we tried the 240 yesterday in short Barley, I'm not real impressed with it bringing crop to draper,I had reel set on 2, should I try it on 3 and maybe move the reel back, any suggestions.contour max seems to work pretty good.

Do you mean teeth angle at 2 or fore/aft at 2?!
This a triple reel? Either way, make sure reel cylinders set to minimum cutter bar clearance.
Fore/aft at 6.
No advantage to teeth angle change from position 2, 3 and 4 are for scraping lodged crop off the ground, not a factor in this case.

 

I have my reel teeth on 2, I dont think I had my fore aft at 6, will try that,this is synergy barley that we sprayed with palisade so its short, where it is thin it looks like the dam is higher on this header than the fd1, it looked like I couldnt get my reel low enough to push it on the draper,first day so I am still learning,I wish it was a triple reel but I didnt get one, wish I had now!when you say reel to minimum cutter bar clearance, you mean reel down right?Is there another adjustment on the cylinders themselves?

 

Rock dam should be removable.

Reel cam on 3 should be sufficient. Higher the number the further back it throws onto the draper.

 

Lots of issues with FD2 and adapter and wing float staying in adjustment. Macdon isn’t sure why.

 

Look at how much weight they're hanging on the ends of the header. Monster knife drive, hydraulic training wheels, skidplates, etc. That's all weight on the end of a lever. As the float springs stretch and things break in, the wing balance and float will change.

Even removing the outer skidplates and brackets on older fd's would make a non-insignificant difference to how the wing behaves. The lighter you can keep the wings, the less stress there will be at the flex joints and linkages.

 

Wing float/balance has nothing to do with springs though.

 

Not exactly. The wing balance depends on the float setting.

Small float adjustments don't usually affect balance much, but a larger one will. For example, taking float from 3 or 2.5 to a 1.25 (cutting on ground dry conditions vs wet conditions) you will need to confirm the wing balance is still acceptable.

The fm200 isnt fundamentally different in that regard than the previous 3 generations, but they're trying to make setting it up less voodoo and more user friendly.

 

Set it all, combine for a couple days, not following ground properly, some times causing combine lateral tilt to stay tilted one direction to account for unbalance. Reset all the float and works great again for a few days.

First 2500ac per head we were adjusting every couple days, seem to be better now. Atleast they made it super easy to do on these new ones.

 

Set it all, combine for a couple days, not following ground properly, some times causing combine lateral tilt to stay tilted one direction to account for unbalance. Reset all the float and works great again for a few days.

First 2500ac per head we were adjusting every couple days, seem to be better now. Atleast they made it super easy to do on these new ones.

do I reset the float or wing balance if my header contourmaster tilts right when I lift it?if faceplate is tilted right, is the header too light or heavy on that side,Id guess light,also what kind of pressure are you running on the header with contour max, we are on fairly level ground,1.5 seems pretty good

 

Me, Question:

Are you happy with the hydraulics on those new fifty foots?

Answer:

They work good.

 

Me, another question:

can you see the cutterbar?

Puzzlement:

Only when I open my eyes !

 

I agree with that. But if float always set around 2, there isn’t physically any springs on the wing balance settings.
And they definitely made it easier to set. The macdon people from Winnipeg that were here are a little confused as to why they are seeing these headers change like this.

 

Other than this adjustment malfunction are you liking the headers?

 

And lateral feeder faceplate control has made any slight error in setting show up more.
Claas uses a 50 to -50 scale (which reads backwards btw, left is positive, gps reads are all left leaning negative) but it should average 0 while the linkages average centered.
A 100 scale with only 16° of movement makes for very fussy readings.

 

Yes. When float and balance is set and working properly they are great. Definitely notice the extra flex. Triple reel is very nice, for being closer to knife at all times and for vision of centre canvas and feeding. Hyd buddy wheels are cats meow. 👌 If using transport wheels often, they are a lot easier to use.

 

Agree across the board.
I’ll add plugfree knife.
Would have said cat’s ass though.

Did a 1/2 section of peas and never plugged anything not caused by rocks.
A research pass had a little under 100 t/hr at engine power limit feeding perfectly.

 

Will be interesting to see updates on plug free knife/guards vs the pointed long guards after you guys are done with harvest. Concerned about rock issues with the plug free's.
Ran the prototype FD2 couple seasons ago. It had half plug free on them. They worked pretty good, did not have any rock issues for the 1000 or so acres I ran it on lentils.

The plug free did work as advertised. We did a quarter of lentils that was Regloned, and rushed getting it off before the stems had fully dried down. The FD1 with old style guards plugged a few times with the gunky paste from the stems. The FD2 plug free kept right on rolling.

 

So bjtjjl do you think these new headers are doing a better job or worth the upgrade compared to your older ones?

 

They flex more, so in our land they do a better job. If they feed canola better as claimed, and we can gain .5mph or something there, that would be great.

Worth it? I’ve heard of some huge price increases …

 

Let us know how it works today.

 

worked way better today, seems like later the contour master was tilting again, wonder if I should check float and level again, that was after 100+ acres.wish I could turn contourmaster off.seems if I run more pressure it is better.

 

On a deere you can turn it off.
I would check again

 

On a deere you can turn it off.
I would check again

I readjusted wing bal and float, will try again today.

 

What’s is doing to you?
Where you adjust wing balance, the bolt head you turn, opposite end is a crown nut and cotter pin, check to see if that pin is sheared off. Macdon told us to get rid of pin and double nut it instead. Pins were breaking and nut turning causing adjustment to move.
Under those shields, there is also a piece that could be rubbing, it’s the piece that little cable hooks to, look for rub marks, it’s shimmed and can be adjusted.
Also, make sure pea auger is getting greased well, they can hang up and cause wing float issues.

 

What’s is doing to you?
Where you adjust wing balance, the bolt head you turn, opposite end is a crown nut and cotter pin, check to see if that pin is sheared off. Macdon told us to get rid of pin and double nut it instead. Pins were breaking and nut turning causing adjustment to move.
Under those shields, there is also a piece that could be rubbing, it’s the piece that little cable hooks to, look for rub marks, it’s shimmed and can be adjusted.
Also, make sure pea auger is getting greased well, they can hang up and cause wing float issues.

seems as day went on feeder house would tilt right alot, after i quit and went to readjust, seemed the right hand is heavy,I'll adjust this a.m. and report back, glad they are easily adjusted.thanks for pointers, when i lift the header , should it be relatively level or frown alot?

 

Frowning a bit when lifted is good.

 

float was off a bit but balance was way off.?
bottom image is after 50 acres, when I set the balance it seems the clevis is sure out a long ways

 

Those aren’t actually out that much.
have you got your dealer and macdon involved yet ?

 

Those aren’t actually out that much.
have you got your dealer and macdon involved yet ?

I redid it this
Morning when I took the pictures, low and behold it worked great all day, maybe it had to get wore in, thanks again, the pictures were before and after of the left side only, right was about the same,now by the way ,how low can I set my reel in the center of a 2 piece reel

 

I’m going to try balancing wings by adjusting wings until lateral tilt averages centered and wings average level.
A running setting system.
Those little raised notches on the adjustment levers a good start to be equal on both sides.

 

I’m not sure about reel adjustment. Just make sure you make header “frown” on blocks or something before lowering Center of reel on 2 piece reel. To low and you will trim fingers

 

Two reel units have travel down (frown) limiters.

 

Check with Macdon or dealer and make sure your header has the proper weighted springs. There was a recall. Fought this problem every day last year.
got the recall done this winter. Big difference this year. Make sure your header is properly set up and PDI’ d properly from dealer. Have had many brand newMacdon’s not set up properly. Then I’ve had to get macdon harvest support or factory guys to do it correct
Also Make sure to calibrate your header on whatever color of machine u have.
And I’ve shut the feeder house auto tilt off. (Case 8250).
if in rocky conditions stick with the pointed guards. If you have a triple reel you can adjust cylinders down to 3/4” clearance. Double reel is higher. Not sure spec. Try using the duck foot add on fingers on ever other tooth if still having Problems.
On the contourmax buddy wheels check the mount bolts on center wheels all the time. Broke many of them. If flexing on them all the time make sure you are running float at 2 or less. They will take a beating if more weight.
Macdon still needs to do some work on these.

 

A. Check with Macdon or dealer and make sure your header has the proper weighted springs. There was a recall. Fought this problem every day last year.
got the recall done this winter. Big difference this year. Make sure your header is properly set up and PDI’ d properly from dealer. Have had many brand newMacdon’s not set up properly. Then I’ve had to get macdon harvest support or factory guys to do it correct
Also Make sure to calibrate your header on whatever color of machine u have.

B. And I’ve shut the feeder house auto tilt off. (Case 8250).

C. if in rocky conditions stick with the pointed guards.

D. On the contourmax buddy wheels check the mount bolts on center wheels all the time. Broke many of them. If flexing on them all the time make sure you are running float at 2 or less. They will take a beating if more weight.

E. Macdon still needs to do some work on these.

A. Is there any general error in spring selection?

B. Would never do that on a Claas, the speed of tilt on rolling ground is a thing of beauty. Why not on a CIH?

C. Couldn’t give me a set of pointed guards.

D. The center wheels do not benefit from the rubber suspension the end wheels do and my thought is hydraulic accumulators on the center wheels?
A rubber bushing on the cylinder pin attachment? Something else?

E. Always.

 

Not sure. Have dealer check serial number for recalls from Macdon. There’s a few.
need pointed guards in Rocky conditions. Like certain places in AB, SK, ND, MT
For sure a small accumulator on them don.
I got them to file a report to the engineers. As far as the center buddy wheel cylinder mount bolts, I suggested they use a larger pin. Won’t shear as easy.
I love all the testing we do for the manufacturers at our cost most times. Lol

 

I love all the testing we do for the manufacturers at our cost most times. Lol

Indeed but I usually find it is a two way street, tips and tricks learnt along way helps the cooperator as well, always nice.
Usually they are nice people to deal with on the same development page I am.

 

Oh MCC, why no CIH lateral faceplate tilt?

 

I have it. Doesn’t work the best on cih but who knows maybe I have a setting wrong.