The biggest expense involved when switching to narrow row corn is putting together equipment to plant, cultivate and harvest the crop. Last summer FARM SHOW featured a 36-row, 20-in. narrow row planter built by Nebraska farmer Greg Kreikemeier of West Point, Neb. (Vol. 20, No. 4).

After getting his crop in, Kreikemeier had to find a way to harvest it. He decided an 18-row header would probably work best but, of course, no manufacturer has ever built one. He had to do it himself.

"We started with a 12-row Gleaner combine header with rows spaced 30 in. apart. We widened the header 5 in. on both sides to get enough room for 18 snouts spaced 20 in. apart," says Kreikemeier.

He bought plastic narrow row snouts from GVL, Inc. . The original 12-row head weighed 8,200 lbs. With six additional rows, the header weighs in at 10,400 lbs.

Kreikemeier added duals to the front of the combine to help carry the load and to maintain stability. He also added a bin extension to boost capacity to 400 bu. The combine will consistently harvest 40 to 50 bu. a minute.

"It works excellent," says Kreikemeier.