The art of combine maintenance:

The importance of replacing worn components on a combine harvester cannot be overemphasised. Worn components result in poor combine performance, reducing profits. For example, up to 80 percent of crop loss can occur at the platform or header area of the combine. Whether you’re harvesting wheat, barley, rice, soybeans, corn, grain-sorghum, or other crops, proper cutterbar or gatherer unit maintenance and regular replacement of worn parts will reduce loss and increase profits.

Feeding, threshing, and separating performance is reduced if maintenance and replacement of worn parts are not done at the proper time. Poor feeding of material to the threshing area can cause plugging, which can result in cylinder drive component failure or incomplete threshing.

Worn threshing components cause incomplete threshing or grain damage when cylinder speed is increased to compensate for worn components. Worn material-handling components, such as augers and elevator paddles, can result in reduced combine productivity.

Imagine this. You just started combining your first field of the year, and everything is going smoothly. Then an alarm signal goes off in your combine. After inspecting the machine, you realize you don’t have enough expertise to fix the problem yourself and must call your combine dealer. Waiting impatiently for the service person, you decide that you need to enhance your combine repair skills.

After logging nearly 2,400 hrs. a year on their three combines, father and son custom harvesters have become experts on combine maintenance. To enhance their expertise and save money, they also overhaul their combines in the winter to ensure they will run well for the next six-month harvest season.

Regular routine. The Squireses conduct a regular combine maintenance routine. They have found that servicing in the morning works best because they have a clear look at the machines and can find potential problems, such as bearings that are out or cracks in critical parts. Some people might suggest servicing at night while the combines are warm, but then it is harder to see potential problems. that, if you service at night, make sure you have plenty of lights shining on the combine so that you can see its parts in detail.

Service regimen. The most important steps in maintenance are greasing all the zerks, checking the air filters for cleanliness and adjusting the chains for tightness.

Every morning, they grease all 10- and 25-hr. zerks. They also fill the machines with fuel, check both engine and hydraulic oil levels, and check the radiators to see if they are full of water. When combining soybeans, they also empty the rock traps every day. Every two days they check the air filters for cleanliness, grease 50-hr. zerks and check chain tensions, especially the feeder house chains.

Duties that need to be performed only a once a week include checking air pressure in the tires and emptying the rock traps when combining crops other than soybeans.

Always on the lookout for signs of possible problems, such as bearings that are completely out and cracks in the shoes, shaker pans or walkers. "Checking walkers is important because they are not built heavy enough for as much as they shake," other parts that tend to wear out over time include bearings, chains, belts, sprockets, sickle sections and injector lines. But wear on these parts can easily be caught by visual inspection. And don’t forget about the headers, the Squireses warn, because the combine can’t do anything if you can’t get the crop into it.

Always makes sure he has a grease gun in the field. Also needs a wrench set and a socket set. Adam says that he uses the generator/welder a lot to fix breakdowns or patch problems. He also believes an air compressor is essential because it allows them to use air tools whenever possible to reduce downtime. Smaller tools that he wouldn’t go to the field without are a crescent wrench and a good set of metric wrenches.

Just as important as tools for the job are spare parts. Parts that are always in their service truck are 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 an ample supply of welding rod are also essential.

Other important, although less obvious, tools that are always in the service truck are the combine manual, which explains how to take parts off, fix them and put them back together, and a parts catalog with the parts and their corresponding numbers.

Winter maintenance

"The key to having a successful harvest season begins with wintertime maintenance in the shop," "Go through our combines ourselves because it’s cost-efficient. It’s much cheaper than having your dealer go through it because you save money on labor. Plus, we can afford to spend more time per combine because the dealers have more combines to go over during the winter and they may rush through them."

To begin the two- to three-week process, first clean the combines with a power wash and wax. Next"try to check for key things by running the machine for an hour in the shop, feel for bearings to see if they feel warm, and look for cracks in belts. Then we climb inside and take a look at everything." If they aren’t completely sure how something goes together or if something seems to be missing.

Winter maintenance checklist

If you have decided to perform your own combine inspection this winter, start with this partial checklist covering the major parts of a combine. You can also check with your service manager for a complete checklist.

• Wash and wax.
• Check all lights.
• Tighten all belts as needed.
• Look for cracks in the belts.
• Check all chains for tightness and wear.
• Check feeder house chains.
• Check elevator chains.
• Replace all chains every other year.
• Check all bearings for signs of fatigue.
• Fix any problems from harvest.
• Check the feeder house floor for wear. It may need to be replaced or rebuilt.
• Check the concave for excess wear.
• Inspect the cylinder bars for straightness and wear.
• Check the conveyor auger bearings for wear and dryness.
• Check fountain and unloading augers for wear.
• Look inside walkers.
• Check walkers and walker bearings for cracks and general wear, or check the rotors. Look for excess wear and check the alignment and bearings.
• Check the total condition of the straw chopper (hammers, knives, shell, rotor). Is the chopper properly balanced or does it shake excessively?
• Weld any and all cracks.