Combines repairs per acre

I'll say it again, been running walker machines since 95's to 9660's and never changed a walker!

Chuck: good to hear from another kansan...and yeah it is interesting but are farming practices are just diffrent is the majority of it. We are on a corn wheat rotation on the irrigated side and milo wheat or milo oat rotation on the dryland side 100% no till for over 10 years. Some days I wish we still ran walkers some days I praise the STS. There are still a lot of JD walkers in our area. More and more STS's every year. It is probably 70% JD 20% Case and any thing else after that.

Sorry for not answering your question sooner, Chuckm! I combine about 400 acres of heavy winter wheat per year; - meaning that we tend to sow a heavier seed population than most neigboring farmers. I use the flexhead so there is an incredible amount of "trash" going through the machine. In addition, I combine 1600 acres of 135-160 bushel corn and about 1100 acres of 55-75 bushel soybeans.

Yes, it is a small world.

This is so puzzling. As always, peoples individual experiences can be so night and day different that you can never explain it.

HOW MANY WAlKERS ARE TORN UP DUE TO EXCESSIVE SEPERATOR SPEEDIJOVERSPEED WIll DESTROY THEM ABT AS FAST AS ANYTHING. THAT WAS THE CASE MOST TIMES WE CHANGED THEM.

I think that along with excessive GOUND speed in rough terrain is also to blame. I think in alot of cases there may be an operator in the combine that is just listening to the radio and driving along without a care in the world!

I don't buy into the "overspeed" as a cause of walkers breaking. Overspeed of the separator does not occur often since separator speed is directly related to engine RPM, which is set in that 2200 to 2300 RPM range. Engine (2200 rpm) to walker speed (180 RPM) represents a 12.2 to 1 direct speed reduction through the fixed gearcase and fixed pulley drive systems. There is no variable speed drives to give an opportunity to create overspeeding of walkers above 180 RPM on a JD. And you sure don't find 9500 engines running over 2500 RPM out there. If the chopper ever plugs and the walkers plug up, then it is likely that the rear crank could be bent and this could cause repeat walker failures. Be sure to use proper tightening and turnover sequence when installing new walkers or blocks.

I had the chopper drive idler go out on my 4400 doing clover seed one year. The walker slip clutch did not let go untill after it had ripped all 4 walkers right in half. I'll tell you what, I never though you could turn a combine into a hay baler untill that day. Not fun to pull that clover out of the back. After that I found a shaft monitor at a salvage yard and put it in my machine. As far as FR's comments, most of the Deere dealers around me do have a number of wrecked walkers in their scap piles behind their buildings. My guess is either they had chopper plugs or were run with loose walker bearings.

combinejockey i'm from greece DEUTZFAHR combine driver and i do this from kid. I can't understand you very well, please help me.