Switching heads

MNfarmboy83 · Nov 12, 2015

Hey guys, I need some help. I have never combined corn before. I have always picked it and ground for our calves. This year we have a good problem, to much corn! Our crib is full and so are our gravity boxes and there is still corn in the field.

I bought a 2 row head for my 960 case combine late summer and did some work for a neighbor in trade for a corn storage bin. I don't have a manual for the combine and was not planning on combining any corn this year. Now I would like to get the corn off the field and was wondering what, if any, adjustments need to be made to the combine. I can see how the grain pick up head comes off and the corn head goes on but are there adjustments to be made to the combine itself?

Thanks in advance for any help, it is really appreciated! Mike

01gentdc · Nov 12, 2015

hopefully case nutty and others can give advice ,,. on my 750 massey there are few changes required , omly tweakin with sieves , fan and cylinder speed and concave as necessary ,,. Gleaners are a little more involved but basically same although radically different , a good gleaner man can do wonders with those machines , but you gotta understand them ,. never ran a CASE ,, but I think they are a kin to gleaners and masseys ..LOL ..make sure your row strippers are set rite ,, on the head ,,..I try to set mine at 1 inch in front and a eighth inch or so wider in the back...as a rule ... but if you are green about combines you need a book or at the least talk with or watch video of one that knows the quirks,,. an old combine hand mite get by with trial and error

paul · Nov 12, 2015

Not familiar with Case machines.

What crop are you used to combining, small grains it sounds like?

Air fan speed needs to be way up from oats, more like wheat.

Cylinder speed needs to be almost half speed, 2/3 anyhow.

The top sieve is opened a lot, the bottom set so kernels just fall through.

Would be pretty close to soybeans if you are familiar with them.

That is really really general advice, hope you get better!

Paul

centash · Nov 12, 2015

Cylinder clearance to concave should be around 3/4 inch; so that whole clean cobs are discharged. Trial and error, those combines will do a good job, but like any older machine, you just have to be part of it.

Ben

dbock · Nov 12, 2015

Do you have an operator's manual for your 960? If not, I can copy the settings page out of mine to give you an idea of where to start. Is your corn head a 345 or a 402? The 345 has augers in the throat were as the 402 has a chain. I think I have a manual for them also if you need something from it. One think I believe you have to change is the plate above where the throat attaches to the combine. You might also have to change something below, but I can't remember.

MNfarmboy83 · Nov 13, 2015

Thanks for the replies! It sounds like it could be a bit of a chore to switch! I have only used the combine for oats. It does a good job with them!

The head I got was a 345 with the augers. I have been told they aren't as good as the 402 but that's what I found.

bdock I think my email is open if you would want to copy those settings that would be great! I don't have a manual for either the combine or the head at this point.

If it looks like to much of a chore, I might just look for another old case and just leave one set up for each!

Thanks again! Mike

DeltaRed · Nov 13, 2015

Not hard at all. Take a couple hrs to half day to 'convert'. The concave needs to be opened up,. IIRC,my 95 JD is 1 1/4" in front,3/4 in the rear. Your mileage may vary.Goal is to get whole unbroken cobs out with all the grain off.To tight,cobe get quartered.Too loose corn gets left on cob. Adjust accordingly. Cylinder speed is from (approx)400/540 RPM for dry corn,to 600/700 for wet corn.Set cylinder speed as slow as you can and still thresh the grain from the cob..The sprockets you have will dictate the speeds.Too fast cylinder speed will crack corn.Fast will also break cobs.Too slow,corn will get left.'Filler plates are often recomended,but not totally nessarry.If you dont have any,dont worry,go ahead and thresh corn. I dont have em in my 95 ,either.Adjust/open sieves,increase the air fron the oat setting.These are just general 'ballpark' settings. Again,your mileage will vary.You will need the monitor,fine tune to get it right. A manual will be really helpful.Get everything right,you will get a good clean sample and put the grain in the tank,not the ground. Good luck,and have a happy corn harvest. Steve

dbock · Nov 13, 2015

Here is a copy of the settings chart. I have a manual one you corn head, but I need to dig it out. I'm not sure it says much though.

Drew970 · Nov 13, 2015

As said it will take half a day to switch over to corn. Make sure you have everything that you need first!! You need the lift cylinder bracket on the middle of the front axle, as the grain heads lift from the left side and the corn headers lift from the middle due to the extra weight. Once you have the grain header off you will need to remove the cylinder door on the combine and then move the angle iron piece (at the bottom of the door) and re-bolt it in the upper holes and then install the cylinder door for the corn header (we had to make one as it didn't come with our corn head). If your combine has a rock trap in it you will have to take that out and put in the angle iron piece that holds the stationary feed plate on the header. And you will have to remove the torque tube as its called that the grain header stabilizer links attach too as it will get in the way. dbock posted the settings chart for the combine, we usually run the cylinder speed at 510, concave about 1 1/4 to 1 1/8, fan 750, and the sieves about in the middle of the settings chart range. I'm probably forgetting some stuff but if you have any more questions just ask, someone else or I can scan pages out of the manuals if you need them.

Drew970 · Nov 13, 2015

(quoted from post at 17:58:09 11/13/15) As said it will take half a day to switch over to corn. Make sure you have everything that you need first!! You need the lift cylinder bracket on the middle of the front axle, as the grain heads lift from the left side and the corn headers lift from the middle due to the extra weight. Once you have the grain header off you will need to remove the cylinder door on the combine and then move the angle iron piece (at the bottom of the door) and re-bolt it in the upper holes and then install the cylinder door for the corn header (we had to make one as it didn't come with our corn head). If your combine has a rock trap in it you will have to take that out and put in the angle iron piece that holds the stationary feed plate on the header. And you will have to remove the torque tube as its called that the grain header stabilizer links attach too as it will get in the way. dbock posted the settings chart for the combine, we usually run the cylinder speed at 510, concave about 1 1/4 to 1 1/8, fan 750, and the sieves about in the middle of the settings chart range. I'm probably forgetting some stuff but if you have any more questions just ask, someone else or I can scan pages out of the manuals if you need them.

I didn't see that you have a 345 header, everything I posted about was for the 402/404 and the 303/304 headers. I'm not sure how much difference there is between these corn headers as far as switching the combine over to corn.

MNfarmboy83 · Nov 14, 2015

Thanks for all the help. I don't have the center lift bracket on my combine so I need to figure that out. And dbock helped me out and sent me all the pages I need for my corn head and combine for switching it over! Now to get after it! It looks wet this coming week in central mn!

Switching heads

MNfarmboy83

Member

01gentdc

Well-known Member

paul

Well-known Member

centash

Well-known Member

dbock

Member

MNfarmboy83

Member

DeltaRed

Well-known Member

dbock

Member

Drew970

Member

Drew970

Member

MNfarmboy83

Member

Similar threads