Combines Whats everyones opinions on Draper headers HB Madcon etc

We have used both the Honey Bee and McDon draper headers, and both are excellant headers. I would lean toward the McDon, because their service is about as good as you can get. The Honey Bee is a bit heavier...so if your talking 36 feet, make sure you got the hydralic capacity to lift, since I know of a few that were on 2388's that the cylinders broke. As for lodged crop, you can't beat a draper header. We always had pickup reels on ours, and also equipped the cutter bar with crop lifters for heavy downed crop, or crops such as feild peas. Yes they do feed smoother. We ran 36', but in my opinion, a 30' would do just as much as a 36', since you would be able to go a bit faster. Also less weight. The 36' uses 2 18' reels, and on the older McDons, the centre arm in the middle were the 2 reels meet, caused a bit of problem in certain bulky crops, such as yellow Mustard. Aslo weight wise, i would go with plastic fingers on a pick up reel. Also if your unloading on the go, a 36 ft. can be tricky for the unexperianced, assuming you have the longer unloading auger.

draper is the way to go. I would never go back to an auger table.

BigSky, Thanks a bunch. Oh pardin the misspelling on original post (MADCONIJIJIJ chuckle) Meant MacDon. SO go with the Macdon if possible huhIJ What does a draper header in good shape go for if it is usedIJ (US) Would 36 be to much for a mid 90's 9600 JDIJ (30-40 bushel Durum) I would rather get a 1680 or 88 but I want a machine with less than 2000 seperator hours in the $50,000 price range , And so far can't find a CIH in that rangeIJ They seem to hold their value better than the JD ...Am I right, or just not looking hard enoughIJ

The 36'MacDon is a perfect match for the 9600 Deere. We have run 9600's with the 36', cutting 60 bushel spring wheat, with absoultly no problem at all. In fact the draper feeds so much better, that you never ever have slugging on your combine. It feeds so even, that you can control your ground speed by just listning to the motor pull down in rpm. A few things to consider, are that the 9600 has a wider feeder house, and is more stable than the Case IH. Another is that there are more 36' drapers sold that have the JD adapter, than the Case IH. On the other hand, you can find many Case IH combines for sale in Western Canada. You also should take into consideration, that a combine up in western Canada usually sells with the pickup header and pickup included in its price, as in the U.S. no header is sold with combine, unless stated. Not sure were you are located, but with the dollar exchange, it more than likley could pay off for you to come up into Canada and find your combine of choice here. Also there are lots of 36' drapers for sale up here. Ever try www.agdealer.com

You might want to look at the Honey Bee header. Honey Bee has a more agressive feeding system and also does great in crops like peas and lentils. They shave the ground. Also, there are very easy to setup and to maintain. They have excellent resale value, which might be a downside when looking for used. Please email me and I will talk to you more one on one. Thanks, jbhughes@srt.com

Hello I would go with the HB's. On my two 72's I run 42 feet and my dad runs 36 feet on his 72. We have no problem unloading on the go. We did own a macdon for a yr and half and would never go back to them. They would not cut close enough to the ground we were leaving peas in the feild. There service sucked and they would not stand behind there product. When we got rid of that header on the first HB all our problems stopped. Colin

We cut peas with our MacDon, with no problem whats soever. Maybe you never adjusted the pitch on the header, cause you can make them cut as low as anything. As for service, I once phoned McDon on some warrenty work, and they sent out a blockman from 300 miles away the same day.