Combines R72 radiator plugging

Start from the radiator mounts and housing and work outwards. Try to find any and all holes around the actual radiator box that would allow chaff and dust to enter from the engine bay and seal. Next, check that the rubber seal around the screen housing for it's condition. Flexible, no dirt in the folds of the seal, making it hard and no gaps or breaks. lock the rotating screen housing into working position. Go all the way around this housing checking for gaps or poor contact of the rubber seal. Some earlier R's screen housings were not adjusted correctly on the upper hinges, leaving a gap of 4-5 mm's at the top. This gap was close to impossible to see and find as we can testify! Also the radiator housing top steel sheet was warped where it nested against the top seal creating gaps in the same location, at the top of the screen housing. This required a piece of RHS to be clamped and welded on the inside of the sheet to keep it flat and straight against the seal. loosen the bolts holding the adjustable slides that act as cut-offs inside the rotating screen. Slide cutoffs out and tighten their bolts until they are a very light push adjustment. The rotating screen may have to be removed from it's shaft to get at these bolts. lock the screen housing down to avoid mal-adjustment here. The cutoff plates should be resting lightly against the rotating screen. With a wire or fine punch through the screen holes, carefully move the cutoffs back away from the screen to give a couple of millimetres clearance. Spin the screen and give it a whack to shake it while rotating to check that it will not rub on cutoff plates. Close clearances here greatly increase the effectiveness of the screen. Tighten the cutoff plates bolts. Hang a piece of 4-500 millimetre wide sheet rubber right along, and under the back of the radiator box, close to the sieves.This helps to keep chaff from the sieves away from the screen. There is another mod or update on the actual rotating screen seal which Hyper or TDan have explained way back in the posts and which I can't recall. Oh for a search engine on this site. I hope all this helps! Cheers and good luck!

G'Day freyboy I know NDDan has some suggestions on his web site in regards to radiator rotary screens and I can highly recommend that you do what he suggests!! also we found that the little cut of plates that are just inside the screen !(You can see them if you stand on a box or drum looking through the screen you can see I think it's five sections that are adjustable!) you need to get them as close as possible and I mean close!!!! you need to take off the rotary screen and loosen up the bolts that hole the cut plates and have them nipped up just enough to so you can just move them smoothly!!! then put the screen back on and with a fine pin punch gently tap them away from the screen so as you have a mm or two gap between the screen and the cut of plates. take screen off and tighten up the cut off plates bolts and re-install the screen. It's one of those job's that need some patients!!! but it's better that rebuilding and engine!!!!! Also do NDDans mods to the area and you find a lot better cooling and a cleaner radiator. after you have done all this, clean the radiator with a pressure washer on low one night after work then do it again next morning as this will help in softening up the crud in the fins and they will come out better second time around. And to the other guy's lurking around here! I have found something that would put us moding of combines to shame!!! I'm hook on RC_helicopters and finding it mind blowing the Modding that some of these blokes go to!! PS Iv only crashed one so far!!(Helicopter that is!!!) (My wife will not let me crash the Header!!!!!!!) Rolf

Hey Rolf, thanks for the additional info about the model helicopter! I have been involved with radio control also(25yrs.) but decided I would stick to fixed wing, helicopters need to much attention(mainteance). Kind of off the subject but couldn't help myself, modelers are a lot like Gleaner people, they all think about their special interests be it models or combines.

Hey Rolf, thanks for the additional info about the model helicopter! I have been involved with radio control also(25yrs.) but decided I would stick to fixed wing, helicopters need to much attention(mainteance). Kind of off the subject but couldn't help myself, modelers are a lot like Gleaner people, they all think about their special interests be it models or combines.

Is the low pressure wash a better solution to cleaning the radiator than airIJ

It's up to you! I like using low pressure washer and slow crank up the pressure if I can, and then wash it out over a couple of day's this way it gives some time for the water and detergent to soak into the dirt then you wash it out again the next day! Water has some weight so it does clean better than air in my opinion, but we still use air every day to blow out the rad after a day's work. (70-80Cu_ft_min) at around 40 psi Once you have got the radiator clean like new it will only take a quick wash to bring it back to clean like new after the end of a season. also be careful of the Alternator after you have washed out with water let every thing dry down a bit before you start the combine up. we service our Alt every year as dust really gets to the bearings were it is!!!! like always you need to be careful of bending over the fins on the Rad other wise it can take forever to bend them back!!! plus the fact you might put a crack in the tubes!!! Rolf

I think it is high time to upgrade my upgrade site. Wish there was more time. I know it wasn't long ago that we discussed this radiator deal but I went way back and can't find. The topic was something else I believe but it led to plugging radiators. I'll go back and comment to the guy what I think he should do.

Gleaner has did a fair job at improving this situation since '98. Most important is to adjust the things the other guys suggested as close as possible. I would describe what we did before Gleaner made the improvements but I think you'ld be better off to have dealer get the kit in Gleaner bulletin engine 0040. If you do what is in that kit and make the adjustments you will be much better off. Also the saw tooth blades got a little wider since '98 which will no doubt help you. Gleaners got a very good system in place now if we could only get them to adjust it all up at the plant. I was in a super big rush to predeliver machines last fall and didn't get to adjusting the inside filler plates. I ended up going out to at least three machines to make the adjustments the first hot windy day. Keep this in mind after installing kit: The front outer striper needs to prevent the chaff that falls out the bottom from going around and needing to get stripped off again. It is very easy to make your own stripper that seals tighter to inner and outer panels and hang it down further. If you prevent straw and chaff from going around and around it has a much less chance of getting sucked in by the saw tooth blades and then into radiator. The radiators in '98 were extremely great at sheding heat but would not let much chaff or straw flow threw. Best of both worlds is a very efficient radiator but you need to keep the junk out. Good luck

We installed a shield to prevent air from beside the machine and engine area from entering the screen. It makes all air come from "outside" which is where I would have my head. Exstended the front cut off down as far as possible without hitting the tire to have chaff drop down and out. Built triangle like cover over the exsterior of the screen in the wind cutoff area which keeps junk from being plastered on the screen on very windy days. We cut out a 3" more or less hole in the bottom flat iron between the radiator and the screen seal. The place where the water ponds and the crap collects when you clean it out. Save the cut out and put a top on it, a handle to reach it easily from the ground and a heavy inverted teepee like thing made of rod on the bottom to make self center and sit in the hole. Then when cleaning we have a drain!