The previous owner of the combine put a brand new wooden raddle chain in the combine, months before he sold it.
When he first told me about the combine, he said he was having problems with the wooden slats breaking on the chain, while working in corn. He said he thought there should be a piece of rubber in there to prevent cobs from rolling under the chain and getting caught under the front lip of the raddle false bottom. I just removed the chain and was planning on using some of the old slats to repair the 6 or 7 broken slats on the new chain. I split the chain at the inspection doors midway up the false bottom. I pulled the top down from the raddle door under the feeder housing, and then attached some twine to the other ends and pulled it out of th ebottom, leaving the twine in to pull it back up through. When I pulled the chain out of the bottom, it was really plugged with corn cobs and all kinds of trash.
Correct me if I am wrong, but there shouldn't be anything under the false bottom on the return side of the chain. I have not seen the machine running to know how the cobs were getting dragged under, but it seems to me that it might have been too loose? I don't know. Is there a piece of rubber on the back end that is supposed to keep the cobs from getting pulled under the false bottom? Does anyone have any experience with this problem? I don't know how much a problem I will have in oats, but I would assume that straw wouldn't give it as many problems as corn cobs. I could be very wrong!
The piece of rubber theory might be sound. I opened the tailings elevator and found that the rubber is worn or broken all the way up to the metal. I planned on getting a mud flap and make a pattern and cut out new rubber, then bolt it in place with some small bolts. I haven't opened the clean grain elevator yet but I would imagine it is not any better. I figured that if the rubber was gone or worn off on the elevators, then it is highly possible to be the same story with any type of rubber on the raddle.
All in all, there is a lot more work on this machine that I would rather not have to do, but I guess it could be worse. The metal isn't worn down, and the rest of the internals look good. I did spend some extra time on the cab which was unnessessary, but worth it to me. I bought a 7 inch color monitor with 2 video inputs and 2 infrared cameras to use as a back-up monitor, and when I get extra time and money, I'll add additional cameras with scrolling lense covers to mount inside the separator so I can watch the machine run. I figured it would be a neat perspective, to see some video where you normally would never put your head when the combine is threashing.
When he first told me about the combine, he said he was having problems with the wooden slats breaking on the chain, while working in corn. He said he thought there should be a piece of rubber in there to prevent cobs from rolling under the chain and getting caught under the front lip of the raddle false bottom. I just removed the chain and was planning on using some of the old slats to repair the 6 or 7 broken slats on the new chain. I split the chain at the inspection doors midway up the false bottom. I pulled the top down from the raddle door under the feeder housing, and then attached some twine to the other ends and pulled it out of th ebottom, leaving the twine in to pull it back up through. When I pulled the chain out of the bottom, it was really plugged with corn cobs and all kinds of trash.
Correct me if I am wrong, but there shouldn't be anything under the false bottom on the return side of the chain. I have not seen the machine running to know how the cobs were getting dragged under, but it seems to me that it might have been too loose? I don't know. Is there a piece of rubber on the back end that is supposed to keep the cobs from getting pulled under the false bottom? Does anyone have any experience with this problem? I don't know how much a problem I will have in oats, but I would assume that straw wouldn't give it as many problems as corn cobs. I could be very wrong!
The piece of rubber theory might be sound. I opened the tailings elevator and found that the rubber is worn or broken all the way up to the metal. I planned on getting a mud flap and make a pattern and cut out new rubber, then bolt it in place with some small bolts. I haven't opened the clean grain elevator yet but I would imagine it is not any better. I figured that if the rubber was gone or worn off on the elevators, then it is highly possible to be the same story with any type of rubber on the raddle.
All in all, there is a lot more work on this machine that I would rather not have to do, but I guess it could be worse. The metal isn't worn down, and the rest of the internals look good. I did spend some extra time on the cab which was unnessessary, but worth it to me. I bought a 7 inch color monitor with 2 video inputs and 2 infrared cameras to use as a back-up monitor, and when I get extra time and money, I'll add additional cameras with scrolling lense covers to mount inside the separator so I can watch the machine run. I figured it would be a neat perspective, to see some video where you normally would never put your head when the combine is threashing.