Claas Lexion concave removal?

[Zebbedee]

I would put in new concave as once you straighten it(which incidentally is dead easy to do in a decent press) it seems to just bend back very easily, new rasp bars and you are as good as new, the concave segments on apps are easy to straighten as well and if budget is starting to rise they are not so important as the drum whilst being easy to change later

 

[Phil P]

I would put in new concave as once you straighten it(which incidentally is dead easy to do in a decent press) it seems to just bend back very easily, new rasp bars and you are as good as new, the concave segments on apps are easy to straighten as well and if budget is starting to rise they are not so important as the drum whilst being easy to change later

After sleeping on it I’m 99% sure I’ll be fitting new bars and concave, but the pre concave may just get straightened for now as the 3 segments are over £400 each! As you say they aren’t as important as the main concave and don’t run anywhere near as tight so don’t need to be bang on. I’m going to get some bits ordered today

 

[redsloe]

After sleeping on it I’m 99% sure I’ll be fitting new bars and concave, but the pre concave may just get straightened for now as the 3 segments are over £400 each! As you say they aren’t as important as the main concave and don’t run anywhere near as tight so don’t need to be bang on. I’m going to get some bits ordered today

You know it makes sense Rodney.

This time next year.......

 

[R&D]

We had some used aps segments off Manners last year, they were in good nick and a lot cheaper than new.

 

[Phil P]

So, been a bit busy with other jobs so not progressed much but did get an hour on it this afternoon.
Im going to put the pre concave back in so going to tidy it up a little, this needs sorting

And it had a slight bow which I’ve now pressed back .

Also a pallet of shiny bits landed

Decided to do the variable drive bushes as suggested by @Flatlander so that’s another job to do

Hopefully going to get a good day on it tomorrow.

 

[Fergieman]

Never seen inside a claas straw walker machine as always had NH but the aps is in front of the drum on a claas which it's behind on a NH. What is behind the drum on a claas?

 

[Phil P]

Never seen inside a claas straw walker machine as always had NH but the aps is in front of the drum on a claas which it's behind on a NH. What is behind the drum on a claas?

Not the best picture but there’s another small beater just above the main drum to deflect the straw down onto the walkers.

Then further back over the walkers there’s another drum with retractable fingers you can adjust to fluff the straw up.
I think on the newer Lexions they now have 3 concaves and drums.

 

[Zebbedee]

So, been a bit busy with other jobs so not progressed much but did get an hour on it this afternoon.
Im going to put the pre concave back in so going to tidy it up a little, this needs sorting
View attachment 969065
And it had a slight bow which I’ve now pressed back .
View attachment 969066

Also a pallet of shiny bits landed
View attachment 969063

Decided to do the variable drive bushes as suggested by @Flatlander so that’s another job to do
View attachment 969064

Hopefully going to get a good day on it tomorrow.

Did you get the three plastic wedges that fit onto pulley with spring in it and the three plastic top hat bushes that fit on the hyd pulley, I guess they are the ones Flatlander was hinting at. The main sliding bushes you have there are unlikely to be worn much if greased regular and the wear can be measured without stripping them also

 

[Phil P]

Did you get the three plastic wedges that fit onto pulley with spring in it and the three plastic top hat bushes that fit on the hyd pulley, I guess they are the ones Flatlander was hinting at. The main sliding bushes you have there are unlikely to be worn much if greased regular and the wear can be measured without stripping them also

Yes got the wedges as well , the main bushes weren’t the dear so thought I’d get them just in case. It’s got 2.5k h on it so could be a bit of ware in them by now but it is probably over greased if anything!

 

[sulky]

Yes got the wedges as well , the main bushes weren’t the dear so thought I’d get them just in case. It’s got 2.5k h on it so could be a bit of ware in them by now but it is probably over greased if anything!

phil while your in the front just have at returns auger end bearing above aps its known to have play it will be easy to change while the guts are out

 

[Phil P]

phil while your in the front just have at returns auger end bearing above aps its known to have play it will be easy to change while the guts are out

Good thinking

 

[Phil P]

Pretty much spent today sorting the pre concave out but made some good progress.
Sorted the whole and broken wires

The top plates were quite beet up and the leading edge was also quite worn.

But after some pressing/welding

And a spot of milling

they look a bit more respectable

Then onto the segments which looked like this

Bit more pressing

And now they look like this

So that’s one big lump ready for back in, just got the APS drum to do some straightening on next.

I’m out on the digger tomorrow so won’t be much progress to report for a day of two now.

 

[ollie989898]

A really interesting thread, was a bit worried when it seemed to be starting to go Land Rover Defender fans though ('whilst you are doing that, have you thought about galvanizing the chassis and changing the gearbox....?') but turned out alright in the end. Thanks for posting. Also well impressed with the workshop skills on show.

 

[Phil P]

Bit more in between jobs, bit of straightening on the APS drum.
Before

After

And got the new concave sat in with a bit of ratcheting.

Back pins in, rasp bars on tomorrow hopefully.

 

[Martyn]

Looking great well done, nothing better than driving a machine that you can honestly say you know inside out!

Bit more in between jobs, bit of straightening on the APS drum.
Before
View attachment 969723

After
View attachment 969724

And got the new concave sat in with a bit of ratcheting.
View attachment 969725

Back pins in, rasp bars on tomorrow hopefully.
View attachment 969726

 

[Flatlander]

I see you have 2500 hrs on your unit. A few other things might want checking into for wear. The sealing strips on the sides of the shaker shoe. Wear strips inside the feeder house. Top sprockets on the feeder house and bearings on the drive shaft. Centre one usually goes first from material wrapping around the shaft taking the seal out. If your really going to town change the seals in the concave adjusting rams. Mine had a split o ring and it would adjust but wouldn’t hold its position allowing the concave to drop on one side. Check the bottom of the clean grain elavator mine wore thru between the clean and returns elavator leaving an embarrassing trail. Theses are a few things that have happened to me over the years but we see grain that is usually very dry and with soya our combines ingest lots dust from soil lumps.
Good luck.

 

[Phil P]

Got the monotonous job of bolting in the new rasp bars done this morning, 104 bolts to torque up . Luckily I had my chief mechanic on hand to assist and mark them up as we went along.

Another box ticked though, hopefully get the rest of the big bits back in on Monday.

 

[Zebbedee]

Did you check the drum for balance? Probably ok but I would throw off the belt and spin it just to make sure it doesn’t stop in same place every time. Then some bolts and washer added if it’s not correct

 

[Phil P]

Did you check the drum for balance? Probably ok but I would throw off the belt and spin it just to make sure it doesn’t stop in same place every time. Then some bolts and washer added if it’s not correct

It was running smooth before so I’m hoping it should still be ok. The bars are all matched pairs so fingers crossed as it’s not a two minute job to pull the drum belt off although, I have the bushes to do so it may have to come off anyway!

 

[Zebbedee]

Drum belt off is not a bad job will not take long and if you are keen on doing bushes well it needs of anyway. A wee tip before you dive in to do bushes though, to check the wear between sheaves where that big white bush lives put a bolt (m12 I think it is) or a length of threaded rod in and push out the sheaves against the spring then with a caliper measure on the outer edge between the sheaves in line with where you have the bolt and again at 180 degrees that will show how much wear in bush up to 3-4 mm is ok when you get up to 10 you have a problem ( may save stripping the pulley for no reason if you grease it regular I see no reason for it to be worn tbh) the other thing to check is end float of pulley on shaft there should be minimal float-just able to feel it and no more.