Combines How hard can you push your combineIJ

What are you running for a bean headIJ You may have mentioned it in an earlier post but I don't remember. This year I couldn't go over 3-4 mph in green beans because the sickle couldn't keep up. The R60 modified per Hyper IandII would handle anything the sickle could cut. By the way Ken, slow down before you burn yourself out. Tom Russell

Tom,

Kenc

Ken you must be a real pro when it comes to adjusting your sickle. How do you do itIJ I have a 525 head the same as you have but I lose beans on the sickle if I go 5mph. Do you think 15 rows might be easier to cut than 30 like I haveIJ Drilled beans are easier than 30 but I havent tried 15. Is your ground levelIJ Mine has little dips and old dead furrows that cause the head to feed poorly. It looks like those wet, green beans yielded 58 Bu. Not bad for a dry year. Tom Russell

I have the double cut sickle, and a Crary air reel. The air reel keeps the head clean behind the sickle, and blows shattered beans into the auger. I never cultivate my corn, and no-till my beans, so the ground is fairly smooth. When I get into something that the field cultivator, or disk didn't quite smooth out the year before I normally have to run 4.5 or so, and never do nearly as good a job. 15" beans are the easiest thing to combine in my opinion, this is my first year with them, just switched from 7.5's.

Full load for a R62 or R72 air cooled is 2300 plus or minus 50 rpm. You should be running somewhere between there. I like to set high idle to 2510 for the power will come in quicker. Remember there is no fuel restriction light on these machines so keep your filters changed. If you have low power you should pull the check valve from bottom of fuel hand pump for I have found many with junk in them. Have a good day. Dan

Ken, I dont know if I am qualified to comment on the possible harm caused by pulling the engine down 200 Rs. First of all, I have a Deutz that doesnt seem to recover if it drops very far so I keep the load monitor in the green. You probably have a boost gauge for your Cummins but the objective is similar. The other day I accidentally started a round with the engine below flutter monitor speed and this old R60 did a pretty good job of threshing and cleaning corn so I would have to conclude that 200 Rs shouldnt hurt too much. But my preference would be to stay at full speed. I don't cultivate for the same reason you mentioned. Tom Russell

Can I weigh in on this discussionIJ We had a 94 R62 that I was constantly pulling down like you have described. This had the Deutz engine in it. The blower became worn in it so it wasn't getting enough air through the engine to the cyclinders opposite the blower and I ended up scorching a cylinder. Your ability to fly through your bean fields are impressive. We now have a R72 with a 30' flex head and with this years green stalks I couldn't manage more than 4 mph in drilled beans. (7.5") So you really think that cutting 15" rows are easier than 7.5" rowsIJIJ What's the differenceIJIJ How about cornIJ I was harvesting dry corn today, (15 moisture) with an eight row head I could run just a little over 6 mph. The corn yielded 208 bushels. I could hardly unload faster that it was coming in. Thanks

Kenc: We have R62's with 25' 800 heads with crary air reals covering the same ground as you in tough green conditions. I was wondering what mods you have in place. We have feeder shocks, extended cyl. bars, and seperator cover kits in place. We started threshing yesterday with 100% wet stalks and threshed all day in the drizzle. The only thing that stoped us is no rear wheel assist. Oh yea we were at half speed with them conditions about 2.5 to 3 mph. I know that is crazy but were in a wet cycle and winter is near. Amazing what you can do with a properly modified machine. Happy Harvesting from Dan @ Hurtt Equipment.