Combines Shelbourne headers

[Rotor_Man]

Have used one on a 1480 for 3 seasons. Near 2X the capacity with so little straw going through the combine. With so much less material going through the rotor you should add cover plates to the front 1_2 of the concave(3 cover plates on the front 3 sections) Run the rotor fast and tight for hard threshing wheat. very little loss from the stripper head and a very good grain sample.

 

[FarmBuddy]

Header loss will be higher, especially in light wheat crops. Separator loss and wear could be lower, but may not offset header loss in many conditions. Cleaning shoe will be loaded similar. Maintainance on SR or other stripper heads is generally pretty high_acre, but at least you don't have knife drive failures. (Our centerline drive will help on both designs in the future.) Resale value is often less because of the limited market. Stripper might be okay if you are trying to double crop soybeans and get an earlier plant time and less loose straw to contend with. Stripper makes more sense in rice to avoid taking in green foliage _ leaf matter. Not so in most KS wheat fields. Header and bonnet height controls are not automated, so driver stress level is higher. If you run one in the ground, you will kick your own butt and_or that of the driver ( ie not an real operator). The extra ground speed of a narrow stripper causes more combine vibration, stress, cracking, wear and tougher on graincart operators. Stress level may increase .373 shakabits. I don't see very many second _ repeat sales. My preference is still a straight cut head. Good luck either way.

 

[Smiley]

I've used a 28' Shelbourne head since 1995 on a 1680 and 2388. I think a stripper head is essential if you notill, combine irrigated wheat, or combine hailed wheat. I raise TAM107 (hard to thrash) and experience little header loss and with the Airjet Chaffer have almost no sieve loss. The stripper head has made the straw walker JD a decent wheat machine - no walker loss. I get enough work from hailed neighbors to justify the added cost.

 

[sharecropper]

Todd; I have run one on a 1660 and a 1688. On the 60 I needed to run the cover plates,(under the first concave and one under the return). The 88 I haven't needed them. Might just be different conditions different years. Both machines had standard rotors which do thresh better in whitecapping conditions. As far as header loss Alan is right about thin wheat, but the heavier the stand and the amount of grain the better they work. Up to the point of almost zero head loss. Dr. Schrock rode with me a couple years ago and after digging in the stubble expressed amazement at the fact that there was no grain on the ground. We concluded that it must be the condition of the head and the operator skill as he had seen some severe losses at other times. As for repeat buyers I know of no one who has one that that doesn't what another one. I will call Alan on the operator fatigue point as not having that reel spinning in front of you all day was a welcome relief to me. Cheers

 

[FarmBuddy]

Sharecropper, You're right, it is a nice feeling and sensation not having the reel spinning in front of you all day. The stripper header gives more of a hovering across the field effect. Another benefit is that you don't have those random whole heads flicked over the back of the header or carried over the reel. There are pros and cons to the stripper head and a place for them. Maybe we'll hear from some more ownersIJ Would you buy another, or was your first one also the last one you want to ownIJ I could go with a stripper, if I didn't ever need the versatility of a cutter bar for soybeans or milo. The stripper head wouldn't do very well in either of these crops.