Combines cleaner grain

[Old_Pokey]

I've ran into that problem many times in the past. My solution is to slow the rotor down to cut down on the fines and cracks, close the concave with at least the front one and half the second one blanked off to "rub" the grain out of the hull. Then use your judgement for cleaning settings. One other thing I do in this situation is to cut a little lower, to use a little more straw as a cusion for the grain to rub against. I know this slows you down slightly but its worth it if it cuts down on the dockage at the broker. I dont know if you have converted to long seive or not, but if you have three sections on the chaffer and are running the paddle fan at high speed, it helps to close the very front section to almost closed. This is only my suggestion, I know it works for me, I hope it might help you.

 

[Old_Pokey]

I've ran into that problem many times in the past. My solution is to slow the rotor down to cut down on the fines and cracks, close the concave with at least the front one and half the second one blanked off to "rub" the grain out of the hull. Then use your judgement for cleaning settings. One other thing I do in this situation is to cut a little lower, to use a little more straw as a cusion for the grain to rub against. I know this slows you down slightly but its worth it if it cuts down on the dockage at the broker. I dont know if you have converted to long seive or not, but if you have three sections on the chaffer and are running the paddle fan at high speed, it helps to close the very front section to almost closed. This is only my suggestion, I know it works for me, I hope it might help you.

 

[cabbageman]

i forgot to mention that this is soft white wheat running 40 bu. i am cutting higher than normal because of green material down lower this year with all of our wet weather. this is the shorter shieve.i'll try slowing the rotor some more. thanks

 

[Old_Pokey]

Ah yes, the ol' cut higher than normal routine.(gotaluvit) I;ll assume you are running the standard rotor with three impellers and knives. And if you're running keystock grates you probly have the serrated stripper barsIJ And at 4.5 mph you are probly at the cuttter bars mercy. Well, if the straw is that tough then the impeller knives and bearing kidney play a more important role than ever. Even in short straw wheat. If you have time, or if you havent already done so, sharpen the knives or install new ones and set them staight and true to the kidney. Dont go much closer than .030", or they may touch when machine is loaded. This will reduce the amount of horsepower needed to get the grain through the cone. And it will quiet the combine down a little. Now if you can run any faster ground speed to load the combine heavier it will act more like you are are used too when you cut lower. Just curious, how do you determine what a full combine isIJ I use the rotor tach, and run a 50 rpm drop from emty speed to loaded. Now on the short seive, again, if you have the time and desire, try clamping a strip of sheet metal across the tines that stick out on the sawback. Only about 4 inches is needed to get the grain and chaff a little further back on the chaffer before it drops onto it. This will help keep the grain from getting into the fan when you open the setting further. If you need to open it that is. To me 1_4 inch sounds kind of tight at 800 rpm fan. Also, just curious, what transport van settings are you usingIJ

 

[Farm_Kid2]

When you say hulls and fines, do you mean unthreshed hulls with a kernal of wheat in them, or just the huskIJ If it is just the husk, that means your fan is not keeping the light material suspended. There's no way for the light material to get in the grain tank unless it falls through both sieves. With an even blast of air from the fan, this light material will float out the rear of the machine suspended above the chaffer. Here's a link to the fix.

 

[Old_Pokey]

Yes the air deflector works well with small diameter chevron style fan, but I have'nt heard if cabbageman is running the paddle fan or not. I'm going to assume the term hulls refers to unthreshed grain. What some refer too as white caps. With the old paddle fan, the speed of the fan and air cutoff point clearence make all the difference in the air pattern across the seives. Also the short seive uses a different air pattern than the long ones. One other important thing is the air stop at tail end of the chaffer. Some older machines did'nt come with this. It is simply a piece of rubber bolted to the bottom of the chaffer and let down to seal against the shoe inspection door. This stops the air from escaping out the rear and forces it up through the seives. Actually its a two piece setup if you buy it from the dealer but you get the idea. Also if its still the older style sawback. it probly has the short fingers on it. The short fingers dont seperate the tougher chaff and grain as well when it drops onto the chaffer, which can cause more work for the shoe, when the material drops through before the air blast can get it suspended. Again, if its the paddle fan, the end caps on the fan housing can be cut open to allow more air volume in so you can run less speed which evens out the pattern across the seives. Again, I'm making a lot of assumptions. But from the initial posting it sounded like the machine is running too far under capacity which causes the adjustments to be of less value. The machine is sized to run at a certain material load and will act quite inconsistant when ran too far under capacity or too far over it.

 

[cabbageman]

rotor drops just 20-30 rpm so i guess i'm not full.transport vanes are advanced,standard rotor with straight bar. this is the paddle fan,it has the short sawback and the airstop seal.the straw isn't tough,thrashing is easy,but i have too muchin the returns. empty hulls and pieces of weed stems end up in the grain tank.thanks for all the ideas. oh what is the kidneyIJ

 

[Farm_Kid2]

I've only run the deflector with the long shoe size 80, but it is my understanding that the developer of the device used it extensively on the short shoe 80's with the old style fan. That combination is supposed to work very well with the deflector. From my experience, the factory setup gives you way too much air at the front of the chaffer. The lack of air at the rear of the chaffer lets the light material fall through. The long shoe and the new style fan just makes the problem worse.

 

[Farm_Kid2]

The empty hulls can practically be eliminated with the air deflector. Do you have a grain loss monitorIJ If you do, turn the fan up until you start blowing grain out the back. If you can adjust the front of the chaffer down independently, that may help. I've heard of people covering the front 10"-12" of chaffer with cardboard or tin to block the jet of air, but I'm not sure how well that works.

 

[Old_Pokey]

Sorry. The kidney is just slang for the front rotor bearing support. Its shaped sort of like a kidney bean. Ok, so the hulls are empty then. My mistake. local terminology used here is different. Has the fan housing intake holes been enlargedIJ What is your return full ofIJ lite chaff and stemsIJ or some clean grain and unthreshed kernelsIJ What have the results been so far from any changes you've madeIJ