Patent ID: 8919086

Claim:
A method of harvesting corn in a field using a corn header mounted to a forward end of a combine, the corn header having a pivotal first wing and a pivotal second wing, each wing having an outer end and an inner end, each wing having a plurality of forwardly extending snouts transversely spaced between the outer end and the inner end, the corn header having: a first position in which the outer end and the inner end of the first wing and the outer end and the inner end of the second wing are aligned along a substantially horizontal plane; a second position in which the first wing and the second wing are pivoted with respect to the horizontal plane such that the outer ends of the first and second wings are above the inner ends of the respective first and second wings; a third position in which the first wing and the second wing are pivoted with respect to the horizontal plane such that the outer ends of the first and second wings are below the inner ends of the respective first and second wings; the method comprising: positioning each of the plurality of transversely spaced, forwardly extending snouts of each of the first and second wing between adjacent rows of corn stalks in the field to be harvested; harvesting the corn in the field by advancing the combine forwardly through the field; actuating a hydraulic actuator coupled to said first and second wings to selectively position the corn header in the first position, the second position and the third position while harvesting the corn in the field so as to maintain a desired distance between a ground elevation and each of the plurality of snouts of the first and second wings as the ground elevation changes as the combine advances through the field; and wherein, as the combine advances through the field harvesting the corn, the corn header strips corn ears from the corn stalks passing between each of the plurality of transversely spaced, forwardly extending snouts of each of the first and second wings when the corn header is selectively positioned in each of the first, second and third positions.