First of all, the screens need changed. Remember those? They sift through the chaff in the rear of the combine. And the black spout in the top left corner...
Has to be replaced with this spout. Alfalfa seed is much lighter and the bins that it's poured into much smaller than a truck bed, so the long spout keeps it from being blown off target.
Along with the changes, the combine will need a bit of regular maintenance. As you can see, there's lots going on beneath the panels. The chains will get a bit of lubrication, and the belts are checked for damage.
That's a grease zerk. The threaded side screws into a place that needs grease and the roundy end plugs into a grease gun. The gun is a pump that pushes grease into places where moving parts are prone to wear. Like bearings and such. A combine has many zerks. This one has about 14 that need greased daily, and a couple dozen more at least.
A combine is a very complex machine. (I believe I've mentioned that before.) So there's always a lot going on. Just recently this one needed a new reel (the rotating bars in the front) because the old one wore out. And pretty much every day, a person will have to climb up this ladder and fill the fuel. (The red cap you can just barely see in the dark there is the fuel cap.)
Soon this combine will be rumbling through the alfalfa. I'll keep you posted. (So to speak.)
No comments:
Post a Comment