Combines Combining wheat saving straw

We have had verry good luck getting straw with small wire concaves, slotted grates and cover plates on the first concave. and also canbale a solid bale with a new holland round baller. I loved the looks on the john deere guys faces that told us that we couldnt bale behind a red combine.

If it is winter wheat straw you are going to bale you could put your rotor in low range and speed the rotor up as fast as it will go in low range.If your machine is equipped with a chopper also put it in slow speed and drop your chopper concave right down or take it out. If you have the three speed rotor the mid range is better then low. We have always used small wire concaves in wheat I would think wide wire ones with a cover plate would just mash up your straw worse. We have had guys bale wheat straw with the big square balers behind our 2388 and it has worked real well. Just my 2 cents worth.

I am interested to know what area you are from that you have found success baling behind a rotary combine. I am in SW MN and tried to bale straw from Spring wheat behind my 2166 last year without any success. I straight cut the wheat so the straw was tough, using small wire concaves, smooth grates, and straight seperator bars, and 900 rotor speed. I had to cover the first concave, and speed the rotor to 1100 to get the white heads out of the hopper. I had the chopper knives out and the chopper pan lowered down. The straw was too short to bale. I then cut the wheat just under the heads, got a beautiful grain sample in the hopper and doubled my ground speed. I hoped to come back with a swather to windrow the remaining straw for baling but then started a rainy period and the straw was lost due to having to spread manure and regrowth. This year I'll rent a conventional combine and sell my small wire concaves and smooth grates unless anyone can convince me to try it a different way. CMC

You are right we have not had much sucess trying to save the straw when we are harvesting spring wheat. It thrashs so much harder then winter wheat. The only sucess we had with spring wheat straw was with the big square baler and the soft core round baler the big square worked real well the soft core baler worked good too but if your bales are older then about 6 months they will sag down. loading them then is a real problem with a front end loader. let me know if cutting the standing straw after you have combined worked well for you.

We have always recut the standing stubble in oats because it is underseeded with alfalfa and can get to be a real pain trying to get a good sample by taking all that material in. Works real well even with a standard sickle cutter and not a diskbine. We will be combining winter wheat. Another trick in the book is to slow down the rock trap beater so it doesnt mangle the straw so bad, don't know if this will help much but it is one more thing that is agressive.

CMC, I feel your pain when it comes to saving straw with a rotary. We too tried several things with not alot of success. My hat is off to the guys that can. Just a suggestion... you might be better off focusing on harvesting the wheat with your 2166 and purchasing some straw from a conventional. I know a guy(me) that sells staw. I am in east-central SD. If interested,let's talk.

You can bale spring wheat straw from any rotor combine if you harvest with a stripper header,then cut the totally un molested straw with a swather and bale it.

Cover plates are installed to for two reasons, first, to lessen the thrashing area so you can build up more straw in the thrashing area because material rubbing on material is thrashing and second to act as a cushion for the thrashing action. I recomend covering the first concave and 1_2 of the second. Retarder bars or stright bars do just what they say. They keep the crop over the grate area longer to unload corn from shucks only. Take them out for wheat. They are only for corn. If you have questions I will be happy to visit with you. The Disrupter guy. Estes Mfg. Co. Flanagan, Il 61740 1-800-235-4461