Which combine header to cut beans?

[Chezza]

We have a standard Claas header for a Dominater and also another Claas header with the rape extension built into it for cutting rape.
Which header would you be inclined to yoke on for cutting spring beans. They are about 3ft 6 tall

 

[d williams]

We have a standard Claas header for a Dominater and also another Claas header with the rape extension built into it for cutting rape.
Which header would you be inclined to yoke on for cutting spring beans. They are about 3ft 6 tall

Rape extension

 

[Timbo]

We have a standard Claas header for a Dominater and also another Claas header with the rape extension built into it for cutting rape.
Which header would you be inclined to yoke on for cutting spring beans. They are about 3ft 6 tall

The rape extension header, cut it very early morning or late evening, get the reel well up out of the way, and go like hell.

 

[MrNoo]

I’d say standard!! Varifeed NH header here and tried everything but found standard back position the best, was starting at silly o’clock in the morning.
Found with it out it would build up and then shoot in in wads, made the drum grunt, tried faster slower made no difference.
At least with the dew you could reel them in when they started to dry 8-30 they flowed in nicely without the reel by 11-30 header losses were excessive so stopped.
The above was with winters, Tundra, springs maybe better esp now the weather has changed

 

[ZXR17]

I found exactly the same with my varifeed header @MrNoo .

 

[Pigless]

I’d say standard!! Varifeed NH header here and tried everything but found standard back position the best, was starting at silly o’clock in the morning.
Found with it out it would build up and then shoot in in wads, made the drum grunt, tried faster slower made no difference.
At least with the dew you could reel them in when they started to dry 8-30 they flowed in nicely without the reel by 11-30 header losses were excessive so stopped.
The above was with winters, Tundra, springs maybe better esp now the weather has changed

I have found the same with the varifeed, just started spring beans here.
Do you find it better if you lift the auger a bit?

 

[Chezza]

My gut feeling is the rape extension header will do what Mr Noo says and takes it in in clumps which obviously isn’t great. I’ve only cut beans once before and used the standard header which fed in fine but did have quite a few header losses.

 

[DieselRob]

If they’re standing up straight then just use your standard header, cut earlier in the morning, as long as they’re feeding evenly keep your speed up

 

[MrNoo]

I have found the same with the varifeed, just started spring beans here.
Do you find it better if you lift the auger a bit?

I did think to lift it up but left it as it seemed to be acceptable, obviously the conditions changed from hour to hour.
I think if I was to cut all night I would have had a fiddle with the auger

 

[clbarclay]

Conventional header and early starts if needed. I find that its the knife vibrations rather than the reel that causes the serious losses in beans when they are too dry. I expect the extension would work okay if needed, but keep the reel back as it will probably be needed fairly low to keep the beans flowing over the extension.

I did consider using the header extension for winter beans a few years ago for the side knives as the beans had grown very tall and then the tops fell over, making a mat that the standard dividers couldn't deal with. I made a long divider instead which did the job nicely.

 

[6910 Buzz]

What about beans 7ft high

 

[clbarclay]

What about beans 7ft high

I'm guessing they are not stood up 7ft high now and the tops have bent over, making a nice (aka horrible) mat about 5ft high?

Long dividers help, a lot. I made one in a hurry a couple of years ago when my beans were like that and wouldn't divide. I used an off cut of skirting board and a few bits of scrap to mount it. It runs from the tip of the standard divider to the back of the header, pushing the uncut crop away from the header. It's a bodge, but it worked surprisingly well and I use it most of the time now cutting beans.

 

[DrWazzock]

JD 800 series bed went well. Wouldn’t feed without reel but pods seemed kind of sealed by drought so lost very little seed. Don’t leave them too late. I’d prefer to dry down from 17 than go in pods splitting at sub 15.
I go like hell. If a seed falls the beds under it before it hits the ground. Carefully match reel speed to slightly more than ground speed to help em into auger but not rip at them.

 

[DrWazzock]

I fit homemade poles to force beans and rubbish down under the sides of the ends of the bed. Anything that tries to lift the crop at the end of the bed line conventional dividers just seems to get hung up with rubbish and causes feed problems.

 

[DrWazzock]

Can just see pole on end of bed and auger tube fitted to top surface of end of bed. Helps immensely with all crop flow. Why it’s not standard I don’t know.

 

[bert]

View attachment 1057645
Can just see pole on end of bed and auger tube fitted to top surface of end of bed. Helps immensely with all crop flow. Why it’s not standard I don’t know.

You are farming in Australia now?

 

[DrWazzock]

I have found rape extensions disappointing. They do catch seed that might otherwise hit the ground but I have never found the crop flow to be satisfactory without needing a fair bit of reel action on it. If you don't use the reel and just push into the crop, the crop tends to hold together ( as its tangled) as a mass and the auger can't seem to peel it off until it pressure really builds then the auger rips a lump off and jams. I have never had an even feed without reel usage, or maybe its just because I use a cheap bed extension.

 

[6910 Buzz]

I'm guessing they are not stood up 7ft high now and the tops have bent over, making a nice (aka horrible) mat about 5ft high?

Long dividers help, a lot. I made one in a hurry a couple of years ago when my beans were like that and wouldn't divide. I used an off cut of skirting board and a few bits of scrap to mount it. It runs from the tip of the standard divider to the back of the header, pushing the uncut crop away from the header. It's a bodge, but it worked surprisingly well and I use it most of the time now cutting beans.

Some places yes some still standing tall no rape extension here and full of pods too to bottom

 

[clbarclay]

I have found rape extensions disappointing. They do catch seed that might otherwise hit the ground but I have never found the crop flow to be satisfactory without needing a fair bit of reel action on it. If you don't use the reel and just push into the crop, the crop tends to hold together ( as its tangled) as a mass and the auger can't seem to peel it off until it pressure really builds then the auger rips a lump off and jams. I have never had an even feed without reel usage, or maybe its just because I use a cheap bed extension.

My extension on and 800 series header is a Zurn and still needs at least some reel action to pull crop back the the table auger. I think the only way to avoid that would be to have a variable knife header and only extend it as much as the crop needs or have a power flow style header with belts to pull it back. Both those options would be nice, but not so easy to change or justify as an extension on an older combine. I don't see the issue though with using the reel to keep crops flowing nicely over the extension.

I did once cut a bit of winter linseed with the extension on, just to avoid taking the header off or trampling crop on the way back to the yard. That was one situation where I would far sooner not have to be using the reel to keep the crop flowing.

 

[clbarclay]

Some places yes some still standing tall no rape extension here and full of pods too to bottom

That could well be one issue with using a header extension for beans if you had one. Side knives designed for OSR aren't that tall.