215 JD Flex Cutterbar Pitch

LonM · Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 9:10 am Post subject: 215 JD Flex Cutterbar Pitch

We have a 215 JD Flex on a 4420 with a long feeder house, and it does not seem to cut as well as it did when it was on our 4400 with short feeder. 23.1-26 tires on both combines. Its seems like the head is tipped back too far with the 4420. It is also harder to pick up the header on flat ground when attaching header with this combine. I saw an advertisement (dated around 1981) for JD flex heads that said the cutterbar pitch could be changed something like as much as 9 degrees. How do I do this? Thanks for any input.

Mike Aylward · Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 11:33 am Post subject: Re: 215 JD Flex Cutterbar Pitch

Lon, your operator's manual tells how to do this. On the rear of the platform you will see arm with threaded bolts going through them. You will adjust these bolts to get the proper ground contact on your skid shoes. I am very surprised you can pick up your head after setting it on the ground. Most roll forward and won't allow this to be done. You either have to set the platform on a head mover or on some blocks to tip it rearward. Changing the sickle pitch will have very little to do with this. Mike

LonM · Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 11:51 am Post subject: Re: 215 JD Flex Cutterbar Pitch

Thanks Mike- I don't have an OM for this one, but I'll try changing the shoes by way of the bolt adjustment. To clarify, if I change the adjustment with those bolts, will it affect how it cuts? It seems like the shoes in their present setting cause it to "ride up" in the front and leave more stubble than I would like (about 3-4" or so). Regarding the header rolling forward when detached, I didn't mention that it does indeed have to be on tires, blocks, etc. or else it will not catch on the feeder house. Thanks.

jd6620 · Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 12:10 pm Post subject: Re: 215 JD Flex Cutterbar Pitch

If you have AHHC or DAM, changing the pitch can affect that as well. You will want the OM to adjust the sensor box properly, if necessary.

JDseller · Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 11:48 pm Post subject: Re: 215 JD Flex Cutterbar Pitch

GET A @@@@@manual!!!!!!!! The cutter bar tilt has to be adjusted to EACH combine. The feeder house angle and tire size is different between different models. Yes the head will mount on but to do a good job you need to adjust the head to your combine.

To adjust the tilt you do it with the bolt in the back of the parallel arms that hold the skid plates. You want the sickle guards to be a little lower in the front when the head is on the ground. After you have adjusted that then you will need to go adjust the spring and linkage on the sickle drive gear box. This spring counter acts the drive belt tension and is changed when you change the sickle tilt. Last but not least you will need to set the reel height. When you change the sickle tilt it changes the distance to the reel fingers. You need to reset the reel cylinders so that the reel fingers will always clear the sickle. I have seen people break every single guard because they did not take the time to set this.