Keep on rolling
Avoid costly combine breakdowns by following a common-sense maintenance schedule, writes
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
COMBINES have been turning into the first fields of winter barley in the southern half of the country, and spring crops are also quickly ripening.
It’s a busy and testing time of the year for harvest machinery, with long hours in the field sure to throw up some unwanted surprises in terms of breakdowns. This week we look at some common sense pointers for keeping combines on the move.
KEEP A ROUTINE
Once the harvest starts the aim should be a regular combine maintenance routine.
Carrying out this well-rehearsed routine in the morning rather than at night (with the exception of cleaning off the chaff and dust) works best for a couple of reasons; you have good light that is sufficient to have a clear look at the machine in order to find potential problems like worn bearings or cracked parts.
The other benefit is that the combine will be cooler and easi- er to work around than it would be after a long day in the fields.
Some operators argue that for certain jobs, for example greasing, the grease will travel more effectively in around warm bearings than cold ones.
This is a fair point, but the main thing to remember is to get into the habit of doing all the vital checks at a given time in the day to help you remember them all.
DAILY CHECKS
The most important steps in maintenance are greasing all the nipples, checking the air filters for cleanliness and adjusting the chains for tightness. Every morning, you should grease all 10 hour nipples. A good habit to get into is doing a couple of related jobs in one sequence.
For example, when filling the machines with fuel, check both engine and hydraulic oil levels, and then check the radiators to see if they have sufficient water — critical during these long, hot days.
Stone traps do not necessarily need to be checked every day if the crop is generally clean, but in modern combines access is simple so it is worth taking the 10 seconds needed to have a look.
The header needs to be checked daily for any serious damage to the knives, skids or fingers.
The wobble box should be getting a full inspection in a pre-season maintenance programme at your local dealer or in your own garage.
A wobble box working for around 200 hours per season will generally last for anything from eight to ten years depending on the operator.
TWO DAY CHECKS
Every two days you should check the air filters for cleanliness, grease any 25-hour nipples or 50-hour nipples, and check chain tensions — especially the feeder house chains. On some machines the feeder house chains sit on pieces of timber that look similar to roof slats.
Over time, the chains can wear into these timbers with the result being the chains can slacken.
As well as monitoring the chains for slackness, the timbers themselves will need to be replaced periodically so keep a close eye on them. Watch out for broken or bent chain reels on the intake as well.
Duties that need to be performed once a week include emptying the stone traps when combining trouble free crops.
Other common parts that tend to wear out over time include bearings, chains, belts, sprockets, sickle sections and injector lines. A good visual inspection is key.
Check belt tensions for wear and tear. How do you know if a belt is slack?
First of all, switch off the engine if you are doing any hand inspections.
You should only be able to get half a twist by hand on a belt that is properly tensioned. If you can twist a belt all the way around, 360 degrees, it needs to be tensioned to prevent excessive wearing and subsequent replacement cost.
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
A lot of contractors these days have service vans in which they carry all their tools and spare parts.
A number of grease guns, a wrench set and a socket set are three essentials. A generator/ welder combination is also useful to patch up small problems.
To minimise downtime in the field parts that should be kept in stock include a full set of belts for the combine; a belt-tightener pulley; connector links, half links and chains; sickle sections and guards for the cutterbar; drive chains for the heads; and fingers for the header auger.
Engine and hydraulic oil, assorted bearings, bolts and nuts, and a supply of welding rods are useful too.