2000 - Volume #24, Issue #6, Page #4

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Swather Head Mounts On Old Combine

Swather Head Mounts On Old Combine SWATHERS Swathers 24-6-4 A Missouri farmer who ran an Owatonna swather for years says he was tired of getting stuck in wet conditions. He decided to solve the problem by mounting a 21-ft. draper header on a stripped-down IH 815 combine. "It rides better and lets me go faster. Much more power and more ground clearance in big windrows," says John Sartain, Sedalia, Mo. He stripped all the grain handling components off the combine, including the grain tank, and then adapted the draper header to fit the header lift attachments. The add-on swather head is driven by the combine's original mechanical header drive. One advantage of the new setup is that he can reverse the header , if needed, to unplug it. Sartain likes the taller tires on the combine, which makes it easier to clear big windrows. He put shields under the combine to keep from catching. "I figure I saved 30 to 40 percent of the cost of a new swather, and I got a better machine," notes Sartain. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John Sartain, 28527 Smasal Rd., Sedalia, Mo. 65301 (ph 660 829-2428).