Low-Cost "Corn Savers" Made Out Of PVC Pipe

Low-Cost "Corn Savers" Made Out Of PVC Pipe COMBINES Headers 28-4-33 "They keep down stalks flowing smoothly without catching on the ends of the header," says Roger Maschino, North Vernon, Ind., about the "corn savers" he made out of 8-in. dia. PVC pipe. He uses them on his Deere 9610 combine equipped with a 6-row header. Three years ago Maschino replaced the original metal snouts with plastic ones. The slick plastic helped keep down corn from catching on the snouts. But he needed something to keep stalks from catching on the ends of the header. That's when he came up with the corn savers. He started with a 52-in. length of 8-in. dia. PVC pipe. He used a band saw to cut the pipe in half diagonally. Each half is tapered down at one end so it's only about 3/4 in. wide. Then he used a pair of 5/16 by 1 1/2-in. bolts to secure both ends of each corn saver to the header. "They really work well. The PVC provides a slick surface that won't rust or corrode. And the pipe's round edges keep stalks from bunching up like they did on the header's original square edges," says Maschino. "I've used them for two years with no problems. I already had the pipe, but you could buy it for only a few dollars. "The header is about 20 years old so the metal snouts were almost worn through. I paid about $2,400 for the plastic snouts," he says. "The corn savers took only about 15 minutes to make. At the time I made them, there was nothing on the market like my corn savers. Then last fall Deere came out with a corn header equipped with plastic snouts and hinged plastic corn savers at each end. However, a 6-row model sells for about $15,000." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Roger Maschino, 7845 W County Road 400 S, North Vernon, Ind. 47265 (ph 812 522-5037)

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