Capello vs geringhoff?

[farmer 4 ever]

Hi everyone we are in the process of buying a new corn head. We want 12 rows folding chopping head. The farmers I spoke with that use Capello are real happy with them. The ones using geringhoff rotadisk also. Fuel consumption is a big issue but since we didn't tried them it's hard to figure out which one would be the best. Both dealers are close and offer good service. Capello weights about 400 Kg more than geringhoff.

thanks for sharing your experience!

[RollingRidgeFarms]

I Have seen many of both heads work in the fields, capello are nice because you can disengage the chopping gearbox, but gerringhoff from what i have seen use less fuel, also the capello on a very healthy corn plant spreads debris everywhere and can plug your rotary air screens and eventually enough of the debris gums up your sieves and reduces crop flow. Personally I would go with a drago or gerringhoff both have been very impressive in demos. I am not sure if drago have a folding head though.

[farmer 4 ever]

There is no Drago dealer in quebec so that's why we didn't take a look at them

[Big Cob]

Farmer 4 Ever
WE have run the Geringhoff , they worked quite well and we liked them , but they are very very expensive to maintain. We replaced the disc's every year and gathering chains every second season at the least, we had some issues with the outside row units spreading on our 2008 model and gear issues on both of them .
We switched 1 machine to Capello in 2010 and the other in 2011 both from Geringhoff Rotodisc's. We run 8 row X 30" non folding on a MF 9690 & 9695.
Fuel wise you will see very little difference between the Capello and Geringhoff. (1.28 L/MT Chopping vs 1.12 / MT not chopping Capello 2011 Figures)
The Capello will do a better job of chopping in tough stalk conditions and your trash is spread out more evenly. The Geringhoff concentrates the trash near the row more than the Capello which makes it a little nicer for No Tilling in Beans but the ability to shut off the chopper is a nice option for No Tilling beans in the following season if you aren't doing any tillage at all.
Either one is a good head but we have had the 1 Capello for 2 seasons and the other for 1 season now and have had very few issues with them.
We just finished our winter maintainance on the heads the other day and the gears still look good after 2 seasons and we are going to leave the gathering chains on for another season. The Capello head is built heavier in the frame and gear boxes compared to the Rotodisc's we had.
We change the gearbox oil yearly on them and there is a lot less wear and contamination on the gear oil in the Capello's compared to the Geringhoff's , the gearboxes are a fair bit larger on the Capello , they hold almost 4 L compared to 2 3/4 L on the Geringhoff's and you use a 80W-90 gear oil instead of the Super Synthetic OIL that Geringhoff sells you.

We looked at the Drago before switching to Capello , they look like a good Corn Head but our nearest dealler is a 5 hr drive west of us .

The Capello distibutor has been real good for parts support when needed.

I don't know if you wil be running on a row with your tires or not , but if you are I would highly reccomend you get a set of stalk stompers , the Geringhoff seems to leave the stalk not as blunt as the Capello . I couldn't believe how much our rear tires wore in one season from the blunter/ stiffer stalks. We put Stalk stompers from Capello on prior to the 2011 season and it seemed to take care of the tire wear issues.

[farmer 4 ever]

Thanks for the info! I'm surprise that you had problems with the gathering chains with geringhoff and not with Capello? They are the same coming from the same company. Maybe it's since the newer models? The guy I talked too using geringhoff head told me he didn't even have to change the chopper disks yet and his head is 8 yrs old. Are there conditions that makes them to wear faster? Or he just doesn't care and it's not chopping anymore but I would doubt this...

Happy to see that the capello isn't too hard on fuel. I tried a stalkmaster from J-D last year and my 9660 STS became like my old 9500 when we put the head on except it was using twice the fuel.... :-( Less capacity and more fuel makes it real expensive to chop corn.

Doing some custom work, I'm a bit scared of what the capello would do hitting a rock? We pick up all the rocks in our fields so it isn't a problem but sometimes customers tend to forget to do this job... I wouldn't want to be replacing blades too often. Can you end up with expensive repairs if you hit a rock with the capello blades or the gear boxe is very well protected?

[bleedred]

Traded a Geringhoff on a Lexion (capello) head, both non chopping. I would use a Geringhoff again but it would not be my first choice. I like the Lexion head much better. The Geringhoff is a pita to adjust knife, and we had a lot of trouble breaking snapping rolls. Didn't have any issues with or Lexion head this year.

[Big Cob]

Farmer 4 Ever
We harvest between 1800 & 2000 ac of corn / year with each machine , the disc's would probably get us 1 1/2 seasons but we tried going a full 2 seasons and the disc's were not doing a very good job of cutting/ shredding by the end of the second season. It's a fairly time consuming job changing the disc's on the Geringhoff .
As far a hitting a rock , no knife likes that, we have touched a few for sure. When it happens it takes about 10 to 15 mins to change the 3 knives or you can just disengage the gear box if you are in a super hurry. A set of blades lasts us a full season without reversing them , they are dull but still do a decent job of chopping , reverse them and we have had blades last us 2 full seasons if they don't touch a stone .
We have had no issues at all with gears or gearbox damage on the Capello heads , if we do the Capello is sectional , so if you loose a gearbox component say on row 3 , you unbolt that row unit and take it out and fix it & put it back in place, our old heads if you lost a gear in row 3 you would have a fair bit of time just getting at the component needing repair.
Our gathering chains on the Capello's are different than the chains on the Geringhoff's we had , they are a different pitch and width , I wouldn't know if they are from same chain manufacturer or not , but I will say they seem to last longer.
I briefly mentioned the Geringhoff ? to my lead hand , and his response was tell him to buy the Capello , he also brought up a good point that I forgot to mention , was that we seem to have a lot less ear bounce on the Capello compared to the Geringhoff's , why I do not know .


Bleedred
Did your snapping rolls break the shaft right at the front side of the gearbox?
That's where we had broke a few.

[lexionman575]

Bleedred
Did your snapping rolls break the shaft right at the front side of the gearbox?
That's where we had broke a few.

Same problem with them in our area

[henrick]

Some of you guys are really annoying factory or company people. Would be nice to see a reply that didn't have so much company baloney. When I read some of the posts above I feel like I'm at a farm show listening to a bunch of salesman blabbing.

[henrick]

Hey Big Cob. I looked at some of your older comments and I see that either you must be working for Capello or you have some other motive for slamming Geringhoff. You made a post in Sept. 2010 claiming to not have any knowledge of chopping cornheads and looking for advice, (I pasted it below for your convenience). Now all the sudden you have years of experience with them? Why don't you find some other discussion board to plant your phony balony in and leave combine forums out of your mischief.

Looking For Opinions on Chopping Corn Heads
WE are looking @ going to a chopping corn head, wondering which one we'll have the best luck with. We are wanting to be able to bale some of the fodder without having to run the discbine through after the combine. Also trying to reduce our tillage passes on our corn on corn ground.
Does one do a better job of chopping in greener stalks or drier stalks than the other. We have been told by both our Newholland and Deere dealler to stay away from the NH or JD chopping heads due to breakdown issues. We have looked @ and priced the Geringhof , Drago and Capello , any other breeds someone may suggest. I'm hearing that the Geringhof is a really good head but is extremely expensive to maintain. (wear items are costly) I've also been told that the NH 99C heads were made by Drago and they are not a very reliable Head , Anyone know any different?
I'd appreciate any comments and opinions . Thanks