Expand your crop options without worrying about harvesting problems
With SunStar plates, you move quickly through standing sunflowers.
Take advantage of your corn header's ability to pick up and salvage lodged heads, something most header conversions won't do.
An inexpensive SunStar attachment bolts on to your corn head.
There are no moving parts to wear and replace.
The SunStar Harvesting System
There are no permanent modifications and the SunStar system has no moving parts to wear and replace.
This system, developed and used in Europe for several years, is proven effective.
Each conversion unit is laser cut from carbon steel for perfect fit and extremely long wear.
Convert from Corn to Sunflowers in less than 1/2 an hour per row:
Installation is easy, taking 30 minutes to an hour per row.
The SunStar deck plates are installed in place of your stationary deck plate on the row.
Next, the gathering slot is adjusted to the average stalk size, then replace the snout and you're finished with the row!
Repeat this process for the remaining rows and you will be good to go!
When you are finished, simply reverse this procedure on each row to convert back to corn.
This is how it works:
As the sunflower stalk comes into the gathering slot, it is diverted to one side by the SunStar plate.
This allows only one side of the gathering chain to touch the stalk and prevent the stalk from being bumped, which could cause heads to drop or shatter.
As the stalk reaches the rear of the gathering slot, it encounters a stationary knife similar to a half section.
The gathering fingers and this stationary knife cuts the stalk and let the head fall into the cross auger, where it is fed into the combine.
(An ample supply of replacement knives is provided with your original system.)
SunStar is designed to work in a variety of field and crop conditions
SunStar has a very simple operating principle.
Sunstar has been designed to harvest sunflowers in a row planted at the same width as your corn head.
No modifications are needed to the standard row units.
The four page instructions we provide with the system completely explain installation and adjustments.
When crop or field conditions change, a simple adjustment may be required.
Ear savers will have to be removed or held back so they don't bump the stalks as they enter the gathering channel.
The SunStar system has no rotating knives, chains, or bearings to maintain.
These pictures below show our Sunstar conversion kit on a 1995 John Deere corn head with new aggressive snap rolls and plastic snouts.
These flowers were yielding about 2200lbs/acre.
Notice how the heads enter the auger in one piece.
You also might notice how high the header is running off the ground.
These flowers were being harvested late after a hard frost.
Inspection from behind the machine showed very little loss from head shatter.
The forward speed was around 4 MPH.
High harvesting speeds are common with Sunstar.
John Deere corn header harvesting sunflowers
Here you see the heads being fed into the auger
Snout view of the header with Sunstar plates installed.
When ordering a SunStar system for your machine, please specify the corn head manufacturer, the model number and the number of rows that are on the header.