Combines knife blades on corn heads

[T__langan]

Can I ask why you wouldn't want the stalks chopped up the way they areIJ We've had a few neighbors who run Deeres comment on how they like the way our Hugger will shred and chop the stalks up a bit. They all have to chop their stalks before running through with a disc chisel but we don't. I can't help but think anything rounded would not be nearly as aggressive in pulling the stalks through the cornhead.

 

[Curly]

We live in a very dry area and are very dependent on snowfall to build up subsoil moisture. The taller and denser the stalks the less moisture we lose to wind evaporation. Most of our snow comes with wind so anything we can do to hold it in the field instead of the ditch helps. This is also the reason we use stripper headers and then notill corn and or millet into the tall stubble. Most years we have enough stalks to hold the snow but with no rain this summer the fields look like a road. We do have one advantage in that my nephew helps with his 9600 so everyother round has stalks that are not ground up. Most dry land fields are from 0-35 in this area down from a normal year of 60-100+. Have seen 6-7 inch cobs with only an inch of corn on them. Tipped back as bad as anyone has seen in this country.

 

[T__langan]

Well, that explanation makes perfect sense to me! But I haven't heard of any other stalk roll blades for Huggers than what they come with. I guess the only thing I could suggest is to run the head as slow as possible and as high as possible to try and reduce stalk break-up. Around these parts, stalk break-up is desirable to help residue flow through a chisel plow. Having to chop stalks before you plow is a slow process and with the price of fuel, any fewer trips around the field helps! Good luck and I hope you get some rain!

 

[Kurt]

How new is your corn headIJ I replaced my blades a couple of years ago because they weren't aggresive enough. You could find some older blades to put on that might help