Chain Extenders Pull In Stalks

Chain Extenders Pull In Stalks COMBINES Accessories 29-4-19 Thanks to stalk rot and wind last year, Buddy Itzen's corn was blown so flat his combine's gathering chains couldn't pull it in. "I needed more aggressive gathering, so I put plastic extenders on the gathering chain paddles," recalls Itzen. "I had to go slow, but with the extenders I was able to feed the corn into the combine, and it didn't plug up the head." The extenders provided the extra surface area needed to catch the stalks and keep them moving through. He was so impressed with how well they worked that he decided to make and market them, along with several other products, through his Elkhorn Equipment Co. Itzen makes the extenders out of an extremely durable plastic. He went with the plastic rather than metal to help reduce the chance of fire. Kits sell for $25 per row and consist of 16 extenders plus connectors. Itzen says they should work with any header where the gathering chain paddles have two pre-drilled holes allowing an extender to be bolted in place. "I include Nylock nuts with them so they will stay on," says Itzen. "They work well, whether in good corn or bad." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Buddy Itzen, Elkhorn Equipment Co., 2427 Elm Drive, Ft. Dodge, Iowa 50501 (ph 515 972-4500 or 800 972-4585; email: elkhorn@frontiernet.net; website: www. frontiernet.net/~elkhorn).

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