FARGO, N.D. – In the competitive world of sunflower harvesting equipment, prices for header attachments and specialty headers can vary from less than $6,000 to more than $60,000.
Surprisingly, one of the most popular units bought by sunflower growers in North America and Europe is priced in the $6,000 range.
Built in Jamestown, North Dakota, it is called the Seed Eater.
Keith Veil has owned the company that makes the Seed Eater since the mid-1980s, when most units were sold to Romania. He often travelled to Eastern Europe to demonstrate the sunflower attachment and show how to attach it to the type of combine commonly used there.
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“After a while, we realized we had one of the best sunflower attachments available anywhere. It was as good or better than anything they had in Europe. But it still needed some work,” Veil said.
“So I did a complete redesign in 1992. Then we field tested the new design against the top sunflower harvesters in Europe – row crop headers, positive feed headers and different kinds of pans – and we always had the best numbers.
“In the next nine years, we sold more than 3,000 of the new Seed Eaters to Eastern Europe alone.”
Veil said he concentrated on developing the drum, which uses long feed fingers to pull the product into the combine.
“With these feed fingers on the drum, we keep the pans clear of debris. It moves the sunflowers back to the auger and through the combine and leaves the weeds behind.”
He said he also worked extensively with the size and shape of the pans to find the right configuration that would minimize the number of seeds dropping to the ground.
“The pans are the heaviest gauge on the market. They’re 14 gauge where others are a lighter 16 gauge. Also, the Seed Eater pans are galvanized so they should last just about forever.”
He said all parts on the Seed Eater are either hot galvanized or powder coated, for longer life. All bolts and U-bolts are Grade 5.
The Seed Eater fits any platform style header. Once the four-chain quick attach system has been assembled the first time, it takes only a few minutes to install or remove the unit.
Sizes are 12 to 36 feet, with the most popular being the 25 and 30 foot models.
The 25-foot model sells for $6,055 and uses different mount kits for different headers. The 30-foot sells for $6,495 and uses the same mount kits for all headers.
The drive kit is the same for all sizes and sells for $750.
For more information, contact Westward Products in Jamestown, N.D., at 701-251-2182.
