Non-Hydraulic Header Reverser

1992 - Volume #16, Issue #3, Page #08

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"I've used this idea for years to reverse combine headers," says Gordon Rasmussen, Standard, Alberta, about the "no hydraulics" reverser he made for Massey headers on MF 760 and 860 combines.
When he first came up with the idea a number of years ago, Rasmussen says many neighboring farmers were using orbit motors to reverse drive on headers. But he says he didn't think his self-propelled MF had enough hydraulic capacity to effectively run a big enough motor to do the job. He also wanted to avoid the expense of a hydraulic motor and the controls needed to run it. Instead, he built his reverser entirely out of salvaged parts.
Key component is a planetary drive from a self-propelled swather. The drive originally mounted on one of the swather's drive wheels and was used to steer the rig. There was one on each drive wheel. Each planetary drive had forward, neutral and reverse and two levers were used to steer the swather by shifting the wheels in and out of forward and reverse.
Rasmussen mounted the planetary drive on a shaft below the main header drive shaft. He cut the main shaft in half and mounted two drive sprockets on the shaft.
The main shaft is driven by a variable speed pulley (from left in photo) which turns the shaft and sprocket above the planetary gear. The drive goes down by chain through the planetary drive and then by chain backup to the original drive shaft. When Rasmussen shifts the planetary gear into reverse - from the cab via hydraulic cylinder attached to the planetary gear shift lever - it simply reverses direction of the output drive shaft, unplugging the feederhouse.
The planetary gear mounts near one end of the header right next to the variable speed drive. The split shaft rides in a "bushing" Rasmussen made out of a long piece of heavy pipe fitted with grease zerks. The only time the shaft turns in the bushing is when the header is reversed.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gordon R. Rasmussen, Box 84, Standard, Alberta, Canada TOJ 3G0 (ph 403 644-3730).

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Non-Hydraulic Header Reverser COMBINES Headers 16-3-8 "I've used this idea for years to reverse combine headers," says Gordon Rasmussen, Standard, Alberta, about the "no hydraulics" reverser he made for Massey headers on MF 760 and 860 combines. When he first came up with the idea a number of years ago, Rasmussen says many neighboring farmers were using orbit motors to reverse drive on headers. But he says he didn't think his self-propelled MF had enough hydraulic capacity to effectively run a big enough motor to do the job. He also wanted to avoid the expense of a hydraulic motor and the controls needed to run it. Instead, he built his reverser entirely out of salvaged parts. Key component is a planetary drive from a self-propelled swather. The drive originally mounted on one of the swather's drive wheels and was used to steer the rig. There was one on each drive wheel. Each planetary drive had forward, neutral and reverse and two levers were used to steer the swather by shifting the wheels in and out of forward and reverse. Rasmussen mounted the planetary drive on a shaft below the main header drive shaft. He cut the main shaft in half and mounted two drive sprockets on the shaft. The main shaft is driven by a variable speed pulley (from left in photo) which turns the shaft and sprocket above the planetary gear. The drive goes down by chain through the planetary drive and then by chain backup to the original drive shaft. When Rasmussen shifts the planetary gear into reverse - from the cab via hydraulic cylinder attached to the planetary gear shift lever - it simply reverses direction of the output drive shaft, unplugging the feederhouse. The planetary gear mounts near one end of the header right next to the variable speed drive. The split shaft rides in a "bushing" Rasmussen made out of a long piece of heavy pipe fitted with grease zerks. The only time the shaft turns in the bushing is when the header is reversed. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gordon R. Rasmussen, Box 84, Standard, Alberta, Canada TOJ 3G0 (ph 403 644-3730).

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