I started out cutting sunflowers with a 30' Macdon and a set of pans I built that are similar to the lueke set up(the Macdon needs an extra bend and a bigger spacer where it attaches to the header). I ran a beater made out of 16" round tubing with 4 spikes per row. Some people claim that you don't need a reel or beater which is true about 90% of the time, but its nice to have something there that you can keep things moving if you hit a patch of weeds. The set up worked good except you could lose some out the front if you had to cut really low. The next year I decided that a row crop head would be better yet. I bought two six row headers and built a 12 row frame with a stainless floor made to fit my R62. About $10,000 and untold hours later I had a really nice header. It doesn't do as good a job as the $2000 pans. It's heavey, is very high maintenance, and you have to cut too much extra stalk because the knife is at the bottom of the row unit. The only place that it has an advantage is picking up sunflowers that are flat on the ground. I would recommend that you get a set of pans for the header you have. Works good and costs less.
