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SE MN | Crary air reel came with a used 3020 flex head. The gearbox was shelled out so we payed a bit extra to convert it over to AWS belt drive. It is night and day difference in feeding and beans bouncing out the front on the old NH 973 flex head. The money it saves is going to vary a lot depending on conditions. Tall beans with tough pods an air reel may not help at all. Short beans that shatter easily huge difference. I spent some time on the phone with Crary talking about gearboxes. There are some very specific maintenance requirements that you need to follow to get good life, but I figured the belt drive was dummy proof and didn't see any advantage to the gearbox. I probably would go with an air bar vs air reel. Air reel has lots of moving parts and you have to wait for new parts unless your dealer stocks them or you can drive to Fargo. I doubt that it makes sense to add a new air bar to a used auger head. I think it was 15k for a 30ft bar a couple years ago, better off looking for a used head with the air already on it or putting money towards a draper and add air later if you want. The power use is real. If you are already using all your power, adding air will be disappointing because you will want to drive faster with better feeding but it will hold you back and you will get antsy. | |
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Air reel
