- Location
- Moreton-in-Marsh, Glos
We finished harvest here a week ago today.
What took 2 days to do last year, took 6 weeks to complete this year, being the Winter Linseed.
My wife came up with what the 2023 harvest has been to me, in the word: Trauma!
I don’t think I have ever really fully understood that word until recently, despite what many in my family have said about me leading a stressful life.
The hot weather over the last week hasn’t helped with my sleep. But gradually the constant literally dreamt every night, nightmares of blocked Rotary Separator and Straw flow beater, plus the horrible sound of Linseed straw wrapping somewhere with the guts of the Combine, have subsided.
However, there was one thing that absolutely behaved almost perfectly throughout the whole of harvest, bar one small welding incident, as shown in post 80, being the Dual Stream Header.
It has had a lot of stick and hard work this year, during its 11th season. The chains that prevent it form dropping to its lowest possible position when the header is lifted to turn round on the headlands have been an enormous benefit.
Sometimes it seems strange that such a simple solution doesn’t become so obvious right from the start of using something new. Especially when upon reflection it seems so obvious.
Quite simply, those chains have meant that there is no longer any need to lift the DS from its working position to its transport position on the headlands. Combined with the yellow bar that holds the DS level, rather than allowing it to drop in the middle have dramatically reduced the flexing stresses of the entire DS, especially the Busatic double reciprocating knife.
I have a lot of work to do on the Combine before next season, including removing a lot of wrapped Linseed straw from the front Straw Walker crank shaft. Also removing the rubber flap that was the saviour of getting the harvest done that @CPF came up with, refitting all the auger retraction tines and lowering the auger back to it normal, rather than fully raised height.
Actually the rest of the Combine is in good order, mostly on account of the fact that several quite critical drive belts were changed during the season.
But, this year, for the first time ever, my looking forward to driving the Combine has been tempered.
Hopefully Temporarily!
Roll on next year.
What took 2 days to do last year, took 6 weeks to complete this year, being the Winter Linseed.
My wife came up with what the 2023 harvest has been to me, in the word: Trauma!
I don’t think I have ever really fully understood that word until recently, despite what many in my family have said about me leading a stressful life.
The hot weather over the last week hasn’t helped with my sleep. But gradually the constant literally dreamt every night, nightmares of blocked Rotary Separator and Straw flow beater, plus the horrible sound of Linseed straw wrapping somewhere with the guts of the Combine, have subsided.
However, there was one thing that absolutely behaved almost perfectly throughout the whole of harvest, bar one small welding incident, as shown in post 80, being the Dual Stream Header.
It has had a lot of stick and hard work this year, during its 11th season. The chains that prevent it form dropping to its lowest possible position when the header is lifted to turn round on the headlands have been an enormous benefit.
Sometimes it seems strange that such a simple solution doesn’t become so obvious right from the start of using something new. Especially when upon reflection it seems so obvious.
Quite simply, those chains have meant that there is no longer any need to lift the DS from its working position to its transport position on the headlands. Combined with the yellow bar that holds the DS level, rather than allowing it to drop in the middle have dramatically reduced the flexing stresses of the entire DS, especially the Busatic double reciprocating knife.
I have a lot of work to do on the Combine before next season, including removing a lot of wrapped Linseed straw from the front Straw Walker crank shaft. Also removing the rubber flap that was the saviour of getting the harvest done that @CPF came up with, refitting all the auger retraction tines and lowering the auger back to it normal, rather than fully raised height.
Actually the rest of the Combine is in good order, mostly on account of the fact that several quite critical drive belts were changed during the season.
But, this year, for the first time ever, my looking forward to driving the Combine has been tempered.
Hopefully Temporarily!
Roll on next year.
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