Combines Sunflower Harvest

What cylinder speed are you set atIJ Have you tryed slowing it down and opening up on the concave.IJ Sometimes when the moisture is low slower works way better. The heads are so dry they don't need much to knock out the seeds. Most older Deers machines seem to do a better job on flowers with more air. St. Johns welding (they do concave repair and have very good for ideas) suggests wiring or ty wrapping a 10" to 12" cardboard on the sieves way up front to get more air to the back and it also helps the stalks from getting jammed in the sieve up in the front. last year we took the chaff spreader off (left the chopper on)of the 7700 to increase the air flow and in worked alot better. Do you have stalks or bean stems stuck in your sieves preventing you from getting them closedIJ Keep after it and you should get the results you are looking for.

I was trying cyl. speed at 450-500( or until they cracked, then backed off). The fan speed is set at 700, but i have tried just about everything. Note: the fan maxes out at 780. Ive opened both seives, closed both and tried every combination inbetween. Ive tried many speeds ranging from 3-7 mph. The yeild is around 600lbs.

I was trying cyl. speed at 450-500( or until they cracked, then backed off). The fan speed is set at 700, but i have tried just about everything. Note: the fan maxes out at 780. Ive opened both seives, closed both and tried every combination inbetween. Ive tried many speeds ranging from 3-7 mph. The yeild is around 600lbs.

Are you operating with filler plates in the cylinderIJ These will interfere with feeding and will also crush the heads.

The best thing to really clean up sunflowers is to use a airfoil chaffer with a ripple tin covering the front portion. Then use as much air as you can get. I have harvested oil flowers at similar moisture levels and delivered them between 2 and 3 percent dockage. Your cylinder speed sounds about right although if you have a 2 speed you might want to try slowing it down even more. For the most part you just want to rub the seeds off and not tear up the heads. Hope this helps and good luck harvesting. Keeter

We had this problem once several years ago; discovered that they would feed in good after 10-11 pm and stop feeding in as soon as it started to get daylight. Never figured out why, but we got all of the flowers off by combining at night that year. Quit them a couple years later.

Click on "ATTACHMENTS" on the left and then go to lucke Mfg's page. They make sunflower harvesting equipment and have several pictures.

Here in Kansas, several farmers have started using corn heads to harvest sunflowers. Sounds a little crazy, but it works. next time I have any to cut I'll give mine a try. If you've got a corn head, see how it works.

WildCat, we don't grow any sunflowers, but lots of our neighbors do. I have seen a few of them try the corn head approach; yeah it worked but it wasn't doing a very efficent job, looked like a head would occasionally make it to the rolls and it wasnt pretty. Just my thought, as I dont harvest them but a row head or rigid with pans seems to do a better job for field lose up front.

We used to grow a ton of sunflowers here in NE SD. The reason we quit was because the last two years we planted them, we had to harvest them off the ground. That is one of the many reasons a corn head does not work well. We tried the knife kit for the cornhead way back in the mid nineties and it didn't work either. What happened was exactly as greenbine stated. The losses were huge. You would be best off finding a JD all crop head or getting a pan head or something of the type. Most of the Case guys around here always ran JD all-crop heads but nowadays you have to drive quite a ways to even find a field. Weed problems scared most growers out.