JD 6620 sidehill with 220 platform. Checking auto header

This new to me Deere 6620 sidehill with a 220 platform is cutting beans just fine. Shaving them right off at the ground. It is working so well I question whether I should work on anything. But, I really don't think the dail-a-matic is working. With the head down on the ground you can move the dail-a-matic knob from "0" to 1, 2, and 3, and the head does not raise any. Then with the head down I went over to the right hand side and pulled up on the rod from the sensing linkage to the electric switch and nothing happens. I think when you pull up on the rod the head should raise. Can't find the fuse. Manual (Deere 200 series manual) talks about an inline fuse in engine compartment along dash. Deere 200 series manual also talks about manual push buttons on the up/down solenoid. I don't see any push buttons on mine. Can I rule out the head switch by "jumping" two of the three wires coming from the head? What about hot wiring the up/down solenoid? If it would work then it would be wiring. Don't know if it is related but after 2 or 3 hours of operation the hydraulic oil temperature comes on. Any ideas appreciated.

Is your header setup for Dial-A-matic?????If you only have a three wire plug then your header is still setup for the older limit switch control. You can make the Dial-A-matic work with a toggle switch header but it take an adaptor harness and then you only have ONE setting not the multiple ones.

Look on the right side of the header. The control rod runs across the header at the back of the flex sheets. IF the header is set up for Dial-a-matic then there will be a black sensor box hooked right to the end of the control rod. If there is a linkage running up to an eccentric that operates two micro switches then you have the older toggle switch header.

If you have the Dial-a-matic box then lifting the indicator rod will not cause it to lift. The bottom part of the linkage just pivots on the shaft the turns the control box. The older toggle headers would raise but not the dial-a-matic ones.

You should be able to hear the header control solenoids working as you cut beans. They make a bumping sound as the header works.

If you have the correct control box it may just need adjusted. Look at the mounting bolts on the box/sensor. One of them goes into a slotted hole. Loosening this bolt will adjust the range that the control box works in. If it is set too far one way you will not have all four settings.

I never compared it to my 213 and 216 which are dial-a-matic. What this head has is a box mounted on the right hand side of the head. It is mounted high and a rod runs up to it and mounts to a little lever that comes out of the front side of the box. You might be saying that a true dial-a-matic box is mounted down low and the sensing rod actually rotates into it??? On the electrical connection side of the head, it appears that there is a short adaptor wire. The wiring coming from the head consists of three wires. The adaptor connects to these three wires on the head and goes to the combine wiring down on the throat. The combine connector has SEVERAL wires connected to the female pins in a round "screw" together connector. Only three coming from the head.

If this head isn't a dial-a-matic head, can I put the dail-a-matic guts on the head consisting of the box and wiring??? The head was originally a yellow reel, but does have the holes for the sliding pins for attaching to the throat.

So, since this head is hooked up with the adaptor connector is it actually floating and just not dial-a-matic? Even though I pull up on the rod and it doesn't raise????

Thanks R.

You do not have the true dial-a-matic control box. They need six or seven wires to work on all ranges. Yours has an adaptor harness on it to make it work on a single range. As for pulling up on the control rod??? I am not sure what rod your talking about???? The rod going to the "box" should make it raise IF that is what is controlling the header.

The way your header is wired will only work on one of the settings. If you have moved it off that setting your just skidding the header along without any lift. So you would need to try to make it raise in all four settings on the dial-a-matic dial. If it is working on the one setting it really is not that big of a deal to just use it that way. I bet that I do not use more than one setting all year.

As for putting the correct dial-a-matic control box on the header. It is simple really. You would need the control box and the small mounting bracket and the wiring harness. The harness on your other headers should be long enough to work. I would bet that you would find a bunch of wire wrapped up between the control box and the feeder house opening. The retro fit kits only had ONE harness in them. It was about twenty feet long and you just tied up the extra.

Here is a picture of how/where the dial-a-matic control box is located.

Have a look for the feederhouse switch. On the left side of the feederhouse there should be a light chain going up to the switch under the cab. When the feederhouse is down it puts the switch to "on", supplying power to the header height system, then "off" when the head is raised.
These chains break or come undone, or the wiring connection at the switch gets disconnected.

Tech 7 there must be power as the header is going down. So the chain and switch your talking about should be working.