5 ground speed – MacDon D60 Draper Headers User Manual
Page 41
SECTION 7. OPERATION
Form 169441
39
Revision B
7.12.5 GROUND
SPEED
Ground speed should be such that the sickle can
cut crop smoothly and cleanly, while giving the
desired delivery of material to the opening.
Excessive ground speed results in "ragged"
cutting. Refer to Section 7.15 WINDROW TYPES
for effects of ground speed on windrow formation.
In “tough-to-cut” crops like flax, reduce ground
speed to reduce loads on cutting components
and drives.
When cutting very light crops like edible beans,
ground speed may have to be reduced to allow
reel to pull in small and short plants. Start at
3.0 - 3.5 mph (4.8 - 5.8 km/h), and adjust as
required.
Higher ground speeds require heavier float
settings to prevent excessive bouncing. This will
result in increased cutting component damage.
In most cases, as ground speed is increased,
draper and reel speed should be increased to
handle the extra material.
The chart below indicates the relationship
between ground speed and area cut for the
seven header sizes.
Example shown below: At a ground speed of 6
miles per hour (9.7 km/h) with a 25 FT. header, the
area cut in one hour would be approximately 18 acres
(7.3 hectares).
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
miles/hour
ac
res/
h
o
u
r
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
24
26
28
1.6
3.2
4.8
6.4
8.0
9.7
11.3
12.9
14.5
16.1
17.7
19.3
kilometers/hour
h
e
ct
are
s
/h
o
u
r
40 FT
35 FT
30 FT
25 FT
20 FT
15 FT