[greenseeder]

i speed up the header/feeder on our STS, but i seems to slow down after a few minutes down the row.,, i am trying to get more sickle speed out of the draper header.
i tried it on both combines, same result. what am i doing wrong.
thanks

 

[larryp]

Just to add to what Don said, the ball valve can't be a cheapy, mine was around $100. Also make sure you move variable speed all the way up and down every day and don't be stingy on grease, if belt is slipping, replace it right away. To replace the bottom set of shieves is around $2500.

 

[Don Boles]

Your not doing anything wrong.
If you want to speed up feeder shaft speed this way you have to put a ball valve in the line to the drive sheave to prevent in from leaking back.
Just be aware to not stroke your knife too fast.
Also augers retractable teeth can heat and melt the plastic T supports on the crank. if rotated too fast.
That would be your voice of experience talking.

Don

 

[Bundy Bear]

I wouldn't advise speeding it up anyway. Sickle drives wear out real quick when they are run too fast. Are you having trouble cutting it off, just curious why you need to speed it up?

 

[greenseeder]

i was just trying out a macdon fd 70, and it was obvious the sickle was going much too slow, compared to our 974. it was plugging quite often in some tough cutting, and also the cutterbar wasn't what you would call perfect condition. so i called the service guy, and he thought the header should be close to top speed, so that is what i tried to do, but it wouldn't stay at the top,,, that is until i learned that if you didn't lower the reel, it would stay.

 

[robert]

You mention that the knife isn't in the greatest condition. I've found that worn guards, knives, and misadjusted hold-downs can make a huge difference how this machine cuts. I would suggested spending some time changing and adjusting parts on the knife before speeding the drives up. I've also had vibrations problems with higher speeds.

 

[greentech]

I'm having exactly the same problem with a 9860 and 9750, both with fd70s. Customer complaint is the same, knife cuts too slow. The single point couplers seem to have a leak inside them. So how is this supposed to work when you run a corn head and need to change speed more often? You get out of the cab and flip the ball valve every time? In that case the old multi point hookup would be better.

 

[Don Boles]

That's completely different.
CA20 adapters can set the knife speed by ajusting a valve to increase or decrease pump stroke.
In such case you should leave the feeder speed on slowest.
The max recommended speeds are in the op manual depending on width and single or double knife drive.

Don

 

[greenseeder]

yes, like i said, i was just trying out this used head on our last 80 acres, and i didn't have an owners manual, and called the service manager at 5 on friday, and he said that he thought the feeder speed should be close to the top. i did some guard straightening, but wasn't gonna replace guards on their header. it was still useable at 3-3.5m.p.h., but i felt it did a better job cutting once i increased sickle r.p.m. and i could also bump the speed up towards 5.
With all that said, i was very impressed with that header.