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| Firstly, A draper head in soybeans hasn't the ability to safely cut as low as a "true" platform flex head. If you have beans podded all the way to the ground most times than not a "true" flex head will cut low enough to get all of the pods and still respond to changing terrain, rocks, etc. quickly, and, in quicker than real-time fashion if sensed off the plaform's divider points. A draper head has the ability to cut just as low but, without the protection of the flexible cutter bar and an auto contour sensing. When a draper head's cutter bar is all the way to the ground it will not respond to changing terrain, rocks, etc. at all. Granted, a Mac Don flex wing draper's side wings can compensate for rolling terrain but, localized swags/rises and obstructions it can not, therefore, resulting in potential damage to the cutter bar, the injestion of rocks or other foreign material into the combine that a "true" flex head would've just ridden right over into the combine, rocks falling into the area just behind the cutter bar infront of the center drape that have been known to be thrown at the windshield. Keep in mind, a "ture" flex head's cutter bar, terrain tracing / auto-contour systems have the ability to have the sensitivty adjusted right from the cab for on the go changes in ground and crop conditions. These changes are made out fo the cab and take time with draper heads.
Secondly, notice the skid plates under a draper head, they are very short, only extend about 12-15 inches behind the cutter bar and are not very strong, are not attached to the rear frame of the header and nor are they attached to any sort of terrain tracing / auto-contour sensing mechanism either, which is a mandatory funtioning system for successful soybean harvest because, as all of us farmers know, even the most table-top flat ground still has its swags, rolls, rocks, etc., :-) Thus, a draper head's skid plates are not designed to bare the full weight of the draper head while in motion, especially in rough or rocky terrain, they will get torn off and potentiall cause damage to the bottom side of the head and possibly damage the drapes.
Thirdly, a bolt on type cutterbar (Honey Bee and i'm told Deere might have one too) simply extends the cutter bar too far forward under the reel, due to the width of the drape, making irratic feeding a greater concern, especially if in very short beans.
Fourthly, the frame of a draper head is not as strong as that of a "true" flex head platform.
Fifth, drpaer head adapters, self-contained hydraulic systems and the remaining hydraulic and electronic interface problems that a shortline header manufacturer has for not being privy to all of the actual combine specifications and the rate of product and model changes made to the combines. I doubt very seriously that any of the big four combine manufcaturers have an honest to goodness working relationship with any shortline header supplier since the combine manufacturers have their own header to sell that are specifically designed for use with their own combines and are kept current to all combine specs and changes. | |
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Question about MacDon Draper platforms?
