Diving deep into the MacDon R216 and C Series corn headers
Ryan Ridley
Farms.com
Farms.com caught up with Bruce Wyatt, Territory Manager at MacDon Industries, at the 2020 National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kentucky, this past February. At the show this year, we were searching for exciting new product developments that would benefit farmers in 2020, and Wyatt did not disappoint.
He provided an overview of the MacDon C Series of corn heads, as well as its R216 header for self-propelled windrows.
New to MacDon’s C Series of corn heads this year is an eight-row, 38” configuration. Six-row and-12 row versions are also available, with all C Series headers made in chopping and non-chopping models.
“We have 20” row spacing, 22” row spacing in certain sizes, and 30” row spacing in all sizes,” said Wyatt. “We also have folding and non-folding units.”
A key feature on the C Series is MacDon’s OctiRoll Residue Management System, which significantly speeds up stalk breakdown by creating consistently chopped residue. The design of OctiRoll incorporates four knives and four serrated edges, enabling residue to be consistently chopped to two-to-three inches at harvesting speeds of 7.5 mph (12 km/h).
“OctiRoll has eight contact points with the stalk of the corn to give it some excellent crimping, cutting and sizing. If those items are important to you, we would certainly appreciate you checking out the MacDon corn head,” explained Wyatt.
The C Series also has a unique rib-shaped snout design that lifts downed crop.
“The ribs give it extra strength and also decreases the amount of friction that’s on the corn stalk if you’re harvesting downed corn, making it easier for you to pick it up in difficult conditions,” he added.
Wyatt also gave an overview of the new MacDon R216 SP header, which includes features like EvenFlow Technology, the industry’s widest conditioning rolls at 129”, low-profile, in-cab swath control, easy access and maintenance, as well as extra durability features.
“We’re very proud of it,” explained Wyatt. “We’ve been spending some time in the field and listening to customers and making changes to meet their requests.”
A big update to the R216 header is MacDon’s EvenFlow Technology – low-profile cutting discs that create a close and clean cut paired with the industry’s widest conditioning rolls at 129” and in-cab controls for windrow formation.
“The EvenFlow enables a much wider range of ground speeds and still gets a good high-quality cut. Whether you’re a light crop, heavy crop, slow ground speed or high ground speed, this thing is going to give you a clean cut,” he said.
MacDon also added several durability features to the R216 header as well.
“We have some very good durability features with the framework that we’ve added underneath the header. We also added a stainless steel bar to the front of the header that’s going to make the front of the header last longer and resist dents,” added Wyatt.
Other features include easy access to drive lines and the gearboxes as well as in-cab swath control with baffle adjustment to enable windrow change on-the-go.
MacDon is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, from where it sells to international markets. For more information on MacDon Industries’ product line, visit: www.macdon.com.
Photo: macdon.com