Cornhead Crop Dividers Save 3 To 5 Bu/Acre

Cornhead Crop Dividers Save 3 To 5 Bu/Acre COMBINES Accessories 19-6-40 Herald Barton has been combining soy-beans diagonally for 20 years. He says the unconventional method keeps bean loss to a minimum (FARM SHOW Vol. 13, No. 3). Now the Silver Lake, Minn., farmer has come up with attachments for corn heads that he says cut ear loss, saving at least 3 to 5 bu. per acre. "When you've got a corn borer riddled crop like this year's, you can lose 30 to 50 bu. per acre, including ears that are on the ground before you ever start combining," says Barton. "I don't know of any invention that can reduce those losses, but mine will allow you to harvest virtually 100% of the standing crop. Depending on a variety's standability, you can lose 3 to 5 bu. per acre in ears tossed off the end of the header, especially if outside header rows don't exactly match planter rows." Barton's header attachments consist of wedge-shaped shields for each side of the header. They mount with just four bolts on the outer snouts just ahead of the gathering chains. The 32-in. high by 3 1/2-ft. long triangular panels help straighten leaning stalks and deflect ears that would normally fall to the ground back into the header. Barton put prototypes on his Case/IH Axial Flow 1660 in 1991, another bad corn borer year. He transferred the dividers to his new 1688 a couple of years later. The idea works so well on his 800 acres of corn that he's patented the device and now has 10 units on combines in his neighborhood, including both Deere and Case/IH ma-chines. Earl and Jan Longhenry, Glencoe, Minn., tried the dividers on their Case/IH Axial Flow 1660 this fall. The Longhenrys had used them for 10 days on about 150 acres of corn when FARM SHOW visited them in October. "They're simple and effective," said Earl. "As you watch cobs pounding against the shields and back into the header all day long, you know most of those ears would be lost without them. They'll pay for themselves in three days of combining, in my estimation." No price has been yet determined. Barton is looking for a manufacturer to make them out of plastic. "Ears will slide down them better and they'll be white instead of black so you can see outside rows better at night," explains Barton. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Herald Barton, 19052 Kale Ave., Silver Lake, Minn. 55381 (ph 612 327-2217).

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