will be taking my new 4420 on its maiden voyage into a patch of oats this weekend, running a 216 head. Any recommendations or suggestions to a combine newbie. Plan to be running the chopper on the back, so expect it to take a lot of power, will be in 1st gear for sure and creeping all the way.
- Thread starter agman
- Start date
Mike Aylward
Well-known Member
Unless the oats are very tough, you are cutting at the ground (which is never a good idea) or they are down, you should have no problem whatsoever running in second gear with your combine. If you are wanting to save the straw you will be much farther ahead by topping the oats and then mowing the straw afterward. If you are running a flexible platform be sure you have the lockout bolts installed, and be sure your reel fingers don't hit the sickle after these bolts are installed. There are many other things to get ready on your combine that are covered in your Operator's Manual. I used to have a 4400 and you can "sterilize" oats with one of them. Oats are one of the easier crops to thresh. Mike
Bob Bancroft
Well-known Member
- Location
- Aurora NY
I have oats, wheat, and corn. Of the three oats are usually the toughest to thresh. Maybe it's variety, climate, or some combination of both.
I would guess the Gleaner F2 I recently sold was very close in age, size, and capacity to your 4420. 16' head sounds like a lot of straw to run through, so maybe you will be going slow! 13' I thought was perfect for small grain. I had header height control on a rigid head which was also perfect for small grain.(There is a strong market for straw here now.)
The few years I ran straw though the chopper I never noticed a power issue.
Hopefully your cab is tight, the filter is new, and your A/C is in top shape!
I would guess the Gleaner F2 I recently sold was very close in age, size, and capacity to your 4420. 16' head sounds like a lot of straw to run through, so maybe you will be going slow! 13' I thought was perfect for small grain. I had header height control on a rigid head which was also perfect for small grain.(There is a strong market for straw here now.)
The few years I ran straw though the chopper I never noticed a power issue.
Hopefully your cab is tight, the filter is new, and your A/C is in top shape!
cadet trooper
Well-known Member
It's been some time ago but we ran a lot of oats having a dairy farm but as Mike and Bob stated all the above apply in addition to that oats can be tougher in areas of high humidity because they just seem to not dry down and the straw is very waxy so it doesn't seem to slide very well unlike wheat. If you're going to cut it low and not clip the stubble then I'd lose the chopper and windrow it for baler pickup but if you're going to clip the stubble and cut high choppers OK. If dry you'll probably get a lot of floaty hulls that tend to stick to everything if they're clean with not much green undergrowth should be a smooth run.
Mike Aylward
Well-known Member
Bob, I am just wondering why you would need header control to cut standing oats? Unless the oats are on the ground there is no reason to run the whole plant through the combine. It's a good way to lose oats, and also a good way to have threshing problems. Mike
Bob Bancroft
Well-known Member
- Location
- Aurora NY
Not necessary, just a convenience. Except for a few years, we have always baled straw here, and always run it through the combine. And the wheat straw here is considerably heavier than the oat straw.
Mike Aylward
Well-known Member
I guess to each his own. It just makes more sense to me to mow the straw afterward rather than run all that material through the combine. I have had to run the whole plant through the combine because they were down but if they are standing why run all that material through if you don't have to? Mike
cadet trooper
Well-known Member
Oh yeah as Mike also said it's never a good idea to send a lot of straw through a machine because grain tends to hide in the straw and is hard to shake out by the walkers and tends to do what is termed "ride over" especially if the straw is damp and grain tends to stick to the straw tuburs.
Bob Bancroft
Well-known Member
- Location
- Aurora NY
Must just be a (bad) habit and I don't want to be the first to try something different around here??? Maybe I'll have to try it this year. The oats were so flooded out just after planting they were stunted and foxtail started thicker than the hair on a dog.
While we're on the subject- My new to me CaseIH 1660 came with an aftermarket chaff spreader. I took it off because I assumed it wouldn't work while putting straw in the windrow. Is that a safe assumption, or am I missing something?
While we're on the subject- My new to me CaseIH 1660 came with an aftermarket chaff spreader. I took it off because I assumed it wouldn't work while putting straw in the windrow. Is that a safe assumption, or am I missing something?
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
The 20 series combines are great machines. Ran cousin's 6620 many years. However, the feeder house on these machines is kinda narrow. Once you plug it up a couple of times you'll learn to raise the header up.
I run a 6600 with 20ft head. I set it exactly to the book specs and everything works perfect. I dont notice much of a power loss with the straw chopper, just make sure it has sharp knives in it. Last year I made the mistake of running the seive to tight and filled up the cleaning fan! the machine will tell you how fast to go by the "growl" of the cylinder. I run mine up to just a little growl. By the way if you put new sections in the chopper make they not serrated.
Moline_guy
Well-known Member
I have never seen oats combined straight. There isn't much oats planted around here anymore, but when there is, it is always swathed and then combined a few days later. Every area is different I guess.
The automatic header control is great for downed oats/wheat/rye. As for running everything through the combine. Around here the longer the straw the more it is worth. If you have good tall wheat/rye straw then the fancy horse guys will pay a premium. They want to be able to use a little straw and fluff it up deep in the stalls. If you double cut the straw then it will not fluff up as well and they have to use more of it. Until the last two years clean straw would bring more than the grain per acre. I usually run a 20 foot head and I don"t have much problem getting all of the grain out of the extra straw. Plus it is much faster to bale right behind the combine rather than mowing the straw and then raking it.
Used to sell a lot of straw to the race tracks. The longer and the brighter the more you could get.
Used to sell a lot of straw to the race tracks. The longer and the brighter the more you could get.
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