He Built A 9-Row Cornhead And Cultivator

He Built a 9-Row Cornhead and Cultivator COMBINES Conversions 13-2-6 Howard- Streeter, Alpha, 111., built his own 9-row corn head and cultivator after buying an 18-row, 30-in. Deere planter and finding out that the company had no plans to make a 9-row corn head or cultivator. "For a few years, Deere made 18-row planters. I was sure they were going to make a 9-row corn head but they never did. Most farmers who bought the 18-row planters combined with 6-row corn heads. However, I wanted a 9-row head and no commercial ones were available," says Streeter. Streeter bought an 8-row wide Deere corn head, traded its 36-in. wide snouts for 30-in. wide snouts, and added a row unit. He then cut 121/2 in. from each end of the head and 24 in. from the auger. One side of the head drives five rows, and the other side drives four rows as well as the cross auger. Streeter built his own 9-row hydraulic-fold cultivator from scratch by buying 9 row units and building his own toolbar. "It makes an excellent cultivator," says Streeter, who pulls the rig with a Deere 4450 tractor. The 9-row configuration allows him to set his tractor tires 90 in. apart instead of the normal 60 in. "To cultivate, I scoot each tire out 15 inches, using a special hub extension available from Deere. The 90-inch spacing lets the tractor straddle three rows instead of two, and makes it more stable on hillsides. It also helps for baling hay. I can lay a wider swath with my 10-ft. mower conditioner because the tractor won't drive over it. The wider swath dries out faster." Streeter installs duals for planting and combining, running the inside tires at 60 in. and the outside tires at 120 in. "During planting, one row runs between each set of duals and two rows run under the tractor itself. That way I never drive over ground to be planted." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Howard Streeter,RR 1, Alpha, I11.61413 (ph 309 529-9765).

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