Combines F 30

put a Macdon on the front and end the agony. I have one Macdon apiece for a 485 and a 2388 and cut all of our rice, soybeans, sorghum, wheat, (and occasionally foul corn) with one reliable header in the most demanding conditions in the world-MISSISSIPPI

Id hate to give up the auto contour.I assume you would'nt have it with a different manufacture.Also would be giving up 5 feet with the macdon.There has to be something wrong with the header as it most always pushes on the left side.Do you have spike or raspbar machine.Just curious if spike what your soybean sample was like.How was the rice crop in your area.We had some exceptional yields here this year in our areaRandDCapital of the world.

I have a rasp bar in my machine currently (spike sitting in a crate in the weeds). I demonstrated a spike a few years ago in rice and soy and it did a quite respectable job in both. We started with 60 bushel soys and 140 bushel rice, but have had 19.5" of rain in 15 days (2 hurricanes, etc.)and now have several hundred acres of both that have been submerged for that period--the balance is gasping for air. 5 busts in a row. I don't think you will ever miss that 5 feet off a Macdon and will gain that in productivity. There is a 30' Macdon at Colt, AR. We also have an excellent Cat rep at our local dealer that has quite a lot experience with F30's. I have a high capacity chopper spreader for a 485 for sale.

where are you located. I am in Mississippi. Delta

I hope that you have the poly skid shoes on your flex head. They help in wet conditions or when the bean leaves are damp. If you have the poly shoes, make sure holes are not worn in the plastic as they will pile up leaves under the bar and cause problems. Make sure that the drive end has one more spacer washer thickness than the rest of the skid plates over the remaining width of the head. It may help to tighten the tension of spring on the wobble box drive end and take some weight off that part of the bar. I run my auto-contour on 6-7 to help the head float over rocks in the field. I haven't broken a guard in several years. Also have the new-style stubbie guard. They seem to work pretty good.

Make sure that the stablizer bar (155-7365) that attaches to the top of the knife drive gearcase (wobble box) is not pushing forward too much. You might have to take it off at the rear and adjust it shorter by threading it ont the fron mount (155-4372) so it pulls back on the top of the wobble box just slightly and thereby plane the front of the left skid plate up a little more. When properly adjusted, it should fit _ install back onto the mounting stud (155-5934) easily when the header is sitting flat on the ground.

Can you give any information about a Macdon 35 ft. header. I am thinking aout getting one for a 475, and I need to know if it will cut soybeans FlAT on the ground like a flex header. I am located in the Ms delta. I cut wheat here and OK. and milo and beans in south Tx. Any information will help Thanks

I know nothing of 36'Macdons personally but have been told by them that it is not built for our sometimes muddy conditions. I believe it has gauge wheels on the back which are also used for transport (perhaps a plus in your custom operation). The 30' is more like our 25's and will cut beans well in the flat Delta. I'm north of G'wood. Paul has mentioned you. 4580009.

E-mail me so I can talk to you. I hope what Paul sayes about me was good. I have a 460 now and I am going to trade it if I can for a 475. I hope that is not a mistake. jpriddy698@aol.com

know problem with header. has any one had trouble with the straw walker bearing on the 460. I have 860 hrs on machine and all the bearing on the crankshaft have gone out. Boy that is hard to change a bearing on that shaft. You have to pull the shat out of the machine to change one and I had all of them. Bad Ideal on cats part. Need the wooden blocks like j.d. and int. and gleaner. I have worked 1 1_5 days on getting out shaft because I can't get the pulley off. The one that pulls the ISS system. Will go back on the 10-21-02 and try too get shaft out. Any suggestion will help