Is your harvest equipment designed to keep up with advances in corn technology and its stress on machinery?
Farmers are entering yet another growing season facing bearish grain markets and high input costs. During times like these, every investment – from fertilizer to harvest equipment – is scrutinized more carefully than ever, and hard decisions are made to preserve cash flow and maximize ROI.
In a recent farmer sentiment survey conducted by the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture, only 7% of survey respondents indicated that they plan to increase farm machinery purchases in the upcoming year. That makes durability of existing harvest equipment more important than ever – and investing in quality where margins allow.
Why Farmers Are Focusing on Durability
Because of the market price pressure they’re facing, more farmers are operating equipment longer than they would have a few years ago. That trend puts a premium on the durability of any tractor, combine or implement brand, says Fenton, Iowa, farmer and Dragotec Vice President of Sales and Marketing Dustin Bollig.
“When you are buying a piece of harvest equipment and looking at its return on investment, the longer that equipment can run before it needs to be rebuilt or replaced, the better. It’s a big factor for ROI,” he says.
“With lower prices and tight margins, farmers with sharp pencils are looking more closely at harvest equipment durability and how machines are built as a way to manage costs without losing yield.”
Production practices and corn genetics that improve standability and stalk strength have also upped the importance of machinery durability, especially with corn heads. Corn that stands better is tougher on the corn head and combine during harvest, making it critical to have a corn head that can handle that additional stress.
And when you consider that many farmers are planting higher populations to squeeze more profit potential out of every acre, the combination of stronger stalks and higher populations makes the harvest process even more “violent,” Bollig says.
“If you look at what’s happening at the corn head during harvest, it’s a brutal action. And now, with more plants per acre and tougher stalks, it’s creating more wear on the corn head,” he adds. “With a Drago corn head, we protect every individual component to make it as durable as possible.”
The More Protection, The Better
One way Drago protects those components and improves the durability of the corn head is by limiting torque. The Drago GT corn head features Independent Component Protection, a set of radial-pin slip clutches for each friction point in the machine.
Compared to other heads that have a smaller number of clutches to control more components, the larger number of clutches dedicated to individual parts on a GT corn head share in the overall torque load. That means less stress on each clutch, and it ultimately extends the life of each clutch and the parts they control.
“Most corn heads have a single slip clutch for each row unit. That means the torque load for that main slip clutch is extremely high. With Independent Component Protection, each component has a clutch with the torque to protect that component,” Bollig says. “This extends the life of each of those components by applying the right amount of protection for that component’s job.”
Gears Add Durability
Chains are usually used to transfer power to corn head row units. But, without regular maintenance, they can loosen and stretch, requiring replacement several times through the life of a corn head. Employing drives with spiral bevel gears, like in the Drago GT corn head’s Endura Drive system, adds durability by eliminating common maintenance issues with both chains and conventional gears.
“Chains need attention and constant adjustment as they wear and stretch,” Bollig says. “Because of the precision milling process and the spiral beveled design, Drago GT gearboxes don’t experience the excessive wear you see with conventional gears.”
Advantages That Add Up
On average, Drago knife roller blades last three times longer than off-brand blades, giving corn head operators a significant advantage in both longevity and performance. On-farm trials revealed a lifetime triple that of cheaper brands largely due to a laser-applied tungsten edge on each one. Where off-brand knives are often low-grade steel with a minimal, spotty application of tungsten applied with adhesives, Drago blades have more material that’s more evenly applied.
Curious how Drago’s harvest equipment features could turn into savings for your operation? Check out our parts calculator to run the numbers.
Focus on Tried-and-True Best Practices
Though components like spiral bevel gears and higher numbers of slip clutches can add to a corn head’s durability, the best way to extend the life of any implement is by paying close attention to maintenance schedules, the replacement parts you use and how you operate in the field.
“Sometimes, you can use lower-cost parts, but they may give you more headaches at harvest through breakdowns that can end up costing you more money,” Bollig says.
“A lot of corn heads are designed the same way today as they were 40 years ago. But now, we are driving higher-horsepower machines faster and harvesting more plants with tougher stalks per acre, and it’s creating more wear issues than in the past. It’s important to take these factors into account when looking at the corn head.”