Combines Straw Chopper BlADES

[whitecattlefarmer]

check out shoup parts at www.shoupparts.com they have replacement knives for mf choppers at a cost of $14.95 us per kit and the kit includes 3 knives, 3 bolts, 3 bushings, and 3 lock nuts.

 

[snipe]

check out loewen mfg in altona manitoba 33.00 cdn for 3 blades bolts and bushings

 

[height]

We got chopper knives from T.H.E. Company out of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa for our 550. Not sure of the price, but I know they were far cheaper than MF. Their website is .

 

[Joe]

I believe loewen also has beveled_sharpened blades that will really do a excellent job of chopping, and likely reduce horse power requirements.

 

[Roy]

Give Mike at Walco Equipment in Elmira a call. They sell the loewen blades.

 

[sidewinder]

If you have a choice between loewen and alagro or all agro (something like that) take the all agro... they are cut rather than stamped out and they pivot alot better in the bushings (ive got both types in my chopper)... Dont forget to balance the rotor afterwards otherwise ull shake the back of that massey apart. I did my 760 last year... hammers, knives, bearings, and balanced for about a $1000 in manitoba... just my 2 cents, Ed

 

[Mav]

Cookie Jar, I know you have probably done this, but just in case you haven't, the blades can be turned around if the other edge is still good. Also, balance the chopper after all the blades have been put on. For some reason Massey placed more blades on one side of the assembly (at least for an 860 or 760 chopper). If it starts vibrating after some time, then it will require rebalancing.

 

[cookie_jar]

I phoned a few more MF dealers, and found much lower quotes for genuine MF parts on the old part number 837 030 M92. The lowest price of $324cdn for the set, including bushings, bolts and locknuts came from a dealer who had them in stock. So that's the way I went, as the price was lower than the after-market prices I was quoted. It's funny, that usually the parts prices from different Massey dealers are within pennies of each other, though never exactly the same, and other times they are miles different, as in this case, from $1103 to $324. You've caught my attention on balancing. My MF750s blades are in 3 rows: 2 rows of 12 and 1 row of 11. You cannot balance them statically, as the blades swing freely, unless you weigh each individual blade, and try to distribute them evenly. Custom dynamic balancing sounds expensive, and I wouldn't know whwere to turn. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[sidewinder]

Just talk to a couple machine shops... It involves taking the rotor out of the chopper.. while you have it out do bearings too (had bearing go makes a mess). If the chopper isnt balanced, even a little bit out, it will start to crack all the sheet metal around the bolts on the back end of the combine and around where the body narrows at the bottom for the sieves. If ignored long enough you wont have to worry about having a chopper on the combine. an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. balance the chopper and you wont regret not doing it later. that would be my 2 cents, Ed

 

[Mav]

cookie jar, We balance our choppers statically using little strips of metal, a welder, and some common sense. This is lengthy and might be hard to follow so bear with me, I will try to explain it as clearly as possible, it may take more than one reading, but I hope the idea will become clear. All I am trying to do is convey common sense and not so much the procedure. 1) Again, make sure you have all the new blades, bolts, bushings, nuts, and etc. installed. Also, make sure the assembly is free from any dirt that might cause an imbalance. 2) Position the assembly in a stable orientation. This involves placing one row of blades directly underneath the assembly or in other words, the bottom row of blades are hanging straight down. 3) Position all the blades in the other top two rows where they hang off to the side. (The top of the assembly should seem flat. Or in other words, the top rows of blades should be as far from one another as possible) 4) Make certain the blades on the bottom row hang straight down (not off to one side). 5) Now rotate the assembly just a little in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. let go and allow it to oscillate to a stop. The idea is to find where the assembly comes to a rest without disturbing the position of the blades. 6) This next step is where you have to use some common sense and decide what would work best for you. Im not positive how we marked the assemblys orientation, but I think we placed a level along the top of the assembly (across two fastening brackets) and noted the position of the bubble. The important thing is to keep from rotating the assembly to attain a good measurement. 7) Then we rotated the assembly 1_3 of a turn (120 or 2*pi_3 radians),and placed the blades into positions that will make the assembly look exactly as it did before (in other words, the current bottom row of blades should be hanging straight down, and the current top two rows of blades hanging off to the sides). 8) Again rock the assembly and let it oscillate to a stop. 9) And again, place the level across the top of two brackets and note the position of the bubble. If the assembly is out of balance, then it will not come to rest in the same position according to the bubble on the level. To clarify, as the assembly oscillates to a rest, it will tend to be rotated to the heavier row of blades. 10) Again rotate the assembly 1_3 of a turn and perform all the steps above to determine the assemblys orientation after it oscillates to a stop. 11) Using simple logic you need add weight (we use little strips of metal 1_8 think, 1_2 wide, and 1 long) to the lighter side of the assembly. We just tack weld them onto the tube so they can be ground off if need be. Here is a summary of the idea. When one row of blades (whether they are significantly heavier or not heavier than the other two rows of blades) is placed directly underneath the assembly, they (the row of blades on the bottom) do not contribute to the rotation the assembly (Note: in theory they will, but the amount they contribute to the rotation is negligible when compared to the amount of rotation the top two rows of blades contribute). This allows the top two rows of blades to be directly compared to each other in terms of their weight. For example, if the assembly seems to come to rest in an orientation favoring clockwise (to the right),then the row of blades on the top right side are heavier than the row of blades one on the top left side. This will always be the case even if the bottom row is the heaviest of all rows. When everything is in balance, the assembly should rock to the same orientation for all of the three rotated positions. Now, I want to state that you will most likely not get everything perfect. The important thing is to get everything as close as possible. Also, from our experience, the chopper is usually well balanced with a set of new blades. It is very seldom that we do add or take off weight. We have always had good luck with our chopper bearings so I would like to think that this method is appropriate. Im sorry for my lengthy explanation. I hope it makes sense and Good luck!