Dominator 98 Advice

[DrWazzock]

I usually leave the rear of the concave "wide" open setting but this year closed it in one nick as I couldn't get the awns off the drought killed spring barley. Helped a lot but it says the rear gap is only 2mm at that setting, compared to the normal 5 mm. Traditional settings for barley here were 5/16 at front 1/8 at rear. Maybe though with 25 years wear, the rear gap is nearer 3mm than 2 mm at the "medium" not "wide" rear setting.
Machine still going well here. Straw walker agitator alarm still intermittent but a lot less frequent since I adjusted the elevator chains which might have knuckling slightly and causing some belt slippage common to walkers agitators.
A fine machine but mine has done over 3000 hours and really needs some work. The engine misses a bit at idle but pulls well enough when you give it full throttle, even if there is a fair cloud of smoke as it gets there. Merc.
MIght give the old JD1085 a run in the wheat alongside the Dommy, just to keep her polished up. Classic working day. The Dommy seems a lot more frugal on the diesel.

 

[fredf]

I used try to wash the combine before the last day of work that dried the bearings out yes it got a little dust on the last day but that could be blown off then oily straw and spray the sives and fan with paraffin.

Tom

 

[glasshouse]

I paint the header every year

 

[zero]

After a late evening.........I've finished. Only had 25 acres to do this year , ground rented out for spuds. I bought it this year specifically because I had so little to do, hoping I could spend weeks learning and tinkering. Thanks to the weather, it turned into a rush.

Anyhoo, things for next year...

A new curtain behind the drum, most of mine is missing.
Quite a few rubber strips need replacing.
Change coolant, and engine oil & filter, and fuel filter.
Replace hydraulic lines to the header ( forgot to disconnect whilst taking it off last night ) Only one actually broken, but the others will have been stretched.
I've got absolutely no spare parts for it. Thinking of getting some spare bearings at least. Best size to get ? I expect there's 20 different sizes on the machine ?

All in all, considering I've never used a combine, and it only arrived 3 weeks ago, things turned out well I think.

We used to carry a couple of spare double fingers, knife blades, rivets, bolts for the lifters, spare lifters, a riveting tool from vapormatic. Also had a handful of links and half links for every chain plus a chain breaker and pins for holding the side plates on. Tried to change belts before they gave up and kept the old one as a spare. Had a few of them white plastic t pieces from the straw walker agitators and the grey plastic bushes.
Also had a couple of smaller bearings but i cant remember a size.

 

[Qman]

I usually leave the rear of the concave "wide" open setting but this year closed it in one nick as I couldn't get the awns off the drought killed spring barley. Helped a lot but it says the rear gap is only 2mm at that setting, compared to the normal 5 mm. Traditional settings for barley here were 5/16 at front 1/8 at rear. Maybe though with 25 years wear, the rear gap is nearer 3mm than 2 mm at the "medium" not "wide" rear setting.
Machine still going well here. Straw walker agitator alarm still intermittent but a lot less frequent since I adjusted the elevator chains which might have knuckling slightly and causing some belt slippage common to walkers agitators.
A fine machine but mine has done over 3000 hours and really needs some work. The engine misses a bit at idle but pulls well enough when you give it full throttle, even if there is a fair cloud of smoke as it gets there. Merc.
MIght give the old JD1085 a run in the wheat alongside the Dommy, just to keep her polished up. Classic working day. The Dommy seems a lot more frugal on the diesel.

If you add some Stanadyne in the diesel it will go better, stop smoking so much and use less fuel.

 

[glasshouse]

Our neighbour used to run a dom 98 back in the nineties, it poured black smoke all day, almost like it was on fire.
Seemingly it had done it from new and the dealer couldnt fix it

 

[DrWazzock]

It looks like somebody has been “at” the injectors at some stage. One of the pipes looks like it’s been replaced by a secondhand unpainted reshaped replacement. There are slight sweats round two of the connections at the injector end. Nothing major, can be wiped away by a cloth each day. Tempted to try tightening the union but knowing my luck it will just worsen a cracked pipe so leaving it alone till we’ve done the wheat. Surprises me a bit that after only 3000 hours it has injector pipe problems but it could be a result of previous ham fisted “maintenance” where they’ve been over tightened or something.

 

[7610 super q]

For those with mechanical drive, is the odd grind/ graunch getting into gear normal on these ?
Or does the clutch need adjusting / on it's way out ?

 

[Andy26]

It looks like somebody has been “at” the injectors at some stage. One of the pipes looks like it’s been replaced by a secondhand unpainted reshaped replacement. There are slight sweats round two of the connections at the injector end. Nothing major, can be wiped away by a cloth each day. Tempted to try tightening the union but knowing my luck it will just worsen a cracked pipe so leaving it alone till we’ve done the wheat. Surprises me a bit that after only 3000 hours it has injector pipe problems but it could be a result of previous ham fisted “maintenance” where they’ve been over tightened or something.

Probably been slackened off to bleed. Iirc we had a problem with diesel draining back requiring bleeding each morning.

 

[Zippy768]

It looks like somebody has been “at” the injectors at some stage. One of the pipes looks like it’s been replaced by a secondhand unpainted reshaped replacement. There are slight sweats round two of the connections at the injector end. Nothing major, can be wiped away by a cloth each day. Tempted to try tightening the union but knowing my luck it will just worsen a cracked pipe so leaving it alone till we’ve done the wheat. Surprises me a bit that after only 3000 hours it has injector pipe problems but it could be a result of previous ham fisted “maintenance” where they’ve been over tightened or something.

Does it have a non return valve fitted to your diesel line?

 

[bobk]

For those with mechanical drive, is the odd grind/ graunch getting into gear normal on these ?
Or does the clutch need adjusting / on it's way out ?

No , in a nutshell

 

[7610 super q]

No , in a nutshell

No it's normal, or no it's not and needs adjusting ?

 

[bobk]

No it's normal, or no it's not and needs adjusting ?

2nd bit

 

[DrWazzock]

It will always crunch if the land wheels are moving when you try to engage a gear as it’s non synchro. So foot on brake helps.
Usually clutch plate wear results in early disengagement / slipping, not crunching.
A problem with the thrust bearing or centre shaft bearing would cause dragging and crunching. Might be temporarily helped by adjustment as long as you still left with free play in the linkage when foot off pedal.
Had this problem in my JD. Took the bell housing off and a pin had come out of one of the clutch forks. Not a difficult job to separate clutch from gearbox on a combine and have a look …. if you are bit OCD as I am. But I’d try adjustment first.

 

[Qman]

I had a 98s with the crash box. When I cut OSR and had to reverse a lot I felt like chucking myself in after the hundredth time. I bought a Mega 350 with a larger cab and hydrostatic...bliss.

 

[JeremyD]

Our old manual gearbox Dominator was a shocker the clutch was heavy and the gear lever even heavier!

 

[MF-ANDY]

For those with mechanical drive, is the odd grind/ graunch getting into gear normal on these ?
Or does the clutch need adjusting / on it's way out ?

Has the valve under the cab that drops the traction speed to low when you depress the clutch, been disconnected?

 

[7610 super q]

Has the valve under the cab that drops the traction speed to low when you depress the clutch, been disconnected?

Not sure.......... TBH. It's not too bad, sometimes changes are slick, other times not. 1st to reverse ain't too bad, 2nd to reverse is hard work. Makes Ford rubic cube look like cutting edge technology......Once the headland is done it stays in 2nd anyway.
Something to look into this winter.

 

[bobk]

Not sure.......... TBH. It's not too bad, sometimes changes are slick, other times not. 1st to reverse ain't too bad, 2nd to reverse is hard work. Makes Ford rubic cube look like cutting edge technology......Once the headland is done it stays in 2nd anyway.
Something to look into this winter.

You should know if the dump valve has been disconnected , the variable speed goes to it's lowest level when you dip the clutch , if it doesn't it isn't

 

[DrWazzock]

Isn't it noticeable how stuff gets more and more complicated.
The 1960 MF780 I started out on had no plate clutch. You pressed the pedal down and as you did so it gradually reduced the variable pulley ratio until it slacked right off, lost grip and you stopped so it was a combined belt clutch/variable speed drive. A hand notched hand lever limited the travel of the clutch pedal and movement of the variable pulleys which gave you continuous ratio adjustment. It had a 3 speed gearbox. Beautifully simple.
Now it needs a full blown hydrostatic system for £k to do that same simple job. Maybe less wear on the knees but more on the shoulder and arms and makes my back ache surprisingly,
My JD1085 with gear lever in the back right hand corner of the cab is a real PITA to select reverse. Many reverse gears on those models were damaged including on ours due to only being half engaged. They improved the lever design on later 10 series models putting it at your right kneecap when sat in the seat. A big improvement.
Anyway I digress. Its a wet day.
Ordering a hand held tachometer to check some of those shaft speeds/ engine speed to see if I can suss out the intermitment shaft speed alarm. Truth be told it probably needs new bearings and walker blocks throughout as there is a bit of wobble here and there. A job for winter.