Combines Setting cornhead knives

You're close. The book says to set them 1_32 to 1_16.

West Illini, I'm curious what happened to your 1680 engineIJ I run 1688 and thought it was rare to have to replace a CumminsIJ Thanks CW PS (I agree with the part about a corn eating fool!}

The easiest way in the long run to do much work on the rolls is to tip the corn head up on it's back.Not as big a job as you might think. After that,everthing is so much easier to see and get at without getting dirt all over you. I disconnected each row at the couplers,and then you can put a crescent wrench on that shaft and turn the gearbox so easily.It will be so much easier this way to line the knives up by sight so they don't hit,or you could use a piece of tin as a gauge.Cut and bend it so it will sit in place as the rolls rotate.

wollfman, We didn't tear into it to get the deatails. A little background. THe previous engine had 3069 hrs. Symptoms: blowby seemed excessive but didn't use an abnormal amount of oil and coolant level was steady. At idle it had an (to me) an extra lug, or sound. I chalked it up to the "Cummins sound" as a neighbors older Dodge cummins was the same way. Opening the wheat field in June it started losing power and died, and a check in the rearview mirror was my horror; black and white smoke. What we THINK happend was an injector went bad (remember extra sound, poor combustion) and melted a piston. Didn't take it apart as it had to be together for the exchange for the reman. And the rest is history.

I forgot to add the lesson learned. Put CHECKING THE INJECTORS in the maintainance schedule. With everything else to check the engine can easily be forgotten.