The SCH guards are made of spring steel and will take impact better vs most guards the are cast which are brittle. The SCH guard points are longer and the tip of the guard is angled down. We had excellent luck with the SCH on a 930 platform after we got the attitude finally adjusted correctly. We bought a 635F (biggest POS we ever owned) and put on a 9650. There was a chart that showed what wedge you needed with your tire size..etc. Our called for the smallest wedge of the 4 in the kit. We went to the field it picked in the field and found even more. We went to the next wedge with a little improvement. We then installed the most aggressive wedge and we were almost there and could run. The first rain day we glued a 1" piece stock on the bottom and a 3/4" piece on the top edge of the wedge and a new face plate, Then it ran great. We also installed a Johnson Rock guard and removed the the Deere stone dam. We then put that platform on a 60 and with the lateral tilt faceplate it was a lot easier to get the correct pitch. We have put SCH on 2 Macdons. With the hydraulic top link it is nice as you can tilt the head back rocky ground and go right over the rocks. I have always liked the SCH to change sections. I have a tarp strap on the back of the head. I take the drive shaft off and suspend the end in about the same place with the tarp strap. I open the left side shield, grab the belt, run the sickle completely to one end of the stroke, go down to the sickle section, take off the nut and take a punch to the pop the bolt out. I go back roll the belt to bring the sickle to the opposite end of the stroke, loosen the other nut and pop that bolt out and pull the broken section out. You then lay the one edge of the new section in there and tap it in place. Then reverse the bolt process. I check all the sections first to change any broken sections so you can do it all at once. I can change a section quicker than i can type this but I am a low typist. It made me laugh when guys we having problems cutting corn stalks in notill and Deere came out with that long/short section. Right on the Deere's sign it said "This May Help in ....." Never had a problem with SCH. SCH is nice as you install it, run it, check for hot spots and you are done with adjustments. I regards to picking up rocks, the SCH is a different sickle and it is more sensitive to attitude. You simple have to adjust and run it differently that the deere.