R62 platform width, 25 or 30?

Looking at an R62. This head would be strictly for beans, lateral tilt. Some dealers say the R62 will handle a 30' head fine and others say I would be happier with a 25, opinions? I've been told the 8000 is better than the 800 but the 8200 is better than the 8000, opinions? Of coarse the price goes up accordingly. We didn't like the looks of the orbital reel and the air reels are out of our price range. 

25 ft @ 4 MPH is the same thing as 30 ft at 3.3 MPH. Your choice as long as you have lateral tilt. The threshing system will handle so many tons of material per hr. Now, as far as the header goes, I'm sure I'll be scolded for my choice. I got in on about 3 seasons of the 800 flex headers and felt we went backwards from the 500 series, which I still think was the best we ever had. My dislike for the 800 series (and I assume every header since) was/is the 30 inch auger !!!  It's just like the Engineers never test anything !! They take a 24 inch auger at a set RPM and then make it 30 inches in diameter and leave the RPM's the same !!!  The peripheral speed was too fast on the 30 inch auger causing slugs to be delivered to the narrow throat of an R-52 !!  And because the auger is larger in diameter, the reel has to be moved farther forward. This causes poor uneven feeding, especially when the beans might be short in height !!  I had to make a custom drive sprocket for the auger drive to slow down the speed. This helped tremendously, but I had to change it to make it work satisfactorily from the day they was new. I understand since those days (1997-99) they have invented raised feathering sheets, which would be a great feeding improvement. But, I stand by the design flaw of the larger diameter the auger, the harder it is to feed it in short crop conditions. The larger diameter the reel and the auger, the more void there is at that sweet spot between the sickle and where the bottom of the auger flighting is. Why were air reels invented ????  They solve this problem, but they take power, more fuel and are more things to maintain.

Lateral tilt offers huge benefits. 25’ or 30’? - not as much an issue as cross auger verses Draper. Operate a good Draper header and you’ll soon understand its benefits too. Ideal package - lateral tilt Draper.

And a Draper shouldn’t need an air reel.

Nothing is more frustrating than having a crop ready to cut & the header decides that it won’t feed!!

Edited by AC7060IL - 05 Jan 2021 at 6:31pm

Leon B MO wrote: Looking at an R62. This head would be strictly for beans, lateral tilt. Some dealers say the R62 will handle a 30' head fine and others say I would be happier with a 25, opinions? I've been told the 8000 is better than the 800 but the 8200 is better than the 8000, opinions? Of coarse the price goes up accordingly. We didn't like the looks of the orbital reel and the air reels are out of our price range.  Thanks Leon B MO

What didn't you like about the Orbit reel? I was thinking of putting one on my 800 head.

The air reel is a poor mans draper head :-)   Either size will work.  I am not a fan of the orbit reel as it's durability has been an issue.  I like the raised feather sheets on the outsides, leave the one in the middle out as when the reverser is used it can flip the sheet up and then it is a trip down and up the ladder.  The air reel will save about 90% of shatter loss.  I seldom let the reel touch the beans unless they are 'down'.  It does take more power and upkeep but it will pay for itself over the life of the head.  (expecially at $14 beans as of today whohoooo!)

...as to drapers, we have a couple of the 9335 DynaFlex Gleaner heads out - they are tremendously improved, repeat that,  over the first ones, and I would say on an equal to the MacDon on a Gleaner due to simplicity, feeding the transverse, adjustability , improved hydraulics, variable speed drive , superior reel, dividers and strength.  Gleaner addressed the issues and the results were impressive this fall .   

Ive been running an R62 with an 8000 series 25ft head w/o lateral tilt in centeral Il for several years. Good set up. Like tbran mentioned, remove the center raised sheet, I say as soon as you get the machine home, toss it in the corner and put it back on when you trade machines in years to come to make the header look flawless. Also there is a bolt head that sticks out on the left side down low where the divider pivots on, weld a triangle piece of steel on the divide frame tapering forward in line with that bolt to keep it from catching on things that dont move when edging to close on headlands, speaking from experience. Unless your dealer is close keep an extra sickle drive belt handy as they fail at the most inconvenient time. Also there is a grease zirk on a tie rod end way up under the feather sheets on the sickle drive end that is often missed and messes with sickle drive alignment over time. Good luck on making your decision.

The raised sheets just cover the feather sheets. Simply unbolt the center section held in place by 2 bolts through the sickle guards. Yes some trash will get under the remaining sheets, just flip them up at the end of the season and pull or blow the trash out. Beware the edges of the feather sheets get very sharp with wear so dont cut yourself

We had a 30 foot 800 on our R62. Machine handled it just fine, when you could get the head to feed it. I will never own another 800 series head again. Went to a 35 foot draper on our R66 and never looked back.

I think I was 2 or maybe 3 teeth less on the driving (small) sprocket. It couldn't be any smaller and be able to weld it to the hub. After that, add a half-link or two, raise the auger up to 3/4" off the floor and move it ahead as far as it will go. Tension the chain. Adjust the reel to work with the auger now farther forward. It will feed much better with a slower auger raised up and moved forward in soybeans.