Combine headers have grown progressively wider in recent years, but, for a big table to have good handling traits, the engineering challenges are considerable. Case IH has invested in its own draper header design to tackle the issues, and one enterprising farming business in Norfolk is pioneering its use

A Norfolk estate is trialling a new draper header developed by Case IH to increase output and improve crop handling. For its part Case IH is also closely monitoring progress to evaluate design features and the potential for the header in UK conditions. Originally developed by Canadian manufacturer MacDon and offered by Case IH as an option on Axial-Flow combines from 1993 onwards, the draper header design has proved highly successful in its native country for gentle handling in difficult conditions. It has also found a market in parts of Europe including Denmark for tricky crops such as grass seeds.

Draper header theory is that a pair of belts powers the crop across the table from each side, with a central belt delivering it into the throat. Stems are laid flat as the crop passesinto the throat, with the heads presented first to the feeder for easier threshing.

Feeding the crop more evenly and smoothly improves output and separation quality. “In the heavier yielding cereal crops in the UK, there was perceived to be little benefit from having a specialist header, whereas In the USA it is common to have a dedicated header for each crop,” explains Case IH’s combine specialist, Paul Freeman. “We had a couple of customers in the UK who were very keen on the draper header concept, but there was no commercial market for it at the time.”

Switching for a moment to recent conventional header developments, the increasing acreages of rape and time pressure brought a demand for systems to make the switch between crops easier and improve handling in testing conditions, such as downed rape after heavy rain. Positioning the knife farther from the auger and the ability to extend the table forward for rape emerged as innovations that have improved efficiency on traditional knife and auger headers.

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