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Farm Journal Field Tests—Reels Reach Out
Charlene Finck and Katie Humphreys
7/30/2003
Untitled Document
We hope that simply writing about harvesting down corn wards off the need.
With the march of rootworm and corn borer—and the unpredictability of weather—chances
are high, though, that we won’t be so lucky.
“There’s already plenty of rootworm damage in fields, so all it will
take is a strong wind to create problems in many areas,” says Ken Ferrie,
Farm Journal field agronomist. “It’s better to be ready with a game
plan than scrambling at harvest.”
When severe winds and driving rains lodged corn in several test plot fields
last season, Ferrie had his latest experience. “We thought we could get
by without adding an attachment to the corn head, but struggling through a few
hundred acres motivated us to try something else,” he explains.
We worked with Heritage Machine & Welding in Bloomington, Ill., to add
a reel to test plot cooperator Bob Kuntz’s 8-row corn header. The company
installed the setup for the Clinton, Ill., farmer.
How it works. The reel attaches onto a simple frame welded (or bolted) to the
corn head and uses two curved fingers over every row. The fingers, attached
180° apart, push the stalks down and back so the snapping rolls and gathering
chains can capture the corn. Bolted on a center drive shaft, the fingers are
staggered, helping the reel act like an auger.
The setup is powered by a hydraulic motor that plugs into the spot provided
for a combine reel. This lets the operator adjust the add-on reel speed from
the combine seat.
“We didn’t see a difference in harvest losses,” says Ferrie,
but having the reel improved harvest efficiency. Kuntz was able to run the combine
at 3 mph with the reel, versus 1 mph without. “If we had run the combine
without the reel at 3 mph, the losses would have been high,” he adds.
Safety first. There was also a significant difference in frustration and safety.
“Without the reel, the guys in the combine were getting out on every round
and fighting to get corn into the head,” says Ferrie. “After the reel
went on, they never left the cab—and had less risk of getting hurt.”
Even under normal conditions, 75% to 80% of combine-related harvest losses
occur at the corn head, according to Ohio State University ag engineer Joe Gliem.
He and other experts offer these tips for withstanding down corn (they assume
the combine is in good condition).
mReduce groundspeed. Slow down and adjust gathering chain and snapping roll
speed to match combine speed.
• Go against the grain. Combine corn the opposite direction from which
it leans. Harvesting in only one direction is tedious but makes it easier to
capture the corn.
• Catch the corn. Adjust the gathering chains and snapping plate inward
as close as possible to grip the stalks. You can also set gathering chain points
to extend beyond the edges of the snapping plates. The aggressiveness of the
gathering chains can be increased by retiming the points on each side so they
move together rather than being staggered.
• Reach down low. Run the head as close to the ground as possible. Be
wary of rocks and uneven terrain.
• Probably one of the most important tips is: be ready. Scout fields to
anticipate harvest problems. Fields that are lying flat are easy to spot, but
many others can harbor harvest problems without being so obvious.
Make it a point to inspect fields susceptible to down corn after the crop matures—to
determine the amount of stalk rot, corn borer or rootworm damage present. To
estimate stalk rot, pinch the stalks near the ground and up toward the ear on
a number of plants in a sampling area. A hollow shell that collapses easily
indicates advanced stages of stalk rot.
For corn borer damage, check for holes in the stalk. To spot rootworm damage,
examine the brace roots and the fourth and fifth set of crown roots. If those
roots are gone, the plant will go down.
Scout several areas of the field to see how widespread the problem is, then
decide which are most vulnerable and harvest them first.
Simplified attack. After his experience last year, tackling down corn without
a reel simply is no longer an option for Kuntz. “I hope I don’t have
any more down corn, but you never know,” he says. “The reel makes
it easier to manage if I do. I like being able to run faster and cover more
ground without getting so frustrated.”
Kuntz intends to keep the reel on as an $1,800 insurance policy. “I’m
not sure I’d ever take it off—it doesn’t interfere with visibility
and doesn’t cause problems in standing corn,” he explains. “If
I decide to take it off, it only takes 10 or 15 minutes to put it back on. We
just get the reel in position and then put in two pins and two bolts to hold
it in place.”
When the Corn Goes Down
Buying a down corn reel or other attachment isn’t as easy as stopping
by a dealership or farm supply store.
We realize there are numerous welding and machine shops that make combine reels,
but this list, which begins with the company we worked with in our plots, is
a good start for tracking down options. If you have experience with a reel made
by a manufacturer not listed here, e-mail us at fieldtests@farmjournal.com.
Heritage Machine & Welding
1001 W. Locust
Bloomington, IL 61701
(800) 274-0440
www.heritagemachinewelding.com
Corn Reel by Minden Machine Shop Inc.
1302 K Road
Minden, NE 68959
(800) 264-6587
www.mindenmachine.com
Corn Saver
5200 N. Columbia St.
Plainview, TX 79072
(800) 536-1022
www.cornsaver.com
The Kelderman Reel
Kelderman Manufacturing, Inc.
2686 Highway 92 East
Oskaloosa, IA 52577
(800) 334-6150
www.keldermanmfg.com
The Meteer Corn Reel
Meteer Manufacturing
RR1 Box 221
Athens, IL 62613
(217) 636-8109
www.meteer.com
The Roll-A-Cone
Roll-A-Cone Manufacturing
7655 Roll-A-Cone Road
Tulia, TX 79088
(806) 668-4722
www.roll-a-cone.com
Will Ag Sales and Manufacturing
19642 X Road
Denison, KS 66419
(785) 935-2304
www.holton.k12.ks.us/iht/willmfg
St. John Welding and Manufacturing, Inc.
P.O. Box 175
St. John, KS 67576
(800) 549-3289
www.stjohnwelding.com
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