Editing Combine harvester (section)

==Combine header==
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2024}}
{{multiple image
 | width = 220
 | direction = vertical
 | image1 = Combine header transport trailer-3.jpg
 | alt1 = Combine header transport trailer
 | image2 = Combine header trailer.webp|
 | alt2 = Combine header trailer
 | footer = Combine header transport trailers
}}

Combines are equipped with removable headers that are designed for particular crops. The standard header, sometimes called a grain platform, is equipped with a ''reciprocating knife cutter bar'', and features a revolving reel with metal teeth to cause the cut crop to fall into the auger once it is cut.  A variation of the platform, a "flex" platform, is similar but has a cutter bar that can flex over contours and ridges to cut [[soybean]]s that have pods close to the ground. A flex head can cut soybeans as well as cereal crops, while a rigid platform is generally used only in [[cereal]] grains.

Some wheat headers, called "draper" headers, use a fabric or rubber apron instead of a cross auger. Draper headers allow faster feeding than cross augers, leading to higher throughputs due to lower power requirements. On many farms, platform headers are used to cut wheat, instead of separate wheat headers, so as to reduce overall costs.

Dummy heads or pick-up headers feature spring-tined pickups, usually attached to a heavy rubber belt. They are used for crops that have already been cut and placed in [[windrow]]s or swaths. This is particularly useful in northern climates such as western Canada, where swathing kills weeds resulting in a faster dry down.

While a grain platform can be used for corn, a specialized corn head is ordinarily used instead. The corn head is equipped with snap rolls that strip the stalk and leaf away from the ear, so that only the ear (and husk) enter the throat. This improves efficiency dramatically since so much less material must go through the cylinder.  The corn head can be recognized by the presence of points between each row.

Occasionally rowcrop heads are seen that function like a grain platform but have points between rows like a corn head. These are used to reduce the amount of weed seed picked up when harvesting small grains.

Self-propelled [[Gleaner Manufacturing Company|Gleaner]] combines could be fitted with special tracks instead of tires to assist in harvesting rice. These tracks can be made to fit other combines by adding adapter plates. Some combines, particularly the pull type, have tires with a deep diamond tread which prevents sinking in mud.{{clear left}}