Inside a combine

   / Inside a combine #1  

Birdhunter1

Veteran Member
Joined
May 5, 2004
Messages
1,855
Location
Murphysboro, IL
Tractor
Mahindra 2638
I figure I'll post some educationa lpictures of teh inside of a combine from the controls through the guts. One of teh guys I work for just traded this 2188 in on a new Case/IH 2588 but for the most part these axial flow combines are real similar:
Ok what you are seeing here is teh back part of the concave, your material is brought in through the front and there is a big rotor with rasp bars spinning inside the mesh looking screen above, this is where most of the threshing occurs and what drops onto those augers is drawn back to the sieves below (these are not shown yet).
P1010311.jpg


Upper left you can still see part of the concave, good shot of the augers where they drop material to the sieves:
P1010327.jpg


What doesn't pass through the concave is pushed into the chopper where it just beats the heck out of whatever is left over, then drops it to the sieves. The actual blades stikcing through that pan underneath are removeable 9se the next picture):
P1010319.jpg


Me putting the chopper blades in. He does not run the chopper blades when doing corn and we were getting ready to harvest beans so we had to change a few things:

P1010314.jpg


Here are the sieves, there are two big fans in the front of the combine that blow a large quantity of air through these to blow stuff out and let the grain drop through so it can be retained, the sieves are adjustable for different grains and they are not comfortable to lay on:
P1010320.jpg


This simple looking doo-dad is a sensor that tells you in the cab how much grain is being lost out the back of the machine, it is mounted at the very rear of the combine where everything drops out and it lets grain drop on it and the impact sends a signal up front to a gauge. There isn't much making it out the back but you'll always loose some.
P1010324.jpg



Inside the cab:
The yellow handle on the far right is the throttle, the two yellow knobs turn on the machine (back part) and the other turns the header on, both have to be on for the header to work. The transmission is hydrostatic and teh range selector is off to the right, forward backward motion is controlled by the big stick on the left. The knobs control the rotor speed, header float controls, all sorts of good stuff:
P1010333.jpg


On the stick we have 4 buttons (left to right), the left big black button controls the reel position (in/out up/down), middle button controlls the header up or down and tilts it side to side, the right button controls the unloading auger to swing in or out to unload and the yellow button in the center is what engages the auger to unload:
P1010334.jpg


Hope this helps somebody.
 
   / Inside a combine #2  
Fantastic Birdhunter, thanks! I've always wondered how these things work and your explaination is easy to follow. I had no idea there was so much sophistication. Particularly the lost grain sensor at the back. What do you change if you are loosing too much?

I had a peek under the side cover of one once. Never seen so many belts and chains in my life!

Thanks again!!!
 
   / Inside a combine #3  
Mornin Rick,
Great explanation as RobS allready stated ! Thats quite a rig for sure ! Those things can really eat up some ground pretty quickly !

BTW hope you had the controls locked and tagged out changin out those knives ! :eek:
 
   / Inside a combine #4  
Great pictures, that is very interesting to see.

I would bet that if there is too much lost out the rear, you would probably slow down to allow the sieves to sift threw everything, correct?
 
   / Inside a combine
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Ground speed won't affect what goes out the back so much as you can adjust the speed of the rotor (the main part that does almost all the threshing), ground speed really only effects ground speed. Running too fast will cause you to plug the combine and you have to dig everything out by hand if you do it good enough. Yesterday the boss man did it on the new 2588 and they (I wasn't there) spent about three hours digging everything out.

If there is too much grain showing as being lost there is a few things you can do but first I'd check to make sure nothing else is hitting the sensor pad, early this year the needle was pegged on the gauge and we went back there and that teeth looking guard on top was loose and hitting the pad. If it were an actual problem you can open the sieves up more, see if they are clogged with something, or are not shaking as they do shake back and forth.

No I did not have the controls tagged out, I trust the guys I was working with. I don't think it would be remotely possible for everything to turn on by itself as there are so many things required to get it running. If there had been a bunch of people there (more than the three of us) yes one of us would have had the key out but since we were all back there or in there we were not worried. Plus even though that one picture looks like my hands are on or near the blades I never had to touch them or really get in the path of their rotation.
 
   / Inside a combine #6  
Birdhunter1,
Reminds me of my youth. We had an Alis Chalmers combine that we used on our 80 acres. Before we would store it for the Winter and mid way through the harvest season we would grease all of the bearings that had zerks. I was 13 years old, 5 foot 11 inches tall, weighed around 100 pounds and was skinny as a rail. Guess who got the job of crawling through the guts of the combine with a grease gun. This was before good flashlights were invented so every inside fitting had to be lubed by feel in the dark. I would do a few pumps on the handle of the grease gun, then feel if the grease was shooting out of the bearing. Talk about a messy job.
 
   / Inside a combine
  • Thread Starter
#7  
Oh man you must have been in old times, no good flashlights and a pump type grease gun. Shoot the electric cordless guns are all the rage now.
 
   / Inside a combine #8  
Thanks for the pictures.:D

It looks a little different inside than the Trashing Machine I recall throwing bundles into!:D :D :D
 
   / Inside a combine #9  
Thanks ! That is interesting stuff, I have been around combines for many years, but never paid much attention to the real working mechanics of them.
COOL!
 
   / Inside a combine #10  
**** good taste in combines ..You failed to mention that this is "the" best system for a combine Ha...Ha....Nice idea ?
 

Tractor & Equipment Auctions

TEST BID LOT (A50774)
TEST BID LOT (A50774)
John Deere 700 Hydraulic Hay Rake - Durable Side Delivery Rake for Efficient Windrowing (A51039)
John Deere 700...
Knapheide Service Body with Liftgate (A49461)
Knapheide Service...
1994 Mack CH613 T/A Wet Kit Day Cab Truck Tractor (A49461)
1994 Mack CH613...
Case 1150G Crawler Tractor Dozer (A50322)
Case 1150G Crawler...
16 STEEL SHEETS CURVED (A50854)
16 STEEL SHEETS...
 
Top