Combines CONE VANES

I did change mine on my 1660 with ones from loewen manufacturing (stainless steel and thicker ones). I did not work with bent ones, but one great man said once, that axial combines with worn wanes are working like big sausage maker, whatever that means...

I still have a ton of good vane left though

I also saw few of them bent when they where inside, decided to change all of them (I bought new set),and when I pulled them out (bit tricky with rotor in, but possible),alomost every one was partially bent somwhere. With rotor in you just can't see everything. With new vanes I got new bolts, and installed them also, cannot imagine what would happen if vane would brake loose during work, even don't want to think about it... Position of vanes if important too, but I set mine in mid position, for corn and bean (std. rotor).

Pull the rotor,and see what you really have inside. Since you are corn and beans,you have plenty of time until harvest.How many hours on the machineIJDo you think the vanes might be originalIJ Vanes are EXTREMElY important in an axial flow.Vanes which are NOT bent over or the edge NOT rounded off. The vanes are like threads that screw the crop through.The rotor is like an agitator.If you are not "progressing" the crop through in an efficient manner,and you keep shoving more in the front end,then it becomes like a sausage stuffer.Rotor constipation really hurts capacity.There are many ways to illustrate.Get the pictureIJ Good luck.When you decide to pull the rotor,check back and the friends here can give you a boat load of advice for convenience and safety.

The machine has 2700 hrs. The cone looks good,butI see the wear bars are up to the blade. They look like there chrome,if that means they have bean replaced.Can I replace the vanes without pulling rotor,sounds and looks like pulling the rotor is alot of work.Dont mind the work I guess. THANK AlOT SO FAR.

If you do pull the rotor, check out Mavs invention. There is some info on it a few threads back. Pulling the rotor is'nt too bad, but the payoffs from pulling it now and makeing sure everything is up to par, can be great.

like most said here, the vanes are important. Make sure they are all in excellent condition. If you decide not to pull the rotor, you can install the vane bolts you can't reach very easily by holding them to the vane with duct tape. Then you can hold the vane by the bottom end, reach up and put them into place and install the nuts. One wrap of tape around the vane won't hurt anything when the vane is bolted into place. By the way, take out all the concaves and separator grates first. Start with the midddle concave and the middle separator grate when removing them. Reinstall in reverse order.