Drawback to them is they don't flex as well since it is just a rigid platform with a couple of hinges. Still quite a few moving parts but way more reliable and less daily maintenance. It is nearly twice as wide and can cut up to 6 mph. I havee a 974 macdon 36' now and as far as saving beans it is just as good as a row crop. The good is that they flex very well and fairly cheap. Lots of grease point daily, open gears that drive the unit, lots of bearings, snoots to bend, will not cut short if you are off the row more than a couple of inches, can't open up a field without leaving some, and I was limited to 4.5-5mph bbecause it couldn't cut the beans off any faster. If I adjusted them in the morning it would be loose enough by dark this would still happen. Had to adjust the knives right before dark every evening or they would not clean themselves enough to cut good and start dragging up. I used to run row crop JD 853A and the daily maintenance was bad.
