Combining rye with a 6600

I planted 4 acres of cereal rye for seed for cover crops. I asked a neighbor last spring if he would combine it so I didn't have to take time to change my 6600 over to cut it. The rye is ready, I called him up and he said he would get the combine out and cut it. He called back, said he found more wrong with his machine than he thought, it will take a while before he could get to it, if I could find another way to get it cut, it would be fine with him. SO, I got the 6600 out and put on the 213 head. I cut beans last with it, so the variable speed throat is in the right position. I got the chopper off tonite, have to hook up the reel and reel lift cylinders. About 1/2 of it is down flat, I think I should leave the cutter bar in float position to get the down crop and run the extra straw thru it in the standing rye. Any tips on cutting rye? The last wheat I combined was in 1985, so I'm a little rusty. Chris

If you are using a 213 flex head you will need to bolt the flexhead up to get it to feed properly. Tried a 220 in wheat last year and would not feed until the head was locked up.

I think straight cutting rye will be a little tough. Rye is not an easy crop to harvest. I have always windrowed rye and let it lay for a good week. It threshes easier if the straw can actually rot a bit. No matter how you try it, go SLOW. You won't enjoy unplugging your combine. Had a guy with a 850 Massey plug his machine on a 15 foot wide windrow. Took him the whole day to unplug it.

I grew 6 acres of cereal rye for the first time this year and cut it with a 2366. It was a really poor crop, yielded 15 bu/acre. First thing I found is that it doesn't thresh near as easy as wheat. May be because the crop was poor. I closed my concaves as tight as possible. I also had to lower my fan speed because it's a lot easier to blow it out the back compared to wheat. Not sure how my settings relate to a conventional machine though

Your settings for rye will be nearly the same as for wheat. Run the cylinder about as fast as it will go, be sure the concave is proportioned properly to the cylinder (explained in your manual) and set it about as tight as it will go. If the rye is as badly down as you say you can run the platform in the flex mode but you will be running a tremendous amount of material through the combine and it will likely be very tough so drive accordingly. Running the platform off the ground in flex mode is hard on the platform due to excessive vibration so be careful with that as well. Being you are going to have to drive slowly anyway, I would set the cutterbar rigid, set the reel forward and down to pick up the downed rye, and drive very slowly. Your acreage will allow you to do a good job as you will have time. Keep an eye on your tailings return so you know how to set the fan and screens. A good place to start is index finger thickness on the top and small finger on the bottom. Run the air fast enough to float all the chaff and not have it slough over. Be sure you are threshing the rye completely without overthreshing it. Ideally, you will want to plant to leave the combine intact with only the seeds removed from the head. However, with the crop being down and likely tough, you may have to overthresh part of it and adjust the air and screens for this compromise. Mike

Chris:
1) Run the cylinder speed as fast as it will go.

2) Set the concave as close as you can without hitting the concave. I usually roll the cylinder by hand while cranking the concave close.

3) Shut the air flow down to about half to start.
Then speed it up little by little until the tailing elevator is not running full.

4) I would still lock the flex sheets up. Leave the float spring pins out and run the header in manual lode. The reason bring the Rye will feed in in bunches with the flex sheets down, an you will plug the feeder house/cylinder.

5) Make sure you have the feeder house front drum in the low position. You want it to plug first not the cylinder.

6) Your ground speed will be SLOW as your going to be running a lot of straw through the machine. You will be walker limited if the straw is dry.


General stuff. Try to cut/combine the rye as dry as you can. If it is the least bit wet/damp you will plug the feeder house/cylinder.

Thanks for the replys and information. Does anyone have a picture of the pieces that keep the cutter bar from floating? Are they something that I can make or will I have to find some somewhere to buy? I've looked under the head, didn't really see anything to fasten to to lock the bar up. Thanks, Chris

The "locks" are carriage bolts, flange nuts and large washers. They are listed in the platform parts book. I always get bolts about a half inch longer than recommended as they are easier to put the nuts on. Mike