[briandublanko]

Looking at a new 1050 maxflex header and I'm just wondering how they are as far as reliability and maintenance. Also how is the autocontour in drainage ditches working. How does the header perform in wet conditions? Any input would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

We have a 1050 flex header now for 3 years. Have been very happy with it. Have done peas flat on the ground for both years and in my opinion I don't think you will find a better header for this type of condition. Flexes to almost any contour the ground could provide and got all the peas and shaved the ground to half an inch or so. No lifters were used the first year. Only problem we had was that if the peas were laying straight ahead. You had to slow right down and let the reel lift the crop up some.

In grains I was somewhat leery when I first bought it. Heard lots of people having feeding issues with auger headers. The auger in the 1050 flex header is bigger than the past series header and the strippers are located in different positions also. as far as I'm concerned this header feeds better then the macdon 973 header we had on our 9860 deere. Don't know about the new series macdons. Feeds extremely well for a auger header when setup right. The contour system works very well but cannot compete with the macdon spring system. In sharp ditches you need to slow down to about 3 mph for the contour system to react quick enough. In all other conditions the contour system keeps it at the setting you have set within about an inch.

Then header will feed more then the combine will handle so its always full.

I have a video of the header in action but have to figure a way to post it and I will when i figure it out.

hope this answers some of your questions.

 

[briandublanko]

I should have mentioned also we have the maxflex mounted on a 590r with the hydraulic speed kit installed. On the newer series the contour reacts a lot quicker. One added feature we really like is we don't lock the knife in grain mode. We just run with it lifted up and if we come to a lodged area we let the knife down into flex mode and get a really clean shaven look on the ground. But this also becomes a great rockpicker too so you have to be careful.
Also you have to clean under the table where the knife rises up as material can build up on the plate and break the straps. as long as yo clean this every day it works great.

 

[briandublanko]

heres the video. Its a bit shaky ok really shaky but this is my first attempt.

holy crap youtube fixed the shakiness in this video. Original does not look this good

 

[briandublanko]

Do you notice any difficulty feeding when things start getting tough in the evening? I know when we had an auger head as soon as the sun went down there were issues.

Good Job on the video. I wouldn't call that shaky, I've seen some on youtube that are so shaky that after 30 seconds a guy feels sea sick.

Youtube fixed the shakiness in this video. trust me you would have gotten really seasick watching it .

No we haven't. feeds just as well as the day. We were in really tough straw in that video with lots of green straw and hard to chop up and it fed well. grain was dry around 14.0 moisture. Tomorow will be a good test as it has rained here so straw will be quite tough when we start up again. Try to get a video of this if it woks out.

 

[briandublanko]

Nice, video! What does the 13% under the ground speed represent? I don't think that is on mine?

Grain moisture 13%

 

[briandublanko]

Would the 1200 (40ft) feed as well as the 1050 in wheat or do you think it might be to far for an auger to feed smoothly?

Honestly for my 590r I wished I would have gotten the 40 ft 1200 maxflex. next year i am seriously thinking about trading it for the 1200. yes i think it will feed as good just travel a bit slower. I feel i'm loosing efficiency with the 1050.

 

[briandublanko]

We were finally able to get going yesterday in wet and really tough Wheat. Wheat tested around 17 to 18 % and straw was really tough. This is the first time in 3 years that we had this tough of conditions to actually try the header in. Worked very well with the odd feeder chain build up so I took some other members advice from a few years ago and made up some rubber paddles to mount on the mid auger section just in front of the feeder house 4 inches high and about 6 inches long each from old baler belting. made up 8 of them. Now it feeds just as well when it was dry. Very even and smooth feeding in wetter conditions.

Basically this header works very well in dry conditions and with a little help with paddles works just as well in really tough wet conditions as well. Very happy with this header. Will try to get pictures up on how it looks with the paddles installed.