[GleanerFanatic]

Hi all. We run around 3000 acres of dryland wheat here in Idaho. My main question for you all is what would you suggest would be a good header size with running a Gleaner S88 on ground that has very steep hills, a lot of terraces, and washes through the field? We are currently running an R62 with a 25 ft Honey Bee header, which works well, but we have been looking around to upgrade the machine to an S88, and to get a new MacDon D75 header. I have been looking at the 30 ft model, but was also wondering about the 45 ft model as well. I don't know if going with a 45 ft is just too much, or if it would work. So, if you could help me out with your input, suggestions, and experience with this that would be great. Thanks! Also, has anyone had any experience with the new Honey Bee Ariflex draper headers?

 

[whatley_posse]

We run class 7 gleaners in steep country in your part of the world. I have ran a 40ft dyno flex I hated the header and had a hard time with the size. After 20 years of 30ft agco heads we recently went to 36 ft honey bees and could not be happier. In steep country the header has to float through the adapter. I have little experience with macdons but have heard of feeding issues from neighbors that run gleaners. Macdons look well built to me

 

[glennw]

If you truly run in some steep hills then I would say you probably would be looking at a 35 foot header as the upper limit to safely get around. We have a 30 foot 8200 header with air reel on an R76 and that is almost getting too heavy for some of the down hill sections. The 35 foot 9250 draper header is roughly the same weight maybe a little lighter but doesn't have the weight so far out forward without the air reel out front. We run a 30 foot 9250 on our S77 to make sure we don't have too much weight on the front. With the uneven terrain a 35 foot is about all you want. Several are running 40 foot MacDon FD70's on the red combines with the Hillco leveling systems to cut uneven terrain but they have to be careful as a few get stood on end every year and they have to unload the grain bin to get the rear wheels to come down. I don't know how the red combines compare to the Gleaner for stability with the big header on them.

Also if you run on hills I would suggest you get the 24.5x32 bias duals over the Michelin tires as they flex too much and are great for everything but the steep hills. We had the 650x38 tires and had fields we couldn't cut because the combine couldn't get up on the hills until we got the 24.5x32 tires on the combine. They have that option available again now and the dealer said many people are happy to get the bias tire option back again in our area as they have fought the radial tires.

 

[allisfarmer2]

8200 flex

Glennw i sent you a personal message on the flex head.

 

[whatley_posse]

Red combines are terrifying in the hills. They seam to be top heavy and not balanced well

 

[9770hillside]

whatley_posse are you talking about a red combine that is level land combine on hills or a red combine with a Hillco? If it is one that is Hillco equipped then you feel really safe on extremely steep hills.

glennw - Did these red combines have the weight package on the rear axle? Adding that package makes all the difference with a 40 ft head in the hills.

 

[whatley_posse]

My only experience was with flatland red combines. I'm pretty sure the hills side Versions are way better. I know a lot of guys that run them up north.

 

[glennw]

glennw - Did these red combines have the weight package on the rear axle? Adding that package makes all the difference with a 40 ft head in the hills.

It is my understanding they have the weight package. When talking with a neighbor that has a new one with a 40 foot head he said he had the weight package plus loaded rear tires and they take it easy going down the hills keeping the wheels of the flex draper on the ground. He had never stood it on end but others that run in the Skyrocket area have when they have quite a bit of grain in the grain bin when going down hills and unloading the grain lets the rear end settle back onto the ground. I don't think those have more than just the weight package.

Otherwise most say it is a lot better balanced combine for the hills than the 1470's were and finally have enough power to run around the hills.

The New Holland salesman says that the advantage he has with the yellow combine with the Hillco leveler over the red combines with the Hillco leveler is the yellow combines have a 9 inch shorter feeder house bringing the header back in closer to the front axle making his more stable when running the 40 foot draper header.

 

[GleanerFanatic]

Can you put a weight package or loaded rear tires on a Gleaner S88? or would that even help out or be worth it to help out in trying to use a 40 ft or 45 ft header? or is staying with a 35 ft header my best bet?

 

[glennw]

Can you put a weight package or loaded rear tires on a Gleaner S88? or would that even help out or be worth it to help out in trying to use a 40 ft or 45 ft header? or is staying with a 35 ft header my best bet?

The combines in our area have been running loaded rear tires for years. Only way to keep the rear end down when going down hills even with the small headers. Stood a demo on its nose in '92 because the dealer had forgot to load the rear tires and it had a 27 foot header on it.

As far as header sizes that would be your call. What do they run on Gleaners in your area? The 35/36 foot headers is as large as I have seen in my area on Gleaners. Reading other posts below it sounds like as you hit 40 feet it is getting marginal to get the grain unloaded on the go so not sure how you would unload a 45 foot without stopping all the time and that would take away any gains you would have over a narrower header.

 

[GleanerFanatic]

The combines in our area have been running loaded rear tires for years. Only way to keep the rear end down when going down hills even with the small headers. Stood a demo on its nose in '92 because the dealer had forgot to load the rear tires and it had a 27 foot header on it.

As far as header sizes that would be your call. What do they run on Gleaners in your area? The 35/36 foot headers is as large as I have seen in my area on Gleaners. Reading other posts below it sounds like as you hit 40 feet it is getting marginal to get the grain unloaded on the go so not sure how you would unload a 45 foot without stopping all the time and that would take away any gains you would have over a narrower header.

Here in our area, most people run 30 or 35 footers. The custom cutters that come from Kansas to cut for some of the farmers around here run Case IH 9230 combines with 40 or 45 ft MacDon headers. That is where I was getting the idea of having a 40 or 45 ft header. As for what you said about the unloading, that has changed a lot about the way I am thinking now, because we wouldn't be able to unload on the go with all of the steep hills and terraces that we have. Plus, our fields are anywhere from 1-1.5 miles long, so with a big header, I am sure that I wouldn't be able to make it very far down the field. Thanks for your help glennw. I will probably be looking more at a 30 or 35 ft MacDon header then for what I will be doing, and thanks for the idea of loading the tires.