Cornhead

John Deere RowMax Chopping Corn Head Stalk Rolls

John Deere RowMax

We’ve been getting a lot of customers asking about the new RowMax Chopping corn head rolls since John Deere released them (especially from the no-till and strip-till customers).  We were able to set-up a few demos and side by side comparisons this fall. Deere’s testing shows that 50% of the stalk residue is sized less than 6” with the 10 intermeshing knives on the rolls.  Deere also says that the chopping rolls have 48% less row-unit power consumption vs the Stalkmaster chopping corn head. We saw that they did a very good job leaving the residue along the row for no-till or strip-till the following year. The rolls also did a better job butterflying the top of the stalk to improve breakdown and reduce tire stubble damage.

 

John Deere RowMax Stalk Rolls

John Deere RowMax Stalk Rolls

John Deere RowMax Stalk Rolls

John Deere RowMax Stalk Rolls

Comparison – Left Side Row Max Rolls and Right Side Stalkmaster Rolls

Sloan Support is written by the product support team at Sloan Implement, a 20 location John Deere dealer in Illinois and Wisconsin.  Learn more at www.sloans.com

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360 Yield Saver Brushes vs OEM Gathering Chains on JD 612C Cornhead

by Andy Syrcle, Assumption, IL

Sloan Implement became a Yield 360 dealer this summer.  We now sell all Yield 360 products to include Y-drops, chain rolls, yield savers, bullet plow points, soil scan, and undercover fungicide.

It this video we show how the yield saver brushes can prevent header loss when harvesting corn.  We took a 2012 John Deere 612c corn head and installed yield savers on rows 1-6.  We left regular OEM gathering chains on rows 7-12.  We did two separate tests from the afternoon when it was dry and windy to the next morning when there was a very light dew on the corn.  The difference is clear in both tests, but the savings on the dewy morning was approximately 1.25 bushels per acres with the yield savers vs OEM gathering chains.

 

There is cost involved in switching to yield 360 yield savers, however there is an immediate return on investment by saving bushels. The brushes you see in the video are known to last for approximately one year.  The initial set up for yield savers is $600 per row.  This includes new gathering chains and a set of brushes.  The gathering chains will last the same as John Deere OEM chains, but you will need to change the brushes yearly depending on acres harvested.  The cost to change brushes is $275 per row.

If you have any questions on Yield 360 products please contact Sloan Implement.

Sloan Support is written by the product support team at Sloan Implement, a 20 location John Deere dealer in Illinois and Wisconsin.  Learn more at www.sloans.com

 

 

 

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Corn Head Storage Stands BXE10423

by Jared Wheeler, Assumption, IL

Do you place your cornhead on wooden blocks to prevent damaging the curtains on your Stalkmaster cornhead?

Deere has a nice attachment that makes hooking and unhooking heads much more convenient.

• Fits all 2012 & newer corn heads (chopping & non‐chopping)

• Raises corn head off the ground to allow for stalk stompers under head
• No Tools necessary to convert from field position to storage position

• No more Wooden Blocks needed to prop up corn head

• Works with head carts

• Deere part BXE10423 $233.20 per set

Storage Position

Storage Position

Field Position

Field Position

Sloan Support is written by the product support team at Sloan Implement, a 20 location John Deere dealer in Illinois and Wisconsin.  Learn more at www.sloans.com

 

 

 

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Combine Settings for Corn and Soybeans, Autotrac Issues, and Diseased Cobs in Central IL

2015 Soybean Harvest in Central IL. Photo credit Chad Colby @TheChadColby

by Lucas Veale, Assumption, IL 

If you have a 70 Series that makes a hard turn when you engage autotrac, check the autotrac diagnostics page in the GS3 command center.  Confirm the direction of travel is correct.  You may need to drive 50 yards to get it to switch.  If it is wrong in both directions, the issue is likely the directional control valve switch on the hydro pump.  Also, the back up alarm will be on all of the time.

Corn settings that have been working well:

380

30

1250

22

14

Bean settings that have been working well:

600

10

1000

18

7

Beans are showing 10-12% moisture, but have a lot of butter beans and a ton of green stems.

I have had a couple of cases with cobs that are diseased.  They are much like cardboard that has been wet and dried several times.  It was like a dry sponge and would break up very easily.  The customer was complaining of a lot of corn on the ground.  I asked him if it was still on the cob and he said no.  I got there and raised the chopper (IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU RAISE THE CHOPPER SO YOU CAN SEE FOR SURE WHAT THE COMBINE IS DOING) and found out it was in fact still on the cob, but it was broken up so bad it was going through.  We tried to slow down the rotor and open it up to not break up the cobs but the losses just got worse on the ground. He was also taking in a tremendous amount of trash because the stalk was dead and was breaking off almost as soon as it hit the stalk rolls.  It didn’t seem to matter what we did with the head speed or deck plates,  we still could not do much to reduce trash intake.  We finally had to go to 500 rotor speed and 12 on the concave to help the situation.  We went as far down as 6 on the concave,  but it was not as good as 12.  We verified that his concave was zeroed correctly, but we were still losing about 1 bu/acre or so, but it was the best we could do under the conditions.  I have seen this a couple of times, but it is variety specific.  His combine had been doing a good job in other fields and varieties.  This variety was still yielding very well and was running about 16-18% moisture.

Sloan Support is written by the product support team at Sloan Implement, a 20 location John Deere dealer in Illinois and Wisconsin.   Learn more at www.sloans.com

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Combine Settings for Varying Cob Sizes

by Lucas Veale, Assumption, IL 

Harvest is in the beginning stages in Central Illinois.  Corn moisture has been all over the board, as have yield averages.  In the lower lying areas where water stood for longer periods of time, much of the crop died and moisture is as low as 15%.  In other areas where yield is quite good the moisture is higher.  Some corn is still well over 25%.

In some fields the yield variation is quite extreme.  In situations like this it can be difficult to set the combine to an optimum setting because you will have drastically varying cob size.  One thing to try, is to close your concave as tight as you can, but not split the larger cobs.  The other thing to try, is to speed up the combine ground speed in the lower yielding areas to make sure you keep it full to take advantage of grain on grain threshing.  Don’t forget to check out our app or sloans.com for all of our help videos this fall.  You can download the app here.  Have a safe and successful harvest.
Sloan Support is written by the product support team at Sloan Implement, a 20 location John Deere dealer in Illinois and Wisconsin.   Learn more at www.sloans.com

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Combine Settings for Wet Corn and Start of Harvest Reminders

by Lucas Veale, Assumption, IL 

Corn is drying down across central Illinois. Some soybean varieties are also rapidly turning. Most of the corn is still above 25% but have seen some fields below that as well. Chopping heads continue to impress with sizing and distributing residue.
Starting corn settings so far have been around 390 and 30 for rotor and concave settings. Chaffer and sieve have been 22 and 12. The fan setting is different for each model but 1250-1300 seems to be working well for the wetter corn we have right now.
One thing that everyone seems to forget to do is to check your grain tank drain covers on both sides before you start. Also, make sure that the rock trap is closed.

 

Make sure that you calibrate your headers. You will need to do the feeder house speed calibration before you do the header calibration for both the corn head and the platform on both 70 and s-series combines.
Finally and most importantly, BE SAFE. Getting in a hurry never ends well. Check your surroundings before turning on the combine or engaging the header.
Have a great harvest.


Sloan Support is written by the product support team at Sloan Implement, a 20 location John Deere dealer in Illinois and Wisconsin.   Learn more at www.sloans.com

 

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