Working on getting stuff figured out for fall harvest. Only have about 85 acres of beans to run plus potentially some custom work, nothing too crazy. Last year i bought a early R52 and a 20ft 300 series head, i ran about 40 acres of beans in the fall and 15 acres of wheat this summer. Mechanically its a very solid head. Has a SCH cutter bar, auger has been replaced, 1.5" or 2" hose behind the cutter bar, reel is straight and in good shape, all the balljoints underneath are tight, and all the steel is thick and pretty straight.

However it has what i've learned is the typical issue where crop sits between the sickle and the auger, and with the large crop dividers it can make a mess in narrow rows(running a 7.5" drill). Last fall i ran next to a Deere 9500/925 and was amazed at how much better and consistent the Deere head worked. In the right conditions my 300 would work great and i could run 4-5mph, and then another spot i'd be down to 2mph and plugging the feederhouse because it would just feed in slugs of beans. I've read on here about some auger and reel adjustments to make, and also thinking about going to a bigger 3" hose behind the sickle, but even then will this head make me hate life in tough beans? I'm just starting out so i'm a bit limited on what i want to spend, and i hate to ditch a good working head for a "better" head that will need a lot of maintenance.