30' MacDon 960 questions?

[coadman]

I currently have a Cash/IH 2188 with a 1020 flex head that I use for everything(wheat,grain sorghum, and soybeans). I would like to extend the life of the 1020, and use it only for soybeans, so have been looking for another header just for wheat. Came across a MacDon 960. I've always thought these would feed wheat exceptionally well. Would I be satisfied with this MacDon vs just going to an older 1010 straight head? The one I have found, is used by another with a Case/IH 2188.
thanks,
Jim

[deeretech99]

yes a 960 is a great head for straight cutting wheat

[cat75]

I had the same setup your looking at, it works amazing, no complaints, with the older 960 you need to be willing to grease all the u-joints on the head every day but you will love the way it feeds small grains.

[711bert]

the macdon 960 is a poor header, I would be looking at a 972 better and heavier.
You wont regret spending a little bit more on the header and going with the 972 instead of the 960. We have a 960 and its had its fair breakdowns eventhough we inspect it before we start using it every season. They are not so strong build.

But if I were you, keep using your 1020, you don't want to wear out 2 headers, maintain 2 headers, your better of trading that 1020 in time than ending up with 2 old headers.

[oldbrownsierra]

The 960 is a good header for its day. They are strong enough, and are not too overly heavy. With 960's you need to maintain them well, as many are old heads by now. Bearings every couple years, you need to maintain the drapers correctly, and service the adapter and drivelines regularily. Biggest downfall is the old JD wobble boxes. Some have been updated to the MacDon WB, so if you can find one of those, your golden.

972 as mentioned above, have a better reel and cutterbar for cutting on the ground, as well as a much better adapter. They are also a newer model and come with the MacDon wb. They are not stronger than a 960 however, they are actually lighter other than the cutterbar and the reel. The 972 was designed to be a swather header, although there are many on combines, you need to be careful with them on a larger combine. They are not a bad fit for lighter combines, so it would be a decent match for your 2188.

The best of both worlds is 962.

[coadman]

Originally Posted by oldbrownsierra

The 960 is a good header for its day. They are strong enough, and are not too overly heavy. With 960's you need to maintain them well, as many are old heads by now. Bearings every couple years, you need to maintain the drapers correctly, and service the adapter and drivelines regularily. Biggest downfall is the old JD wobble boxes. Some have been updated to the MacDon WB, so if you can find one of those, your golden.

972 as mentioned above, have a better reel and cutterbar for cutting on the ground, as well as a much better adapter. They are also a newer model and come with the MacDon wb. They are not stronger than a 960 however, they are actually lighter other than the cutterbar and the reel. The 972 was designed to be a swather header, although there are many on combines, you need to be careful with them on a larger combine. They are not a bad fit for lighter combines, so it would be a decent match for your 2188.

The best of both worlds is 962.

What is a 962, compared to the 960? My 2188 is a 1997 model, and this MacDon I'm going to look at is a 1996, so it ought to feel "comfortable"(lol). I think I can buy it for around $10,000, and if it looks as good in person as the pictures indicate, I might be inclined to go ahead and purchase it. I will have to check the wobblebox to see what it is.

[711bert]

its not the wobble box giving problem its everything else, we maintain them very good and replace parts before we even think they break the header itself is just not build heavy enough not as heavy like the 972 (the frame that is).
the 962 was a bit better but i'd go with a 972.

[cat75]

how many acres will you run through it in a season? Unless its a bunch a 960 well maintained will work fine, one thing with all draper heads that I recomend is to remove the canvases in the off season to keep mice from making a home and chewing on the canvas. The wobble box is still available through JD parts and also from Mac-Don parts. All of the drive shafts and bearings can be purchased from almost anywhere that they sell that stuff, its not some special parts, also if it has a slip clutch for the center canvas just weld it solid otherwise its a pain.

[coadman]

Normally, within my rotation, I harvest about 1500 acres of wheat each year, most of the time I hire 500 acres or so custom harvested which are about 18 miles away, and I try and cut the 1000 acres that are closer to home.

[oldbrownsierra]

Originally Posted by coadman

What is a 962, compared to the 960? My 2188 is a 1997 model, and this MacDon I'm going to look at is a 1996, so it ought to feel "comfortable"(lol). I think I can buy it for around $10,000, and if it looks as good in person as the pictures indicate, I might be inclined to go ahead and purchase it. I will have to check the wobblebox to see what it is.

962 is the newer model of the 960, it it built better, has the MD wb, and a much better adapter. A 1996 is a later model 960.

Originally Posted by cat75

The wobble box is still available through JD parts and also from Mac-Don parts.

Those wobble boxes are garbage, and over $1100 last time I checked (even more through JD). Its worth the extra $$ to upgrade to the new style when you need a new one. That is the #1 most common failure on 960's, especially the bigger heads.