Pre-Harvest Maintenance Tips
Pre-Harvest Maintenance Tips
At Geringhoff we pride ourselves on providing the best customer support in the industry and, like you, we know that downtime is never an option. In our continued effort to keep you up and running, we’ve put together these early maintenance tips to help you prepare for harvest!
Click on a pre-harvest maintenance topic to jump to that section.
General Maintenance Checklist
General Maintenance for All Heads
- Put the head on a combine
- Always use the factory installed safety stops while working under a head
- Check engagement of combine locks to the head – adjusting as necessary
- Make sure single point connections are clean before connection, hooking them together
- Do a general walk around of the head
- Check for any obvious issues with the head (i.e. leaking seals, rolled poly, loose bearings, etc.)
- Change all gearbox oils if not done post-season
- Check oil, in level position, for all gearboxes
- Crown gearbox (PTO drive line) - bottom check plug
- Miter gearbox - center check plug
- All row unit gearboxes
- Grease all grease points on the head as defined in the owner’s manual – including annual grease points
- PTO shaft
- Bearing connection
- Row units
- Check gathering chains for wear
- Check the slot left for the slider from the bottom of the head, under the skid shoe
- Chains are nearing the end of their usable life when they are 1/2" or less from the end of the slot
- Check auger drive chain for proper tension and check auger drive sprocket for alignment
- Proper tension for auger drive chain is 1/2" deflection
- Remove and clean movable deck plates and ensure that they move freely during operation
- Ensure all deck plates are adjusted the same and are 1/8" wider in the back
- Check the auger/auger stripper clearance and adjust as necessary
- Check cutoff block for wear
- Ensure all safety shields are in place
- Start the head and run at a low idle
- If adjustments were made on the row units watch and listen for any interference between moving parts
Head Specific Maintenance Checklist
North Star* Heads
- Check knife adjustment/wear and adjust/replace as necessary
- North Star* knives are considered worn when you can no longer get the proper tolerances for adjustment
- 2 mm at the front of the row and 0.5 mm towards the gearbox
Rota Disc Heads
- Check discs for wear and replace as necessary
- Rota Disc discs are considered worn out at 110 mm
- Check stationary and rotating knives for wear/adjustment and adjust/replace as necessary
- Stationary/rotating knives are considered worn when you can no longer get the proper 0.5 mm adjustment
- If no interference is detected run the head at idle for 30 seconds and shut down if any chopping shaft bearings were replaced
- If bearings were replaced check the bearing housings for any heat – they should be cool to the touch
- If there are any that are hot the bearing housing will need to be replaced
Horizon Heads
- Check chopping blades for wear and replace as necessary
- Blade sets are balanced and must be replaced as a pair
- While running at a low idle make sure all swinging blades are engaged and spinning
- If they are engaged but not spinning it may be necessary to replace the shear shaft or friction disc
Folding Heads
- Check for proper operation of all folding components
- Check to make sure folding lock pins fully engage and adjust if necessary
- When head is unfolded check for proper ATP box alignment
- The measurement should be the same where it bolts to the frame as it is away from the frame
- After this measurement is properly aligned check the preload on the clutches – there should be 2-3 mm of preload
Parts Tips
Tips for inspecting common wear parts
Parts Kits
View corn head and draper head parts kits
