Combines flexplate on 9700

Sry cant help ya, but i was wondering what the performance is with that machine and how big of cornhead do you runIJ

We easily run a 8 row head, but in real wet conditions the combine is short of HP, for how much it weighs.

We have a 1980 model 9700 that still has the orignal updated shaft in it. The 8590 we have has broken one shaft about three years ago, if it happens again I think we will have a heavier plate built for it.

We have never broken a shaft, but have had the pully work loose on the shaft and eat both up. Our problem is breaking flexplates around the inner bolt holes.

I worded that wrong about the shaft breaking, ours broke out around the bolt holes in the center of the plate. I know of several guys that have built heavier plates for the older cylinder machines. We have never had any problems with the pulley's coming loose. We had Terry modify and rebuild our rotor, we were just getting ready to try it on some beans when the rains came.

Father and I discussed having a heavier plate cut with a cnc plasma cutter. Can't decide how much thicker it could be before it isn't a flex plate anymore. Bought this machine used around 88 or 89, Didn't have a problem for a long time, then after the first plate broke then couldn't get more than two years out of one after that.

One thing I failed to mention was that it did not start to eat flexplates until after the fire that almost totaled the combine. Father had it insured for more than he actually paid for it. Not sure if that was good or bad.

Had no luck with heavier flex plates. They are suppose to flex and if they can't they will fail the center mounts. We had a ring made from the old flex plates about 1" wide and bolted between the plate and the mounting surface at the outer set of bolts. Plate no longer fails. Have lots of parts and experience with 9700_8590 machines. If you want more info post your email and I will contact you directly.

boy have I been there before,there are a bunch of things we tried when ours kept going,-thicker plates,new cover,pilot bushings,bearings,plate spacer,new style flywheel and shaft,balanced pulley,on and on.it got so bad at the end the plates only lasted 10-20 hrs.to make a long story short it had spun the rear main bearing and we ran 3 years trying to fix the drive.motor ran and sounded fine,I cant believe the crank never broke.