John Deere Corn Head Adjustment

[Joel Sanderson]

This has been a terrible year for foxtail (actually a great year for foxtail!) and when running corn it's wrapping around the snapping rolls. On the bottom of the head, beside the rolls on the opposite side of the snapping plates, there are what appear to be wiper or scraper plates. They have slotted holes and can be slid towards the snapping rolls. We've never adjusted them. What should the clearance be? Do they need to be closer in messy, grassy conditions?

Anyone else having this problem this year? Seems like this summer was heaven for annual grasses.

This is a No. 642 John Deere head on a 6620 combine.

Thanks, folks.

Joel

 

[SVcummins]

Nobody

 

[Bob Bancroft]

Hot, dry weather here in central NY hindered herbicide action, and encouraged foxtail growth, So, yes, it's a problem here. Lots of corn was sprayed twice. Even some of that was weedy. Those knives/plates/blades, whatever you want to call them, should be adjusted as close to the snapping rolls as possible, without hitting. When doing that, the rolls need to be turned all the way around, as they're never perfectly round, so there's no conflict.

 

[Joel Sanderson]

Hot dry weather? Wow. We were cold and wet. Never reached 100º and haven't in over ten years, while we used to cross 100 several days every summer. It's been hard to make hay because of the small windows of clear weather we do get. My dad lost an alfalfa seeding two years ago because it drowned out--on high, sandy ground! I thought it'd be the cold and wet the grasses liked, but you said they did well in hot and dry too. I wonder if we're seeing an herbicide failure instead of weather conditions. Used to be quack grass (I know it's not an annual) would be a sure kill with glysophate, but anymore it just slows it down. Three years ago I worked up a field that had been in set-aside for 30 years, and that quack came back even after spraying and plowing. Roundup just doesn't have the oomph it used to--on anything. It doesn't seem to me that that's a resistance situation either, since that ground hadn't seen spray in a long time. Six years ago I had the same problem in another patch of ground that had never been tilled. The grass came right back after hitting it twice with roundup with ammonium sulfate and then plowing. That combination used to be a sure kill.

Thank you very much for your response. I appreciate it a lot.

Joel

 

[Joel Sanderson]

Never use absolutes. You'll always be wrong.