Shop Work: Care of the Combine

A. Lubrication. Your combine works in dust and chaff and grit often on rough ground and steep hills, and in the hot days of the harvest season.

If you want it to last long and give trouble-free service, you must lubricate it effectively. Your manual shows the parts to be lubricated, tells how often you should lubricate them, and advises what kinds of lubricant to use.

You will need several kinds of lubricants: pressure-gun grease (chassis lubricant) for the grease fittings; oil for the chain links (but in sandy, gritty conditions your chains may last longer if you do not oil them); recommended grades of transmission oil and hydraulic fluids; and the specified oil for the tractor engine.

To help insure proper lubrication, time would be well spent in preparing a lubrication chart and diagram for the combine, such as that shown in owner’s manual.

B. Care of the Combine When Harvest Is Finished. When you finish the season's work, check the condition of your combine to determine whether just a few repairs are needed, which you can take care of yourself, or whether it needs complete reconditioning in the dealer's service shop.

Before you forget, make a list of any indications of troubles or worn parts that you may have noticed during the last few days of use. If you did not use this combine yourself, get a report from the owner or operator.

Clean your machine thoroughly, inside and out. Run it idle long enough to work out all straw, dirt, and chaff. If you leave such residues in they hold moisture and cause rust. Or they may freeze and cause damage. Open the doors and inspection covers so you have good light. Thorough cleaning removes accumulations of weed seeds.

C. Inspect and Test All Units for Wear, Especially the Following:

Reel, reel sprockets, and chains.

Cutter bar: condition of sections, guard plates, and guards. Adjust the guards so that the sickle bears properly on the guard plates. Register the sickle as described in your operator's manual.

Feeder canvases and their slats, or feeder augers.

Cylinder shaft bearings.

Cylinder rasp bars (or teeth, or rubber bars): replace as required.

Straw rack cranks, rocker arms, pitmans.

Grain pan hangers.

Chaffer and chaffer extension.

Sieves and screens and their retainers: clean them well.

Cleaning shoe.

Fan: blades and bearings.

Grain auger and tailings auger.

Tailings elevator: leave the doors open at the bottom of the elevators.

Threshed-grain elevator.

Clean out the bottom of the grain tank and the unloading auger.

Remove all belts; clean them well with water or naphtha; wrap them in burlap and store in a cool dark place.

Clean the chains with kerosene; let them dry and then "paint" them with cylinder oil.

D. Ordering Repair Parts. Order necessary repair parts promptly if you plan to repair your combine at home. If you want the work done by your dealer, notify him at once. His service shop can do the best work for you during the slack season.

Tell the service man all you have found out about the condition of your machine; be sure to report any field troubles you have had.

Store your combine in a tight building, if possible. Block it up to take the weight off the tires. But do not deflate the tires. If you have to leave your combine outside, cover it as well as possible. Block it up level. Remove the wheels and store them inside.

Exercises:

I. Answer the following questions:

1. How are the straw and grain handled in the typical combine?

2. What are the combine mechanisms adjusted for and how?

3. How are the combine mechanisms operated?

4. What parts of the combine should be serviced regularly?

5. What are the advantages of the combine as compared to the binder and a stationary thresher?

6. Does combining have any disadvantages? If so, what are they?

7. Most all combines have a provision for easily and quickly varying the speed of the cylinder. Why? Describe one method.

8. Will a certain cylinder speed always be the correct speed for one particular crop – such as wheat, for instance?

9. Assume that you are having the following troubles: cracked grain, poorly cleaned grain, tailings auger overloaded, unthreshed grain heads, threshed grain goes out with straw. What adjustments would you make to remedy them?

10. For what crops or what conditions would you prefer a combine equipped with a pick-up attachment?