of dust and leaves and make a chugging sound which we are told is normal. Make sure your dealer has a good supply of slip clutch diskes. And don't beleive them when you are told that you are the first to have a problem with them.

Sounds like you have a cool setup per your other post and I see what you mean about the mess if you don't keep it clean under the raised feather sheets. Kind of like above the skid plates if they are set outside and on the ground in the rain. Diddo on the outboard fingers at least on the 30 footers. I struggled to find that chugging noise one time. It was simply the bats going by the air blast nozzles. Thanks and take care

The extra fingers are also needed on the 25 ft. versions. We only put one on every other bat. Finding the chugging noise was an interesting experience. That really should be in the Crary book.

I'd go w_ a crary air reel. makes all the diff in short beans. I'd like to see their flex head,w_ air reel run too.

Thanks for the input.

Click on the attachments tab to the left and you can click on the crary and AWS websites. There has been alot of talk on here in the past on which is best but personally I like the looks of the AWS. I think if you're going to buy a new head, then you would want to cancel the standard reel and go with the crary reel. If you are just going to add to your existing head, then it would be better to go with the add on unit. like Nick said, with eleven dollar beans it won't take many acres to pay for it.

There are a couple of unused Crary reels laying around in our area as they are just plain worn out and would cost too much to repair. The standard pick-up reels bought in the same period are still going strong. We haven't used an AWS but are using the Australian equivalent with a fan, front duct and down tubes. We are not using a standard reel with this set-up but are using a very small diameter rubber paddled reel to harvest 8" high lentils. The addition of the air duct has cut our knife losses in the lentils to quite low levels. There is no doubt that the Crary reel is very effective if you are able to put up with the wear and maintenance factor but I believe the AWS plus a standard reel would be just as effective, more flexible and versatile in operation, simpler and a lot less in maintenance. About the only question I have on the AWS is the tubes dragging through the crop and possibly knocking some pods off but this is counteracted many times over by the reduction in losses at the knife as the air blast moves grain and material back off the knife and into the auger.

We have a Crary on a 8000 flex. Other than replacing 3 or 4 of the plastic wear blocks on the reel pipe itself we haven't had any problems with it. I did have to replace the air tube that runs from the fan to the reel this past year. Its a 2003 model so 4 years worth of harvest. I will say that we had to replace the gearbox but that wasn't really anyones fault. It has a clear rubber sight glass for the gear oil. It cracked and leaked all the oil out thus causing me to spend $900 for a rebuilt box from Crary. Its one of those things that should get checked but gets overlooked and it cost us. The new one has the new rubber hose with another rubber hose on the outside to help protect it. This is the first year for that so we'll see if it helps or hurts.

I have the AWS which we put on this fall. It paid for itself in one season and made green stem beans feed like they were dried right down.