A combine harvester is only as good as the header you have connected to it, and manufacturers such as John Deere, Case IH, New Holland, CLAAS, MacDon, and Geringhoff offer headers for sale and are making efforts to improve not just the beaters, feeder chains, belts, and sprockets used in headers but also the technology behind them. John Deere, for example, has headers for sale with all-crop flexibility and specialist capabilities for challenging conditions, and Case IH and its Combine Header Center of Excellence have developed headers that are less susceptible to moisture and offer better crop feeding and improved balance while being easier to service.
New and used combine headers for sale typically break down into three major categories: platform, row crop, and forage. Platform headers have some type of cutter bar, revolving wheel, and an auger or draper made of fabric or rubber used to move the cut crop into the combine for processing. They can have either a rigid platform or one that’s flexible and adjusts to the contours of cropland.
A row crop header works in much the same way as a platform header but has points, or snouts, between each row. Manufacturers sell specific headers for many types of crops, including corn, cotton, rice, sorghum, and sunflower. A forage header is used to harvest forage plants, which are then often used for silage. Models can include a cutter, or you can purchase pick-up or windrow models that pick up the forage after it has already been cut.