How-To
Harvest Readiness: Avoid the Downtime
Preparing Combines, Headers & Grain Systems
By Steve Sniff
The best time to discover a worn bearing, cracked belt or failing sensor is weeks before harvest— not with a full grain tank, a line of trucks waiting and rain in the forecast.
Of course, growers know that— in theory. Reality, however, can be a bit less practical. Harvest preparation often gets squeezed between spraying, irrigation, haying and a laundry list of other jobs demanding attention and waiting in line to be addressed.
In reflection, though, most of us know the frustration of waiting on parts in October; finding that the combine that was fine when it was parked last fall suddenly won’ t cooperate; or the gut-wrenching realization that a half-million-dollar machine can be brought to its knees by a $ 5 bearing. The inescapable fact is that a few days spent inspecting equipment
A half-million-dollar machine can be brought to its knees by a $ 5 bearing
before the crop is ready can prevent many of the breakdowns and delays that rob valuable harvest time later.
As harvest specialist Tony Steinke of Case IH notes,“ more days of harvest without unnecessary downtime” starts with thorough preseason preparation. The key is to look at harvest as a complete system. Although the combine gets most of the press, a combine is only as productive as the header feeding it, the equipment supporting it and the storage facilities receiving the crop. Follow these steps now to ensure that the entire system is in top form, ready and waiting to go when the big show begins.
Start With a Clean Machine
Before inspecting a single component, start with a thorough cleaning. Dust, chaff, grain residue and even rodent nests have a way of finding their way into lots of harvest equipment during the off-season. Besides creating a potential fire hazard, that buildup can hide worn components
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