New Holland Announces Partnership with Honey Bee® Manufacturing, Partnering Speedrower® PLUS Series Windrowers with WSC Swather Series Draper Heads

Speedrower 260 PLUS with a Honey Bee WSC30 header

New Holland Agriculture North America and Honey Bee® Manufacturing have formed a partnership on a new draper header series for Speedrower® PLUS Series self-propelled windrowers. Developed with customers in mind, the new Honey Bee® WSC Swather Series presents new opportunities for the Speedrower PLUS Series in small grain crops.

“Operations that swath grains have been asking for a draper head solution to work with our Speedrower PLUS Series self-propelled windrowers and we listened,” says Josh Harkenrider, commercial hay and forage product marketing manager for New Holland Agriculture North America. “We’re confident this partnership will provide a robust solution for customers as it combines the experience from Honey Bee with the productivity, precision and performance of our windrowers."

Built on a draper platform, the WSC Swather Series brings more than 20 years of development and proven results from Honey Bee Manufacturing.

“We are proud to have forged this agreement with CNH Industrial as it puts our proven platform into the hands of more farmers through CNH Industrial’s robust dealer network,” says Jamie Pegg, general manager for Honey Bee Manufacturing.

To maximize the impressive capacity of the Speedrower PLUS Series, two models are available: the 30-foot (9.1 m) WSC30 and the 36-foot (10.9 m) WSC36. For clean cutting, these headers feature the tried-and-true SCH Easy Cut Cutting System, which has spring steel guards with cutting edges on the top and bottom, along with alternating, bolted, heat-treated sections that eliminate the need for hold downs. For increased capacity, the Honey Bee® Reel features six bats and quick change plastic teeth. To adjust in changing crop conditions, both hydraulic reel drive and hydraulic fore/aft reel adjustments can be conveniently made from the cab. Cut crop is gently delivered onto two swath decks where it then can be shifted left, right or center with in-cab controls.

WSC Swathers also come with adjustable gauge wheels to help in conditions where skids can scrape or dig and an integrated transport system for convenient maneuvering on-road and storage.

“When you combine the wide cutting widths and the array of proven components, along with the hydraulic capacity, advanced SensiDrive™ drive-by-wire controls and easy-to-use precision solutions on our Speedrower PLUS Series, customers can expect a faster and more efficient harvest for seasons to come,” Harkenrider adds.

New Holland Agriculture North America first displayed a WSC30 Swather Draper Head along with a Speedrower® 260 PLUS windrower at the 2023 Ag PhD Field Day in Baltic, South Dakota. A combination will also be shown at Dakotafest in Mitchell, South Dakota, August 15-17, and at Husker Harvest Days in Grand Island, Nebraska, September 12-14.