Harvesting Headers/Farming Simulator 17
A Harvesting Header is a type of Header designed to cut Crops. A Harvesting Header can only be installed on a Harvester, and is required in order to collect any crops.
Farming Simulator 17 offers 22 different Harvesting Header models. They can be divided into three main groups: Grain Headers, Corn/Sunflower Headers, and Sunflower Headers. Within each group, different models compete with one another primarily in width; The wider the Header, the faster it can harvest a field of a given size. Wider headers are always more expensive.
In FS17, any Harvesting Header will fit on any Harvester, despite what the information says at the store. However some Headers consume so much power when operating, that smaller Harvesters can barely move when carrying and powering such headers.
The larger Harvesting Headers are so wide that they cannot easily be transported from place to place while attached to a Harvester - they can easily get caught in trees or lamp-posts or other obstacles. One solution is to buy a special Header Trailer, place the Header on it, and tow the whole thing. A few of the larger Header models have built-in wheels and a towing boom that can be extended for transport (essentially becoming their own Header Trailer). A few other models can fold up when they're ready for transport, becoming much narrower and more manageable.
List of Harvesting Headers
Below is a list of all 22 models of Harvesting Headers available in Farming Simulator 17. They can all be found in the "Headers" category at the store. The "Crop Types" column indicates which Crops the header can cut - it will ignore all other crops completely.
Remember again that all Harvesting Headers can fit on any Harvester - it's just a question of whether the Harvester has enough power left to drive while operating the header.
| Name | Price | Maint. cost per day |
Crop Types | Working Width (m) |
Max Work Speed (km/h) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capello Quasar F4 | 12,000 | 25 |  
|
3.0 | 10 |
| Case IH 1030 14FT | 18,000 | 40 |    
|
4.3 | 10 |
| Sampo Rosenlew C6 14FT | 21,000 | 30 |
|
4.2 | 10 |
| New Holland 980CF 6R | 24,000 | 50 |
|
4.5 | 10 |
| New Holland Varifeed 18FT | 28,000 | 60 |
|
5.5 | 10 |
| Rostselmash Argus 870 | 32,000 | 40 |
|
5.7 | 10 |
| Capello Helianthus 5700 | 33,000 | 50 |
|
5.7 | 15 |
| Capello Diamant HS8 | 34,000 | 40 |
|
6.0 | 10 |
| Rostselmash Power Stream 700 | 36,000 | 50 |
|
7.0 | 10 |
| Massey Ferguson FreeFlow 25FT | 38,000 | 50 |
|
7.6 | 10 |
| Capello Diamant HS12 | 40,000 | 70 |
|
9.0 | 10 |
| Case IH 3412 12R | 41,000 | 80 |
|
9.0 | 10 |
| Rostselmash Power Stream 900 | 43,000 | 60 |
|
9.0 | 10 |
| New Holland 980CF 12R | 44,000 | 90 |
|
9.0 | 10 |
| Case IH 3020 35FT | 46,000 | 90 |
|
10.5 | 10 |
| Massey Ferguson PowerFlow 35FT | 51,000 | 90 |
|
10.7 | 10 |
| Capello Quasar HS 16 | 52,000 | 100 |
|
12.0 | 10 |
| Capello Helianthus 12000 | 54,000 | 110 |
|
12.0 | 15 |
| Massey Ferguson DynaFlex 40FT | 58,000 | 110 |
|
12.2 | 10 |
| New Holland Varifeed 41FT | 59,000 | 120 |
|
12.5 | 10 |
| Case IH 3162 Draper 45FT | 62,000 | 120 |
|
13.7 | 10 |
| New Holland SuperFlex Draper 45FT | 62,000 | 120 |
|
13.7 | 10 |
Harvesting Header Categories
Harvesting Headers are split into three distinct categories, depending on what types of Crops they can harvest. Headers within each category can be compared directly to one another, and often share more other similarities with each other than with Headers of other categories.
Grain Headers
Crop Types: Wheat, Barley, Canola and Soybeans.
Most Harvesting Headers in the base game are Grain Headers. They range from the very small to the exceptionally wide, and their prices are mostly proportional to their width. Selecting a Grain Header is really just a matter of deciding how much money you want to spend. The wider the header, the faster the work will go.
Grain Headers are a completely separate group from the other Harvesting Header categories (see below), since they simply do not cut the same types of Crops.
Grain Headers do not have any hydraulic folding mechanism; Their width cannot be reduced for easier transport. Therefore, the widest headers can cause trouble when trying to move them from field to field. A Header Trailer is recommended for the larger Headers, if you need to tow them around your farm rapidly.
The largest Grain Headers are the widest headers of any type - at 13.7 meters. They do not require a Header Trailer, since they provide their own built-in wheels and towing boom.
Note that several Grain Headers (mostly the largest ones) have very high power consumption, and cannot be comfortably operated by small Harvesters.
Corn/Sunflower Headers
Crop Types: Corn and Sunflowers.
There is only a small variety of Corn/Sunflower Headers in the base game, but there are still quite a few models to choose from. Many of these models are nearly identical to one another; small differences determine which one is really the best within each width group.
Many Corn/Sunflower Headers have folding hydraulics; They can be folded to reduce their width for transport or storage. As a result, Corn/Sunflower Headers do not normally need a Header Trailer to tow them around, and can simply be carried by the Harvester itself. The presence or lack of these hydraulics should be taken into consideration when buying a Corn/Sunflower Header.
Corn/Sunflower Headers are the only Harvesting Headers that can cut Corn, and have no external competition for this crop (see also Corn Chaff Headers, which have a very different function). However, they are not the only headers that can cut Sunflowers (see below) - They compete with Sunflower-Only headers for that job. Corn/Sunflower headers have the advantage of being able to process both crops as necessary, as well as their folding hydraulics. Otherwise, Sunflower Headers are nearly always superior when harvesting Sunflowers - assuming you can afford them.
Sunflower-Only Headers
Crop Types: Sunflowers
The game features two Harvesting Headers from Capello that are specially-designed to cut Sunflowers. Although they cannot cut any other type of Crop, they are absolutely the best at harvesting Sunflowers. This is because both Sunflower-Only headers have a 50% higher maximum working speed than any other Harvesting Header. This allows them to complete the harvest of a Sunflower field 50% faster than other headers of similar width.
Sunflower-Only headers compete directly with Corn/Sunflower headers (See above) for work on Sunflower fields. If you're growing plenty of Sunflowers, a Sunflower-Only header is much preferable. On the other hand, if you need a header that can cut both Corn and Sunflowers, Sunflower-Only headers are not what you're looking for.
Sunflower-Only headers do not have any folding hydraulics; Their width cannot be reduced for easier transport or storage.
Finally, note that the power requirements listed for Sunflower-Only headers at the store are false. These headers require very little power to operate, and can be used by any Harvester with ease.
Header Compatibility
When browsing Harvesting Headers at the store, each Header model you look at has a list of Harvesters it can be attached to. However, this information is completely false.
In actuality, any Harvesting Header can be attached to any Harvester in the game. If you want to, you can attach the largest Header in the game (a New Holland SuperFlex Draper 45FT) to the smallest Harvester (a Sampo Rosenlew Comia C6).
On the other hand, even though it's possible to connect any Harvesting Header to any Harvester, it isn't always the best idea. Some Harvesting Headers (particularly large Grain Headers) have a very high Power Consumption rate; When connected to a small Harvester, they can draw so much power that they render the Harvester nearly incapable of moving. While the Header is operating, the harvester may have trouble accelerating to its maximum working speed, especially when working on a sloped surface. The smallest Harvester that can circumvent this problem completely is the New Holland TC5.90 - it provides enough power to operate any header at top working speed.
Furthermore, attaching a large header to a small harvester can potentially cause another problem: A wider header collects crops much more quickly, and therefore it will fill up the harvester more quickly. This is not a problem if you have sufficient equipment (particularly Tippers) to unload the harvester every time it fills up. However if you do not have enough equipment, the harvester may end up spending a lot of time waiting for you to come unload it every time. When using Hired Workers, these waiting periods may end up costing you a lot of money.
Power-Hungry Headers and Towed Machinery
Another problem with using a large Harvesting Header on a small Harvester arises from the fact that some of the smaller Harvesters can tow and operate machinery - such as a Baler or Loading Wagon - while working on a field. This is important especially when creating a Straw Swath, since the towed machinery can immediately pick it up behind the harvester. This is a great advantage when using small harvesters for crops that can produce Straw.
However, when operating a power-hungry Grain Header (and most large Grain Headers are quite power-hungry), the Harvester has even less horsepower remaining to operate whatever machinery it is towing - and even less power left over to move itself, its header, AND the towed machinery. When attempting to do this with a very large header, the harvester could come to a complete halt and become immobile.
Therefore, if you wish to operate a towed trailer behind your little harvester, you may need to buy a smaller Harvesting Header that only requires a small amount of Horsepower. Consult the individual articles on the different Header models listed above, to discover which headers are less power-hungry than others.