Header-Mounted Rollers Prevent Tire "Stalk Wear"
Joel Grigsby of Petersburg, Ill., got tired of watching corn stalks wear down the tires on his Case-IH 1688 combine. So when he mounted big "logger" flotation tires on the combine that cost about $5,000 apiece, he decided to make sure he protected them by mounting a pair of 5-ft. wide "stalk rollers" on back of the header.
"I use them on my 25-ft. grain platform as well as on my 8-row corn head. After two years I couldn't be happier with them," says Grigsby, who credits local welder Don Moss of Tallula, Ill., for the design and actual work.
Moss used heavy gauge steel piping to make the 14-in. dia. rollers. To mount them he welded steel brackets onto both sides of the header and attached a 3-pt. lower lift arm to each one. Steel arms that mount on both ends of the roller hook up to the brackets and are free to swing up and down. A solid steel axle runs through each roller and rides on bearings mounted at each end. During trans-port the rollers are supported off the ground by a pair of chains that run from the back of the header down to the end of each arm.
"It solved my tire problems," says Grigsby. "Often I was able to go only 2 or 3 years be-fore I had to replace the tires on my combine. A tire dealer told me that tire companies are now using æjust on time' inventory systems which means the soft new tires are sold almost as soon as they're made. They have no chance to age and get tougher.
"I spent a total of less than $1,000 for both rollers. The 60-in. wide rollers extend about 5 in. on each side of the tires which are 50 in. wide and 5 ft. 8 in. high. Each roller weighs about 200 lbs. One advantage of this design is that if I trade for a different combine my rollers are wide enough to protect the tires even if the tires on the new combine are positioned different in relation to the header. To remove the rollers for use on a different head, I just pull a pin from each bracket, disconnect the chains, and remove the mounting arms.
"When we built the rollers we made the mounting arms so that the rollers could swing from side to side. However, that allowed the ends of the rollers to wear on the mounting arms so we modified the mounting arms so that now there's only a little sideways movement where the arms meet the rollers."
Grigsby bought the 50-in. wide Firestone logger tires from a tire store in Leavenworth, Kan. "I bought them because I was concerned about soil compaction. They have a footprint that's more than twice as big as a standard 30.5 tire. The 10-hole wheel hubs on the tires (made by Titan Wheel, Chicago, Ill.) match the wheel hubs on my Deere 4640 4-WD tractor, allowing me to also use the tires on the tractor when planting."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Don Moss, Tallula, Ill. ph 217 634-4158) or Joel Grigsby, 129 N. 9th, Lincoln, Ill. 62656 (ph 217 735-2438).
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Header-Mounted Rollers Prevent Tire "Stalk Wear" COMBINES Headers 22-6-25 Joel Grigsby of Petersburg, Ill., got tired of watching corn stalks wear down the tires on his Case-IH 1688 combine. So when he mounted big "logger" flotation tires on the combine that cost about $5,000 apiece, he decided to make sure he protected them by mounting a pair of 5-ft. wide "stalk rollers" on back of the header.
"I use them on my 25-ft. grain platform as well as on my 8-row corn head. After two years I couldn't be happier with them," says Grigsby, who credits local welder Don Moss of Tallula, Ill., for the design and actual work.
Moss used heavy gauge steel piping to make the 14-in. dia. rollers. To mount them he welded steel brackets onto both sides of the header and attached a 3-pt. lower lift arm to each one. Steel arms that mount on both ends of the roller hook up to the brackets and are free to swing up and down. A solid steel axle runs through each roller and rides on bearings mounted at each end. During trans-port the rollers are supported off the ground by a pair of chains that run from the back of the header down to the end of each arm.
"It solved my tire problems," says Grigsby. "Often I was able to go only 2 or 3 years be-fore I had to replace the tires on my combine. A tire dealer told me that tire companies are now using æjust on time' inventory systems which means the soft new tires are sold almost as soon as they're made. They have no chance to age and get tougher.
"I spent a total of less than $1,000 for both rollers. The 60-in. wide rollers extend about 5 in. on each side of the tires which are 50 in. wide and 5 ft. 8 in. high. Each roller weighs about 200 lbs. One advantage of this design is that if I trade for a different combine my rollers are wide enough to protect the tires even if the tires on the new combine are positioned different in relation to the header. To remove the rollers for use on a different head, I just pull a pin from each bracket, disconnect the chains, and remove the mounting arms.
"When we built the rollers we made the mounting arms so that the rollers could swing from side to side. However, that allowed the ends of the rollers to wear on the mounting arms so we modified the mounting arms so that now there's only a little sideways movement where the arms meet the rollers."
Grigsby bought the 50-in. wide Firestone logger tires from a tire store in Leavenworth, Kan. "I bought them because I was concerned about soil compaction. They have a footprint that's more than twice as big as a standard 30.5 tire. The 10-hole wheel hubs on the tires (made by Titan Wheel, Chicago, Ill.) match the wheel hubs on my Deere 4640 4-WD tractor, allowing me to also use the tires on the tractor when planting."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Don Moss, Tallula, Ill. ph 217 634-4158) or Joel Grigsby, 129 N. 9th, Lincoln, Ill. 62656 (ph 217 735-2438).
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