New Holland Dual Stream Header. Dream come true or Nightmare?!!

[Two Tone]

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.

 

[CPF]

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!

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 hold 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 nest 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.
View attachment 1135873

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.

Best of luck to you, for harvest 2024
I might pop down under for harvest 2023

 

[Two Tone]

Best of luck to you, for harvest 2024
I might pop down under for harvest 2023

Ha ha!
It’s ok Conway, We aren’t growing Linseed again for obvious reasons in 2024.

Despite the problems of it all, with your help we got through it.
Your family both here and down under have no idea of the help you were to me this harvest.

Things are returning to normal. We had a fantastic burn of the Linseed straw and stubbles. The rain today and hopefully on Tuesday will give us a good Blackgrass germination to Roundup off before we Direct Drill it with the next crop.
I don’t have the conventional machinery to do it any other way now.
But things are sorting themselves out in our favour at last.

 

[CPF]

Ha ha!
It’s ok Conway, We aren’t growing Linseed again for obvious reasons in 2024.

Despite the problems of it all, with your help we got through it.
Your family both here and down under have no idea of the help you were to me this harvest.

Things are returning to normal. We had a fantastic burn of the Linseed straw and stubbles. The rain today and hopefully on Tuesday will give us a good Blackgrass germination to Roundup off before we Direct Drill it with the next crop.
I don’t have the conventional machinery to do it any other way now.
But things are sorting themselves out in our favour at last.

No worries, glad I could help.

 

[Two Tone]

What a year!
Since harvest, I’ve just not wanted to look at, let alone do any maintenance to the Combine.
There are several jobs looming to readjust it back from the modifications we made to harvest the Winter Linseed to harvesting Cereals, particularly on the header.

I still find myself thinking or particularly at night dreaming of the horror story the harvest was, followed by getting the following crop into the ground, then watching it nearly drown several times.

It’s the time of the year when the spanners come out and repairs are made.
So, I found myself taking off the green rubber panel and refitting the retraction tines on the auger.
Actually, it is much easier to do with the header on its trailer, accessing the removable panels from where the straw elevator/feeder housing attaches to the header.

Then I lowered the auger from its upper most position, back down to where it should be for cereals and while I was at it, replaced any of the bent or missing lifters.

Now it is all set back I feel very much better to have got it looking like it should do again.
There are a few things I need to do to the rest of the Combine, including unwrapping Linseed straw from the front Straw walker crank.
I’d better check the condition of the Rotary Separator and Straw Flow Beater as well.

I know that once I have done that, I will be feeling much better still.
But I’m so please with how the Header looks again, that can wait until the new year.

Throughout it all, the one thing that performed faultlessly, despite the most awful conditions was the Dual Stream Knife. Especially now those adjustable chains that prevent it from dropping excessively whilst turning on the headlands. Amazing how something so simple can make such a difference!


On top of which, we lost my boss, who died in October aged 82.
He knew his time was up, wanting to die at home rather than in Hospital. During his last 2 weeks, he would have a glass of champagne at 9 o’clock in the morning. He died whilst being read his favourite Poetry by TS Elliot.
That is the sort of guy he was!
We had a lot of fun together over the years and I get on really well with his son, who is taking over the reigns, though somewhat from the deep end!
But he is doing a fantastic job.

Their 16 year old Granddaughter/daughter came and helped drive the Combine last Harvest (in the wheat!).
She is very enthusiastic and particularly interested in the Zero-til/Direct drilling we do here.
Both Steve, my ten years older version on of me who helps me at Harvest and I were very impressed with her and look forward to her help and enthusiasm again next year.

I’d like to thank everybody else for their kind words and advice again, through the year, especially @CPF.
Let’s all just hope that the weather improves enough that there is something to harvest in 2024.

Happy Christmas everyone.

 

[CPF]

It was a pleasure to help you.
Have a good Christmas , and have a few beers New Year’s Eve

 

[B'o'B]

What a year!
Since harvest, I’ve just not wanted to look at, let alone do any maintenance to the Combine.
There are several jobs looming to readjust it back from the modifications we made to harvest the Winter Linseed to harvesting Cereals, particularly on the header.

I still find myself thinking or particularly at night dreaming of the horror story the harvest was, followed by getting the following crop into the ground, then watching it nearly drown several times.

It’s the time of the year when the spanners come out and repairs are made.
So, I found myself taking off the green rubber panel and refitting the retraction tines on the auger.
Actually, it is much easier to do with the header on its trailer, accessing the removable panels from where the straw elevator/feeder housing attaches to the header.
View attachment 1154404

Then I lowered the auger from its upper most position, back down to where it should be for cereals and while I was at it, replaced any of the bent or missing lifters.
View attachment 1154406

Now it is all set back I feel very much better to have got it looking like it should do again.
There are a few things I need to do to the rest of the Combine, including unwrapping Linseed straw from the front Straw walker crank.
I’d better check the condition of the Rotary Separator and Straw Flow Beater as well.

I know that once I have done that, I will be feeling much better still.
But I’m so please with how the Header looks again, that can wait until the new year.

Throughout it all, the one thing that performed faultlessly, despite the most awful conditions was the Dual Stream Knife. Especially now those adjustable chains that prevent it from dropping excessively whilst turning on the headlands. Amazing how something so simple can make such a difference!


On top of which, we lost my boss, who died in October aged 82.
He knew his time was up, wanting to die at home rather than in Hospital. During his last 2 weeks, he would have a glass of champagne at 9 o’clock in the morning. He died whilst being read his favourite Poetry by TS Elliot.
That is the sort of guy he was!
We had a lot of fun together over the years and I get on really well with his son, who is taking over the reigns, though somewhat from the deep end!
But he is doing a fantastic job.

Their 16 year old Granddaughter/daughter came and helped drive the Combine last Harvest (in the wheat!).
She is very enthusiastic and particularly interested in the Zero-til/Direct drilling we do here.
Both Steve, my ten years older version on of me who helps me at Harvest and I were very impressed with her and look forward to her help and enthusiasm again next year.

I’d like to thank everybody else for their kind words and advice again, through the year, especially @CPF.
Let’s all just hope that the weather improves enough that there is something to harvest in 2024.

Happy Christmas everyone.

Interesting you lifted the auger for linseed, I’ve always dropped it adjusted the stripper plates so they were virtually touching the auger. Thats what I had been recommended to do by Claas, so automatically did the same when we changed to Case.

 

[Two Tone]

Interesting you lifted the auger for linseed, I’ve always dropped it adjusted the stripper plates so they were virtually touching the auger. Thats what I had been recommended to do by Claas, so automatically did the same when we changed to Case.

I think whichever way works to stop the Linseed straw wrapping on the auger has got to be right.

The previous 2 years we had little if any trouble leaving the auger set exactly the same as for the cereals.
What we found then was that it was a case of adjusting the fore and aft of the knife from the auger - pull it close to start the run so that the auger would grab it and pull it in, then push it forward so that the straw fell under the auger.

But this year, because the Linseed was badly lodged in all directions, it was a hell of a job to stop it wrapping - mostly in the centre of the auger where there is no auger flight. But also all along the auger where the flight is.
We tried removing the full width retraction tines where the auger was and that made it worse, by making it feed very unevenly. So we put them back.

It wasn’t just a case of getting it to go up the straw elevator, but trying to stop lumps of it, which would build up and wrap around the straw flow beater and then the rotary separator in front of it.

It was @CPF ‘s idea to remove 3 rows of the central retraction tines and fit the rubber flap as shown in post 81, which had a dramatic effect. But we still had some wrapping on either side of the auger where the flight is, which encouraged @CPF to raise the auger to its maximum height.
It worked that way for us.

But I see the logic of your way too, as long maybe, as it isn’t lodged.

What it comes down to is to keep it standing and pray for the sun.
But I’ll never grow the stuff again, that is for sure. And knowing that, is what does allow me to get to sleep again and stop - no reduce the trauma of it all.


This is what it looked like when I desiccated it - still standing

And by the time we got to harvest it after all those heavy thunderstorms

 

[Martin Holden]

I think whichever way works to stop the Linseed straw wrapping on the auger has got to be right.

The previous 2 years we had little if any trouble leaving the auger set exactly the same as for the cereals.
What we found then was that it was a case of adjusting the fore and aft of the knife from the auger - pull it close to start the run so that the auger would grab it and pull it in, then push it forward so that the straw fell under the auger.

But this year, because the Linseed was badly lodged in all directions, it was a hell of a job to stop it wrapping - mostly in the centre of the auger where there is no auger flight. But also all along the auger where the flight is.
We tried removing the full width retraction tines where the auger was and that made it worse, by making it feed very unevenly. So we put them back.

It wasn’t just a case of getting it to go up the straw elevator, but trying to stop lumps of it, which would build up and wrap around the straw flow beater and then the rotary separator in front of it.

It was @CPF ‘s idea to remove 3 rows of the central retraction tines and fit the rubber flap as shown in post 81, which had a dramatic effect. But we still had some wrapping on either side of the auger where the flight is, which encouraged @CPF to raise the auger to its maximum height.
It worked that way for us.

But I see the logic of your way too, as long maybe, as it isn’t lodged.

What it comes down to is to keep it standing and pray for the sun.
But I’ll never grow the stuff again, that is for sure. And knowing that, is what does allow me to get to sleep again and stop - no reduce the trauma of it all.


This is what it looked like when I desiccated it - still standing
View attachment 1154546

And by the time we got to harvest it after all those heavy thunderstorms
View attachment 1154547

Linseed. Thr work of the devil. Maybe you’ll be growing baked beans instead soon. Wardy seemed to have some success this year all be it a very late harvest.

 

[Two Tone]

see below

 

[Two Tone]

Linseed. Thr work of the devil. Maybe you’ll be growing baked beans instead soon. Wardy seemed to have some success this year all be it a very late harvest.

Am growing Winter Beans, or trying to after a break of them since 2017. Got about 2/3rds in but the rest is too wet.
If it dries up, there may still be time to get them in.

Though, we have now entered a new additional CS agreement exclusively for AB6 Enhanced overwintered stubbles, paying £522/ha. But we cannot do it in the 1st year, so hence the Beans.

However, as from next autumn, WTF would I want to grow any break crops for?

As for the other “Wardy” (I am also one!), yes looks interesting and I hope it works (this time!!).
We looked them with Grainseed Ltd at Eye, Suffolk and Geoffrey Gent at the PGRO at Thornlaugh, near Peterborough, 35 years ago using Navy Beans (the same as Capulet).

Yes it worked but the buyers preferred the American Beans, because they had been reliably using many hundreds of thousands of tonnes of them for year and didn’t want the hassle of using U.K. grown beans of unreliable yield and quality.


Basically, stop messing around with unreliable “Queer gear” crops that aren’t really suitable for the UK and retain one’s sanity!

Nuff said!!

 

[Martin Holden]

Am growing Winter Beans, or trying to after a break of them since 2017. Got about 2/3rds in but the rest is too wet.
If it dries up, there may still be time to get them in.

Though, we have now entered a new additional CS agreement exclusively for AB6 Enhanced overwintered stubbles, paying £522/ha. But we cannot do it in the 1st year, so hence the Beans.

However, as from next autumn, WTF would I want to grow any break crops for?

As for the other “Wardy” (I am also one!), yes looks interesting and I hope it works (this time!!).
We looked them with Grainseed Ltd at Eye, Suffolk and Geoffrey Gent at the PGRO at Thornlaugh, near Peterborough, 35 years ago using Navy Beans (the same as Capulet).

Yes it worked but the buyers preferred the American Beans, because they had been reliably using many hundreds of thousands of tonnes of them for year and didn’t want the hassle of using U.K. grown beans of unreliable yield and quality.


Basically, stop messing around with unreliable “Queer gear” crops that aren’t really suitable for the UK and retain one’s sanity!

Nuff said!!

I agree with the option of SFi etc why would you bother with a break crop. I mean it’s not like the nation needs food security. Numpties in Westminster, the lot of them!

 

[Two Tone]

Copied and pasted for the record:

Very wet day here, so I got on with something I have been putting off for ages.

Many will remember the catastrophic time I and @CPF had combining our Winter Linseed last year which seriously almost sent into a nervous breakdown!
Honestly, the only thing that kept me sane was realising that I will never grow or harvest the f’ing stuff again.

I finished harvesting the wretched stuff on Sunday September 3rd. I normally like to put the combine away having at least blown it down. The crop fought me and my Combine right to the end and I’d had enough.
Even taking the header off the last time, I had to spend half an hour under the front axle cutting wrapped Linseed straw away from the traction shafts between the gearbox and the final reduction drives.

There were many alterations we had made, especially to the header to make it feed the retted Linseed in. I spent a day just before Christmas setting it back to normal. I felt so much better having got it back to normal.

However, there was another unwrapping job that needed doing and I did it today: The Straw walkers front crank.

I knew it was going to be a bar-steward and I tried shutting the top sieves right up, laying some plywood on top and attacking it with a penknife. Hopeless!
So I attached a sharp knife to an aluminium pole and worked away from the back of the sieves, which had some effect. Then I made and put a hook on another pole and hooked a lot of it off.

I found it best to twist the pole to try to create a straw rope as I pulled it backwards

Finally I was able to crawl back in and get the last bits off by hand.

I had to rotate the walkers a bit occasionally so as get a better grip. It was very stiff to try to move the belts by hand so I had to start the engine and put the drum in gear to loosen everything up. Unfortunately it threw the Straw flow beater belt off. I knew I wanted to take the cover off the Rotary Separator under the back of the grain tank to check it.
So I did this, pulled some crap out reattached the straw flow beater drive belt.
Steve, my harvest helper, @CPF and I have intimate knowledge of doing this procedure several time last harvest.
Hopefully never again!
Now actually looking forward to using her again this coming harvest.

 

[Rooney]

We had linseed two years, (back in 1990s) first year a breeze flew up and down fields, next year wrapping badly. Need dry weather and sunshine - which you know. Best bet set fire to it if lodged like that i think and save the mental torture.