DryCreek - 7/3/2022 23:10

We were in the same situation as you a year ago. Couldn't decide between the two, so we got one of each (we have a pair of 9770's, one with a JD 735FD and the other with a Macdon FD135). Last wheat harvest was or first time running them. After running them both for a year I can say you probably can't go wrong with either one. They both have their pro's and con's. I'll try to break it down by crop and which one I prefer.

Wheat- I would give the edge to the Macdon in wheat because of it's ability to flex over terraces better than the JD (most all of our ground is terraced) when cutting off of the ground. We put the skid plates on each side in their highest position and unlock the center of the Macdon cutting wheat, which allows it to tilt side to side on it's own in addition to using the contour master to tilt the header. In short wheat like we have this year we also unlocked the wings to make the header "smile" when cutting in terrace channels. With the JD it is a rigid 35ft and you have to manually tilt the header going over terraces.

Beans- I would give a slight edge to the JD. The flexible cutterbar on the JD really shaves the ground in most conditions. The one thing I don't like is that the reel doesn't flex and keep a close relationship to the cutterbar in terrace channels like the Macdon does, however in our sharp terraces the Macdon doesn't flex enough to get down in the channel either. I usually end up taking a half swath and manually tilting the end of the JD head into the bottom of the terrace channel and it does a pretty good job. It's harder to do that with the Macdon. One thing I like about the Macdon in beans is the ability to roll the header back if you have a lot of rocks. We don't have many, but I could see a definite advantage if you do.

Milo- It's really a toss up in milo as we run both heads locked rigid and when you're cutting that high off the ground there's no need for flexing. Both heads do a fine job, but I will say the visibility of the cutterbar is better on the JD than the Macdon but its all what you get used to.

Maintenance- As far as daily maintenance they both are pretty simple to grease. We haven't had them long enough to know about replacing belts and other components so I can't comment on that aspect.

Overall I would say it probably comes down to price and parts support. If I was to buy another one today and the price was the same, I would probably go with a Macdon. That being said, I'm sure your crops/conditions are different than ours so I can't give you a definitive answer. I hope this helps, either way you will be happy compared to an auger header!