Combines Question for Caribou Doug

We have had operators of 8820s with our cylinder setup harvest at much faster speeds in heavier crops than you've seen stated. I suspect Caribou is somewhat limited by the ground condition and terrain. What size header are you operatingIJ

Yes, I thought they would be capable of much more than that, at least I was hoping. I have a 6-30 on the 1680 and can run 6.2 mph in 200+ corn. Of course it has to be fairly level, on hillsides you have to slow down. The combine could handle much more but that is fast as second gear will go. I have seen a 2388 run over 8 mph with a 6 row head in 180 bushel corn, probably still wasn't at the combine's limit, but that was as fast as second with the 2 speed in high would go, and of course the corn head wouldn't work at much more speed than that. I don't think a 2388 has much more capacity than a 1680 long shoe Cummins, which is what I have.

Per you first post, you may not have observed that Caribou is using a 12 row head at 3 mph in what probably aren't very good conditions. That pretty well equates to 6.2 mph with your 6-30 head. We've had operators with our cylinder installed, harvest at 7 - 8 mph with an 8 row head on flat ground, but that appears to be about the limit on header efficiency and it's pretty tough on the operator, as well. It's a pretty tense operation at that speed and I don't believe anyone could do it for a long period of time.

Hi, I'm back again. Well, I was pretty impressed with the amount of corn that was coming off the field; evidently some others aren't. I will state that I haven't been trying to push this machine for all it's worth. Usually the semi can just barely keep up anyway. The mud also is a factor. Conditions are getting better now, so speeds are also improving. At 3.0 mph, I was harvesting corn that was busheling 220 bu. or so and it was still at 25% moisture plus. Big difference from 180 bu. corn at 20% moisture or less! The limiting factor is the clean grain, don't know how to improve this. Otherwise I can shoot up to 4.0 mph or so and the machine doesn't even groan. Once in a while I have to do this to adjust for the grain cart or to get a little more momentum for the mud. I am amazed at the power this machine has in these conditions.

What machine are you usingIJ

Yes, I looked at your response to harvesting speed again, and I saw that this was 25 percent moisture, and I just overlooked it the first time I read it. That makes a HUGE difference. I would think you could do probably a minimum of 20 percent more in dry corn. I just am hoping that the old 8820 I got will be close to the 1680 in capacity. I have had so much trouble with the 1680 since I had it that I had to do something. Now, don't get me wrong, the CIH rotary is an excellent machine, and if you buy one in good shape they will do as good as anything out there, but I got f----d better on this old wore out machine than anything I ever bought. A point comes when you simply give up and get something else, although I have spent enough money on the old girl that I think I have about everything fixed, but I wouldn't bet on it. It did work pretty good this year, but I still think I am headed for trouble in the future. I had a 6620 before and I loved the combine, although it was like all mechanical devices, it broke down and wasn't perfect, but I didn't know what trouble was until I got the 1680. I talked to Terry at ST John Welding, and I am fairly confident I will be happy with the 8820.