Donate a corn head or grain platform without the combine

Where donated heads come from

Farms that changed combine brands. Heads are not universally interchangeable and a brand switch leaves the old heads stranded even though they are in good order.

Operations that changed row spacing or crops. A thirty-inch corn head is the wrong tool on twenty-inch rows.

Estates and farms that stopped harvesting their own acres and went to a custom operator.

On a trailer, on its cart if it has one

A head goes on a step-deck or a drop-deck trailer, and it travels much more easily if it is already on its own header cart. Giving Center arranges and covers it.

Tell us whether it is on a cart, and send the cart with it if you are not keeping it. A head with its transport cart sells better and moves cheaper.

Give us the width and the row count, and the overall width on the cart. A twelve-row corn head is an over-dimension load and needs the same permit planning as a tractor.

What decides what a head brings

• What combine it fits. The first filter for every buyer. Give us the make and the mounting, because a head that fits a common current combine is worth far more than one that fits an orphaned machine.
• Row count and spacing, or platform width. The defining spec.
• Wear items. On a corn head: snout condition, gathering chains, stalk rolls and knife rolls. On a platform: cutterbar knife sections, the reel, the auger and the draper belts.
• Chopping or non-chopping. A chopping corn head is worth meaningfully more in most markets.
• Cart and any adapters. Both add, and an adapter that lets the head fit another brand is genuinely valuable.

Makes we accept

Fitment is everything, so name the combine brand as well as the head.

• Corn heads: John Deere 600C, 700C and the older 600 and 900 series, Case IH 2400, 3200, 4400 and 4200 series, Drago and Drago GT, Geringhoff RotaDisc and NorthStar, Claas, New Holland 98C and 980CR.
• Grain platforms and drapers: John Deere 600F, 600FD, 700D and RD series, Case IH 2020, 2060, 3020 and 3152, MacDon FD1 and FD2, Honey Bee, New Holland 74C and Varifeed, Shelbourne stripper heads.
• Carts and adapters: Unverferth, J&M, E-Z Trail, Duo Lift header carts, and Maurer and Harvest adapters.

Manufacturer names appear here so you can find your own machine. No manufacturer sponsors, endorses or is affiliated with this program.

The paperwork, and what you can deduct

Farm equipment is not titled. Ownership is established with the purchase invoice, a bill of sale, a farm asset record, or a lien release if it was financed. Find the serial plate and photograph it. If the machine is part of an estate or a farm partnership, whoever signs needs authority to sign for it.

Giving Center sells the head and your deduction is the gross sale proceeds on Form 1098-C. A late-model chopping corn head or a good draper platform clears $5,000 readily, which brings the qualified appraisal requirement and Form 8283 Section B at your expense. An older head in usable condition usually lands between $500 and $5,000, where Section A applies.

If you are donating several heads together, each is itemized and similar items are grouped for the IRS thresholds. Most farm equipment is a depreciated business asset, which makes a conversation with your accountant worth having before the pickup. Farm business property follows different rules than a personal donation.