dgramenz - 11/18/2015 09:04

We've owned a MacDon for several years but we demoed a 3162 this fall. We ran them both in late double-crop beans with damp straw conditions. We also ran them both in some pretty hilly ground to get a good comparison. We were actually very impressed with what the 3162 would do. It cut very clean at 8 mph and the belt speed is higher than the MacDon, so it could handle higher ground speeds. We think we would like it more in wheat than the MacDon because it doesn't have all the flex between the head and the adaptor, allowing a smoother cut height. The drawback is in short beans. Sometimes they bunch a little before going in or fall out if the head is raised before they get to the belt. I've always hated the thought of using an air reel, but we think that could make an awesome head out of a 3162. We have to decide now whether we'll buy a new MacDon or a new 3162 and it looks to be a pretty tough decision.