Header-Mounted "Stalk Squashers" Save Combine Tires

Header-Mounted "Stalk Squashers" Save Combine Tires COMBINES Accessories 24-3-10 Jim Oakes, Zearing, Iowa, got tired of watching corn stalks wear down the tires on his Deere 6620 combine. He decided to protect them by mounting a pair of "stalk squashers" on back of the header. "I use them on my 4-row narrow corn head. I couldn't be happier with them," says Oakes. He used heavy gauge steel to make the squashers, bolting a 6 by 12-in. steel plate to a larger plate which he bolted onto the header frame. "It solved my tire problems," says Oakes, who made the modification two years ago. "I have a 4-row narrow header and 30-in. rows, so the drive tires run right over the row. I mounted the plates after I ruined a combine drive tire and it cost $800 to replace. The stalks tore chunks right out of the tires. The steel plates ride about 4 inches off the ground and simply bend the stalks forward so that they point away from the tires. "I think the tires made today are softer because they aren't cured as long. They have no chance to age and get tougher." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jim Oakes, 72065 120th St., Zearing, Iowa 50278 (ph 515 487-7684).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.