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Okay, it's a John Deere 6600. It has a 44 inch wide cylinder, which is not bad for any small farm, even today. That model was also very popular even among professional harvesters, in the 1970's. Don't be too bashful about looking into just what this combine will handle with ease. For a corn head, I would not go under 3 rows at all. That's your minimum. Next, don't go over 6 rows. Bear in mind that today's corn also yields much more BPA than corn did 30 plus years ago. That said, cut the machine a little slack and don't run faster than it can handle the heavier crop. It's still a 6600, not a 9660. It will not fly through any corn, even with small head, at 5-7 MPH. I think back then, I ran a 6600 with 6 row head, at 4 MPH, top. Grain head; 16-20 feet is ideal. I would say no less than 14' minimum, if you even find one that small. Max is 22' Yes, a lot of 6600's ran very nicely with a 22' bar, including some I ran myself. Again, look at the "happy medium" I said first. This will give oyur combine enough charge on its separator, while not overcrowding it. That right there, is a key issue with combining efficiently. Keep the separator loaded, but not too much. Too little, and the combine will do the exact opposite of what many expect with only a light load. It will pass grain with straw to the ground. Overloading one, needs not even explained. As far as "modern" combines go, the John Deere 6600 is still one of my all-time favorites. Like many here, I learned to cut with one. Sadly, time, elements, just good old wear and even worse--outright displacement by the bigger, faster and stronger, not to mention deliberate demolition, have decimated the vast majority of these fine combines during the past 3 decades. 6600's are nowhere near as common, so finding a good runner is quite a treasure, too. Whatever happens, take good care of that old 6600!
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