Combines Want ideas for header trailer

[tbran]

be careful here... I am one who is always ready to save a buck but in this case the only thing that will safely work is to copy a REAl header trailer. They can be bought for a little under 2 grand. In a effort to save a little I have seen over ten thousand dollars of header damage with home made rigs in the last few years. Killbros and Unverferth are a couple of good ones. (when pulling behind a combine - which they say don't do - hmm - they will follow like those little trailers you see at the airport--neat)_

 

[Aar]

What we did was get our hands on an old wagon gear. I think May West, or somethng like that makes a kit. It comes with brackets, mounts, everything. All you need is a piece of channel, I beam, wood, something to hang onto the bar. Maybe get some low profile rims or just get the same rims they use on real head wagons. NOt sure if this makes it cheaper than a real head movr or not, but if you can get your hands on a cheap gear, it works rather well.

 

[MacTech]

I'm moving to Pendleton Oregon in a week or two, and hope to start cataloging farm equipment used there and putting it on a web page. The farmer friend of mine has two header carts. One he had made. They look pretty simple and are very sturdy. On flat ground, the header clears the tire and supports by about 4 or 5 inches. I'll try to get some pictures posted soon.

 

[Corn_Pro]

I would say the best thing to do would be to buy a Kill Bros. header trailer. We used to fool with all the digging holes nonsence, but finally got smart and bought a trailer. Especially if you ever haul a corn head you should buy one. Header trailers sit low to the ground so they are more stable. A neighbor flipped a corn head and running gear last year, it was not a pretty sight.

 

[DannyBoy]

If you've got the Money, buy a carrier. You'll be ahead in the long run. You'll have a better unit than re-working an old running gear. Now if you've got more Time than $$Money$$; and you've got scrap iron and a good gear hanging around; but, most Important of all, if you've got the know-how. Then Fire up the Torch and Welder and go to work. Depending on the design you come up with and the condition of the gear you'll have to be Very Careful transporting the Header this way. But, this might get you by for a year or two.

 

[Mic]

We used a John Deere gear to make our header cart. It has worked good for the last 10-15 years. We took the standard rims and got 15-in. spare tires from a junkyard. Most of those peanut spares have never been used. This gave us the low profile we wanted and lowered the center of gravity. We used the bolsters to hold the back of the head, and mounted a fairly heavy 3-inch pipe to hold the front of the head up on an angle. You want your chassie to be solid with no flexing or twisting (stay attached to the head). If it does flex, it can walk the head off. That was the only problem we didn't expect. For our corn head, we used channel iron instead of the pipe for added strength.

 

[Tstar]

Hey Corn Pro, you said the neighbor flipped a corn head and it was not a pretty sight.

 

[Corn_Pro]

I should've been more clear. My neighbor was pulling the corn head, which was chained on a regular four wheel gear. He went around a curve a hair too fast and had his corn head upside down in the ditch. Twisted the trailer tounge so bad they had to cut it off the truck bumper.