Combine settings for wheat

[8 Ace]

The wheat we have combined this year is in the best condition for combining I have ever known (40 years) The ears are firm and crisp and shed the grain readily. The crazy dry conditions means there is no damp at the bottom and everything is stood bolt upright and combine losses are minimum and the early harvest takes advantage of longer August days. The settings given in the Claas handbook seem to be ideal with no tweaking. After many years of variable conditions when we have struggled to with threshing issues and getting a clean sample 2022 will go down as a vintage harvest year. I should say yields are reasonable but not spectacular. I have not made these comments to be smug because I am well aware that these dry conditions are becoming a nightmare for some people but as a testimony to a heavy land farm that struggles in the wet but comes into its own in a dry year. My Father is not here to make a comment but 1976 is the comparable year I believe.
I should also say when the 1976 dry weather broke round here in the autumn it would not stop raining. Bricks to mortar in a week. (Mid Lincs)

 

[teslacoils]

If its going to start pissing it down non-stop from mid September, then my preference will be nothing sown.

 

[Zippy768]

We've got our concave one notch from fully open, drum 900 top sieve open enough to slide my finger between up to first knuckle and bottom sieve open enough for the tip of my finger to fit between with the frog mouth tight against my nail. It's all very exact and scientific but it works

We have moved the limiter to get us extra fan speed, which is flat out plus a but.

This is the sample.

One notch from fully open??.
900 is pretty slow, right?

 

[Woody j]

We've got our concave one notch from fully open, drum 900 top sieve open enough to slide my finger between up to first knuckle and bottom sieve open enough for the tip of my finger to fit between with the frog mouth tight against my nail. It's all very exact and scientific but it works

We have moved the limiter to get us extra fan speed, which is flat out plus a but.

This is the sample.

What combine ? Nice sample!

 

[robbie]

One notch from fully open??.
900 is pretty slow, right?

Yep, dad would have had the drum right open but it makes a rattle up the handle and annoys him so it's one notch up.
Started at 1100 but we moved onto some very fit wheat and it was knocking the straw up hence why he slowed it down. The straws coming out in a full length with just the grain and husk removed.

This is with brand new rasp bars and brand new Nicholson's concave which in a different league to the original.

 

[robbie]

What combine ? Nice sample!

JD 1188 h4

 

[Zippy768]

Started on wheat this eve, and having the same problem.
Going with drum speed right up. Concave 4th hole from close. Very very few sieve losses and nothing left in straw.
Hesitant to open the bottom sieves anymore.
Driving as quick as I can concentrate

 

[Zippy768]

Yep, dad would have had the drum right open but it makes a rattle up the handle and annoys him so it's one notch up.
Started at 1100 but we moved onto some very fit wheat and it was knocking the straw up hence why he slowed it down. The straws coming out in a full length with just the grain and husk removed.

This is with brand new rasp bars and brand new Nicholson's concave which in a different league to the original.

I'm gonna try your settings tomorrow morning

 

[Fubar]

Have you the pegged door in the rotor thrasher?

Yes. Did wonder if the pegs were worn but having looked at a new one they don't seem too bad. Think it's just not ripe. Hasn't had any weathering apart from hot sun. And it's the few smaller grains that are causing the problem. Heard of several local contractors struggling to get really good samples with newer machines so at least it's not just me.

 

[Flat 10]

How do most of you check how much is going up the returns? Used to be able to open a flap on my old binder and look, not so simple as that on this.

 

[Lincsman]

How do most of you check how much is going up the returns? Used to be able to open a flap on my old binder and look, not so simple as that on this.

Look at the screen display... but stop in work and open the hatch to see whats in there. (NH)

 

[bkg]

Driving TX68 yesterday for someone, concave 10mm drum 1000 rpm no loses over walkers one bar over sieves not a bad crop but 2.5 k which seems slow to me his settings not mine any thoughts please

 

[robbie]

How do most of you check how much is going up the returns? Used to be able to open a flap on my old binder and look, not so simple as that on that one.

Does your new one not have a bar graph on the screen for returns?????

 

[tullah]

Look at the screen display... but stop in work and open the hatch to see whats in there. (NH)

Lot of cracked wheat in sample. What's the adjustment for it...concave or drum speed?What's a screen display?

 

[Lincsman]

Lot of cracked wheat in sample. What's the adjustment for it...concave or drum speed?What's a screen display?

Drum speed first if its over 3/4 of max

 

[DrWazzock]

Lot of cracked wheat in sample. What's the adjustment for it...concave or drum speed?What's a screen display?

Set the drum as wide and slow as will thresh it out. with the bottom sieve well open. Check it’s getting it out of the hesds.
Then I’d close the bottom sieve just enough to get a cleanish sample. You don’t want to close the bottom sieve too much and end up with too much returned grain coming back to drum and getting smashed.
I wouldn’t go silly wide on the concave, maybe up to three notches open. My crops have a low plant population but decent grain fill so i would have to drive stupidly fast to fill a wide concave …..I think …..I’m only learning myself. Drum speed has a big influence on grain damage.
But I will say the only way I have ever had much success with unthreshed tips is fairly fast and tight, keep drum full and fine tune bottom sieve. These unthreshed tips are on drought killed wheat in sand land. I’ve never seen them on moderate to heavy land where I’ve done contracting and combining is a doddle. There you can go with wider concave and sieves and really tramp on with nice sample.,That’s why they call it wheat land I suppose.

 

[bobk]

Interesting comments , i set drum speed flat out , thrash the living daylights

 

[Christoph1945]

Just did an internal tour of a combined harvester over at Harry's Garage and some of your posts are now making a 'little' more sense to this farm-ignorant townie.

 

[davidroberts30]

I really ought to try this wide concave slow drum method and probably will do eventually. I’ve dabbled with it in the past on my other old combine but have found too much grain left in the heads and increased Walker losses.
I suppose the emphasis is thrown onto relying on clean threshing rather than sieving which is a good idea in principle. If my concave was wide and drum slow I’d have to drive at considerable speed to fill it. The amount of grain needing to be handled by the bottom sieve would mean it would have to be quite wide open so would not reslly provide any filtering at all of unthreshed tips. I’d be entirely reliant on decent threshing action.

shut the top 1 a bit to share the workload

 

[davidroberts30]

Lot of cracked wheat in sample. What's the adjustment for it...concave or drum speed?What's a screen display?

cracked grains=slow the drum