Gleaner 315 head, blow it up!!!

Joe Pro

Member
Spent literally all weekend combining soybeans with my M2 and 315 head.
WHAT A HEADACHE!!

The 315 head is the absolute biggest piece of crap I have ever been within 100 feet of, I think I would rather have a set of JD plows.

It will not feed beans, it slugs them and they plug the feeder beater.
If the beans are very tall it will feed them okay, but short beans forget it.
I put 100 new reel fingers on it Saturday morning and they are cut off back to 3 inches long again!
What am I missing? Is there anything I can do to dramatically help?
I cut a lot of beans with it and was constantly getting out to unplug the beater.

I only have 10 acres of beans to go, but I would love to cut it without getting out every 100 feet.
I'm thinking a series 2 head, but I don't think they are a flex head or maybe a JD 215 or something.
 
Like said I have seen the flighting be worn to a sharp edge and cause feeding issues, if that is not it maybe your auger is set too high above the header floor?
cnt
 
The auger seems fine to me.
The beans accumulate on the floor before the auger until they reel can pick up a huge wad of them and they get plugged between the auger and feeder beater.
 
I am completely unfamiliar with your 315 head, so I cannot offer much with respect to that head. I remember in 1993 when we had a very poor crop from the cold, wet growing season. The soybeans were short that year and we had a 7700 Deere combine with a 220 flex head. It was equipped with automatic header height control and we added the Dial-a-matic. The reel had steel tines, but the reel was set to "bottom out" just above the cutter bar, so it was impossible to get the tines into the cutter bar. I knew a lot of others who did not have their head set up like that to prevent cutting off the tines on the reel. We were constantly bumping the header lift down to force the soybeans into the auger. It was pretty much an entire fall of feeding "wads" of soybeans into the machine. Just hoped the "wads" on each end of the platform did not come in all at once, otherwise the chance of having a plugged feederhouse were pretty good. We did grind the edge of the auger flighting squared to help feed them into the machine. I know this helped some. We also cut diagonally while taking less of a full width of the head to drive faster and help force feed them into the machine. In the most recent years and a newer combine, we have found that new rasp bars are more aggressive in "pulling" the crop mat into the cylinder of the machine, too. The "slugs" coming in and plugging the feederhouse in the current machine seem to be quite a bit less as compared to before replacing the rasp bars.
 
Move your reel back towards the auger, and adjust your reel cylinders so they are about an inch above the bar, withe the bar in it's highest position. Little tweaks will make that head perform, cut with one for 15 years.
 
I know the feeling Joe. Like Big Orange said, move the reel back in to the auger. Maybe even drill new holes so it goes in more and just misses the auger. Hang some rubber flaps on the reel that brush the knife. The rubber hose bolted down behind the knife is a good idea too.
Check the shim washers between the feeder beater slip clutch so it's not slipping too easily
 
John, You need to, A ,grind your auger flighting square, and B, shove the reel foreward about 3 holes and lower the reel ( I assume you have reel height control on the console)with the fingers just tipping the dirt in front of the sickle bar. WE ARE RUNNING A 315 ON OUR F2 and are more than pleased with feeding. DON'T SLAM A PRODUCT until human F/U's are eliminated;YOU!!
 
They are a good header. Do what the other fellows have said. As well, if you see a wad of beans gathering on the Cutter bar, just touch the header down slightly. This will move the Cutter bar closer to the reel tips momentarily and allow the reel to sweep them in. Ben
 
U may need to check the reel and see how its tilted, to bring the crop in to the auger.Some time you have to change it from cutting wheat to beans so the crop feeds better.
 
That's why he needs to push the reel OUT at least 2 holes in the arm supports to get the teeth OUT of the sickle!!
 
IF THE OP(JOE) HAS LODGED AND DOWN BEANS< THERE IS NO WAY IN THE WORLD HE CAN PICK THEM UP WITH THE REEL TICKING THE AUGER AND NOT THE MATT OF BEANS 15" IN FRONT OF SICKLE BAR!! JUST WENT THROUGH THIS SUNDAY BEFORE THE RAIN SET IN !!
 
Countless others have used that same combo....you need to adjust. If you"re cutting off fingers, your reel is in the wrong place...that"s one of the things you check before going to the field...bottom out the header while running it, and make sure there is clearance...the header is not a bad product, but you need to set everything accordingly. Read the book, adjust all of the variables accordingly. The 315 head is not the problem....
 
(quoted from post at 16:57:21 10/24/17) SORRY, MEANT TO TYPE JOE!! FOR THE LOVE OF G#$, DO NOT PULL THE REEL BACK TO THE AUGER!!!
ou pull the reel back to the auger and change your reel cylinder mount position so you get the reel close to the cutter bar but not into it. He cuttig reel tines off now, and still not feeding short beans, reel is too low and too far away.
 
I had an F3 Gleaner with a 315 and it was a great header...I cut beans ranging in height from
less than 1 ft tall to 4 ft tall....When I cut the 1 ft tall or less double crop drought beans in 1983
I had to put 6" flat belt on each reel slat that stuck below the reel teeth to feed the beans in and
keep the teeth out of the sickle..I used elevator leg belt that my local elevator gave me.....Everyone
had to do it that year no matter what color the machine was..I wished that I had a picture for you..
 
Reading through all the responses....

My issue is getting the beans TO the auger steadily and not in huge clumps...

Once they hit the auger everything is fine...

Before I went to the field the very first time, I replaced many reel tines and pushed the head down in the driveway and adjusted the set screws on the reel depth cylinders so that the teeth wouldn't go into the cutter bar. I shortly after had to adjust them down so the teeth would grab the beans. I have done a lot of reading online where guys say the auger is too far away from the cutter-bar. It seems that no matter when I put the reel that the reel begins to come up off the floor before it pushes the beans into the auger.
 
Have had 3 F F2 F3 combines, an M3, and an L3.

The L2 and green head eat anything the past 2 years.

The M2 will slug on a handful of stems, had to give up last year. I think the beater slip clutch is wore, can't see it but just won't grip. What a terrible deal. The 2 combines and heads are basically the same; one eats anything I didn't have a single slug this year, the other last year I never made a round without slugging.

Maintinence, adjustments...

The F series, sure helped to put a 2 inch water suction hose over the sickle with some electrical conduit clamps. The beans tip up and over the hose, and the reel can then push them into the auger. Basically you make a 'rock dam' as other manufacturers call it.

Using an auto header control also helps, keep the header as low as you can, the beans feed in better.

Paul
 
I think I'm gong to try mounting some tubing / pipe behind the cutter bar-- but I'm not sure how to adjust the reel after that.


The biggest problem it seems with this head is the space between the cutter bar and the auger " dead space" where teh beans just accumulate.
 
Been there so I feel your pain. The key is adjustment and there are many. I wish that combine had a cylinder reverser. When we went to the R52, it was not as bad and the reverser was a big help.
 
I agree with others now that I hear more what it is doing I would move the reel forward so it "throws" the crop farther back,, may seem wrong bit it works on my Case units
 
Make sure your springs in your feeder beater are not broke or weak.. you'll adjust the crap out of the head and it might be in the feeder beater clutch.. reel should not be close to auger and reel speed should be going 1 1/2 times faster than your ground speed, which should be 3-3.5 mph. Should be able to combine 6 acres/hr.
 
I am running a 313 on an F3 w/o the header control module," Manual control of header height" in beans like you describe. Some good ranging down to almost nothing. I dropped the header down all the way down so the cutter bar is all the up and adjusted the reel stops so it clears the cutter bar. In decent beans I run with the cutter bar in the mid range of the cutter bar travel, but when getting into shorter beans I drop the head down so that the reel gets closer to the bar. In real short beans I drop it all the way down and the tines catch and flip the beans back into the auger. haven't plugged it yet this year. Get a few "whumps" once in awhile, but no problems if I watch closely so that the beans don't bunch up too bad. Most of the tines were clipped short when I got the head, but I haven't replaced any yet.
 
Check feeder beater clutch springs to make sure you have all of them and there are no broken ones. Ground speed, 3-3.5 mph. Reel should be spinning at about 5mph. Reel should not touch the auger. I run an L2 with a 320 head. It was slugging this yr also but the problem was the feeder beater clutch springs were weak/broken causing it to plug.. I also have the pipe rock dam on mine.
 
I am thinking of putting one of those pipe rock dams on my 216 header this year. What size/type of pipe did you use for yours? I have a whole bunch of pvc electrical conduit (1 1/2", 2", and 2 1/2") I could use, opinions? Thanks. Pictures would help too.
 

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