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South Texas | I've used a 453A for 4 seasons on a JD 6600. I love it, but the seller had just rebuilt most everything so I've had no repairs. It does not like grassy weeds in soybeans so getting that last row at the field edge is sometimes dicey. The rotary knife can accept some, but will eventually plug. It will suck rocks, so if you have a lot of fist-sized ones, you'll stop a lot. The rocks get caught early at the front of the belts and the slip cluth activates, so they never go through the combine. It will keep going in clean beans even if it's really tough. I've combined in the drizzle and the head was not the limiting factor.
It feeds far more smoothly than the 15' flex head I'd used previously. Particularly in short beans, the flex would hold them just ahead of the auger, then feed the slug. This RC feeds smoothly no matter what. It's sorta cool watching bean stalks come up the head still standing upright. (Yeah, I know, I need to get a life. ) It seems to do well in heavy and leaning beans, but luckily I've never had to try fully lodged stuff. The snouts are longer and lower than the corn head. The skid plates determine the height of each row independently. I put mine full down and never changed them.
Speed is limited by the rotary knife, which is controlled by the feeder house speed control. I installed a slightly smaller chain sprocket so I'd get a little faster knife speed since it can't keep the combine full with only 4 row 30". But then, I go the same speed uphill, downhill, sidehill and level so it works for my small (140) acreage.
The first year I used it, several truckers and lookers stopped to ask how I could use a corn head for beans, an indication of how few are used in my area. It might be an indication of something else, but I'm not gonna go there.
As to using it for corn, well, it'll feed the stuff, but I reckon it's up to your combine to handle the extra trash. I'd expect near zero grain loss at the head since the space between and under the belts is a solid piece. I do recall reading in Farm Journal or somesuch years ago where guys were trying to modify a grain table for corn. Pretty much ended up saying "don't." I'll use this rig one more time, then auction this fall. I paid $1500 for it, will be surprised to get half that since it's small and not a popular item. Take care. Stetts
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Row Heads
