Honey Bee used the recent AgriTrade show in Red Deer to show Alberta grain growers its new mechanical drive, 60-foot RDX Grain Belt rigid straight-cut draper header.
The new RDX is based on the one-off 60-foot rigid header Honey Bee sent to Australia last year, according to marketing manager Spencer Groth.
“The big thing is that replacing a hydraulic drive with a mechanical one is a revolution in the Grain Belt platform,” said Groth, adding that the Australian unit was built on special request. The one-off was intended to fit into a controlled traffic system where all implements run in the same wheel tracks.
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The new header shares lot of components with the Honey Bee AirFlex header, and depends on gauge wheels to keep it stable. The big difference is the mechanical drive system, which Honey Bee engineers employed because it’s more efficient than hydraulic drive.
The 60-foot uses air suspension on the sub frame and depends on gauge wheels for stability. The fully synchronized centrally driven knives cut lower than any other header on the market, according to Honey Bee. The drapers, knife drive and feed auger all run in reverse with the combine when it’s in reverse. The adjustable reel runs from gentle to highly aggressive. The optional cam reel has a more aggressive grab and a better release of the crop for better feeding. However, one drawback to such a large header is that the combine unload auger needs to be extended.
