Do most combines lift headers high enough to go over gateposts?

[KB6930]

Claas on tracks you can jack up the whole combine a bit which helps get over lower posts but not all posts.
You need to pick you're bit of ground to drop off without the trailer

 

[B'o'B]

Dropped the header off on the ground on my CASE 6140 quite a lot of times and never had an issue picking it back up again. Heaps better that that Claas I used to drive, but then there had been about 25 years more development time!

 

[Chae1]

Think you'd need a hillmaster. When i worked in states used to get one side of header in. Stand on side brakes, screwed it in sideways. Must have been hard on axles.

Main reason we stick with a Montana is how easy it makes moving fields. One far

m can drive down main road with it jacked up over hedge and other obstacles. Cars can drive underneath it.

 

[Two Tone]

Our trailer is the biggest cow ever to line up. It’s a mekanag for a JD and I hate it. Despite adjusting all the brackets it’s still trickier than any other combine I’ve been involved with.

I actually quite like the Mekanag trailers. Especially the way you can angle the feet that go under the header Which is pretty similar to the idea I used in my last post.

When NH asked me to test the DS Header, because it originally had cage roller all the way along it, including the bit that goes under the feeder housing, a normal type header trailer couldn’t be used, because those cage rollers would hit the wheels.
So ESM (who built the DS) supplied a brilliant but very expensive trailer with wheels at each end and a clever system that whenever you turned the front wheels would also turn the back wheels at the same angle. This meant that getting in and out of a tight field gateway was easy, because the back wheels always followed the front ones.

One of the reasons this trailer was extra expensive was because it had to have a battery operated electro-hydraulic system, so that you could drop the header off at the right angle, then pull it onto and re-angle it level on the the trailer so that it sat centrally on it.

However, when testing in 2013, it was discovered that we didn’t need the central cage rollers on the header, which meant that it would now fit on a slightly modified conventional header trailer with wheels in the middle, for about a 1/3 of the price!

So in 2015, I built one virtually copying a Mekanag 10,500 trailer, with a special rest for the DS knife to fit on and an extendable drawbar to suit either towing behind the Combine (Long position) or a tractor (short position).

Here is that DS Header sitting on it at Cereals 2015, winning the IMMA Gold medal.

It is also the picture I use as my avatar.


By the way, if anybody is interested, I have 2 brand new complete 35 foot DS header kits available for sale. They can be cut down to suit any NH/Case header size. They were originally for sale at £1,000/foot. They will sell for a small fraction of that amount. Not bad if you can increase you Combine’s wheat capacity by up to 50%!
PM me if interested.

 

[MrNoo]

I find i can get round the whole farm with only taking the header of 3 times, have to go on the roads to 2 blocks. Most of the gateways are now wide enough to get 24ft through. I have one with a cotswold stone wall that is 20ft that I can get through, lift one side up drive it at an angle over the wall then you can shunt it back and forth and can then get the other end through. There is certainly a knack to it but I did cock it up last year and took the corner of the wall down, drive through easily now!

 

[Lincsman]

I drop headers on the floor with a straw trail under the knife, just stops it sinking and tilts it back.
I have tilted over one gate post but the gateway has to be quite wide, and the post not too high.

 

[ifindoubtflatout]

Ours is 24, cut and about 26’ wide altogether
It will tilt and if the driver is “clever” he can wiggle and tilt and back out/into the field it will go over some gateposts

but we have taken gates off/widened them to 28-30’ to save time

taking header on n off to jump fields is a waste of precious time and a PITA

 

[Dead Rabbits]

Backed a combine through a lot of narrow gates with the header on. The distance between the outside of the wheel on one side to the end of the header on the other( plus a foot) determines if it’ll go. Depending on width it really works well if header can be raised up really high on tilt. A stock JD header won’t go up as high as a Mac don will.

 

[Brisel]

I've never had a problem hitching a heard on & off on the ground @Two Tone unless it's on very uneven ground and the front has pitched forward. My CR has hydraulic front face tilt but I've never even needed that to hitch back up when dumping on the ground. I do wish I'd bought a decent trailer with the 4 wheel steering instead of the manually steered twin axled Shelbourne Reynolds I got instead. It's very good but take some getting used to and hard to centre going down the road despite a central locking position.

 

[Norfolk Olly]

With a 35 ft header i reverse through most gateways. tilt header fully, raise the tracks fully then reverse through with tracks tight against post on one side then full lock till one side of header is through then tilt header other way and clear the other post with the other side. If you see what i mean.
As for dropping header on the ground, i usually drop it against the hedge with the back sitting in the furrow, as mentioned its not the height but the angle that can be a problem. The small metal feet that claas provide are ok for dropping off on concrete but usually sink when in the field

 

[dannewhouse]

Contractor used to get over low ISH posts here but only when steep ramped gateways, going down into field, had to back out couldn't drive out

 

[Still Farming]

Some can clear posts other can't.
Some will pick header off floor most won't.

 

[PDE1]

Claas Montana will lift up enough to clear gate posts will clear hedges as well if trimmed down

 

[Selectamatic]

I don’t need to... ?

 

[bovrill]

I sling a railway sleeper on the ground to drop the header on to. Drive over it until it just disappears from sight under the knife, then put it down. On my little Claas it gives it just the right tilt back to pick it back up again.

 

[Sharpy]

Why would you drop a header on the ground?

 

[bovrill]

Why would you drop a header on the ground?

It's easier to bring the combine into the yard to blow down, refuel etc, and even stick in a shed overnight, than do it out in the field. But it's a bit tight with the header on, so that gets left in the field. Dropping it on a sleeper is far quicker than the trailer.

 

[Tomr10]

Would it not be possible to rig up some quick fit wheels or blocks on Jack's a bit like a jockey wheel

 

[Bobthebuilder]

Takes all of 10mins to hitch or unhitch onto trailer with our lexion so why faff about dropping onto the ground, most of our gates are 25ft and can get trough from field to field with header on, can’t get down the roads with it on so has to go on trailer anyway

 

[Nearly]

Carry a chain on the tractor. Gateposts sorted.
I help my contractor at harvest. 20 acres in 4 field with 12' gateways between is the worst job. Trailer is always full at same time as header needs to come off for field change.