|
NC/NE Iowa | After reading all the threads about chopping corn heads on here I still cannot decide which way to go. We ran a Lexion (Capello) head for 7 years and the durability and longevity of the head was unreal. I don't want to drive far to get parts and resale is a killer so those are probably out of the question. Great head though if you have a dealer near by.
Bought a 2014 Case IH 4408 chopping last fall. Got the head home and realized bearing out of the #1 and #8 row gearboxes. Dealer said no biggy, his buddy is a new holland dealer a lot closer to me than he was. They picked it up replaced whole #8 gearbox and bearings in #1.This head didn't call for the update/recall like many others, but they did it anyways. Ran 400 acres and had a steady stream of oil coming out of lower gearbox where the hex shaft goes through the drive box on #8. Called dealer he had his NH buddy come pick it up again. Had someone go get the last gear box in Iowa according to the parts guy. Few days go by get the head back and already a spot of oil underneath it. Called dealer again, says he'll straighten it out, never heard back from him. After close examination I find out they didn't even put the new gearbox on my head, only the lower drive (which cannot be purchased according to the CNH parts book) so now I have a 2 season old head with a gear box that will probably shell out in the next few years. They told me to keep running it when it was leaking so we kept putting Lucas Oil Stabilizer in it to try to slow it down. No idea how long we ran it low on oil or the extent of the damage we may or may not of caused.
We only ran the head across 700 acres of corn this year. Last 150 were a nightmare. Granted, it was the best corn our farm has ever produced but only 19-20% moisture. Couldn't break 3.0 mph with out slip clutches going off. Friend of ours ran a new 4412F chopping and they had slip clutch issues as well. Since ours is out of warranty not sure I want to drop a bunch of $$$ on slip clutches as well as tear the head apart to fix the oil leak that both dealers so kindly left me with. We'll have twice the corn acres in the coming year so we cannot have issues like this.
So now on to what to do next. Trade it off for another 4408, buy a Drago GT, or go with a Geringhoff Rota-Disc? Case dealer in town sells Drago as well and they tend to promote those over the Case heads but uncle ran a Drago and had enough problems with it to steer me away. Supposedly the GTs are the next best thing. I think his is a 1st gen. We'd have to drive about 25 miles to get Geringhoff parts.
Anyone else had this many problems with their 4400 series even after updates were done?
| |
|
|
Issues with Case IH 4408, what next?
