Combines F2 Maintance

1. Crankcase oil and filter 2. Air Filter 3. Hydrostat oil and filter 4. Transmission and final drive oil level 5. radiator fan belt 6. Chopper knives should be square on cutting side 7. Auger fingers and guides 8. Grease nipple- Use owners guide. There is a grease nipple inside the feeder beater. 9. Reelpipe bearings-These are two-piece neophreme 10. Cutter bar sections and guards 11. Wearplates and holddown clips on cutter bar 12. Raddle chain tension 13. Elevator chains(wear and tension) 14. Check all belts and chain. 15. Make sure radiator is not plugged with dirt.(Engine will run hot) 16. Find another farmer who has a similiar machine to walk around it with you. He will point out many other things for you to check and adjust.

Hey Steve Excellent advice, especially n16. Everybody who has a combine should post your list on the shop wall. Tom in MN

Steve, How sharp should the chopper knives beIJ Mine are very dull and have a rounded edge. Thanks for the pointers!

They need to be vise-gripped together in 3's and the edges flattened and the corners should be returned to the original angle of 110 or 120 degrees, I can't remember that one for sure, by grinding equally or totally replacing with new. If you don't keep them in sets and grind equally or have it professionally done the chopper will come off the back of the combine, in not such a nice manner. Not a pretty picture, luckily not mine!

Hey Eric, the chopper blades should be pretty much square. look at the other side of the knives and see if they have ever been turned over. If they have not, you have hit the jackpot. Turn 'em over and you should get several years out of them. If you leave the rounded-off knives in, you are likely to get a bad choke-up that can ruin your straw walkers. If you are trying to save money(aren't we all) and both sides of your knives are well worn, you can sharpen them. You have to use one of the knives as the pattern for all the rest. You clamp the pattern to the next one to be sharpened together in a vise. Be careful when you grind the knives that you don't get the metal too hot and lose your temper.(I mean the metal temper, not your temper. I'm sure that when you grind your knuckle instead of the knife, you will lose your temper.) If you fail to grind the knives uniformly, your chopper will vibrate and(this is the truth)it will cause your fuel tank to rupture

Try making a jig utilizing the hole in the blade and then the flat edge on the bottom of the hammer, as I call it. Use the washer_ bushing as the center for the upper hole. Use a piece of flat iron flush against the bottom edge. Connect these with a piece of flat iron positioned to give a uniform angle similarl to what was spoken about. Mark this line and take them to the local black smith shop which has a metal shear and have him snip them. If they are worn too far reverse or discard them. After snipping both sides the hammer tends to not work as well as it does not have enough mass to hang in there. This can be overcome somewhat by moving the stationery knives down and aft (navy talk for back) to a position where they are vertical. This allows the hammers to engage the material and get it accelerated more before it encounters the knives. This low cost mod makes that chopper a real screamer particularly with new hammers