I need some advice from you veteran sunflower growers out there.  I'm planning on planting 50-70 acres of sunflowers as double-crop after wheat next year.  I'm planning on a short season variety (95-96 day), probably a NuSun variety.

1) Should I plant them on 15" or 30"?  I have the capacity to do either one, but I didn't know if one was better than the other.

2) I have an old IH 820 16.5' flex platform.  Could this be converted to a sunflower header with pans and side guards?  Or, should I find an old JD 653A rowcrop head, put my Bish head adapter on it (have a IH 1460 combine and use one for a JD643 corn head), and go with it?  If so, I'd go with 30" rows.  Who makes pans and attachments for an 820?

3) Would it be wise to have someone ride along on the back with a fire extinguisher when harvesting? :)

 Thanks!