Baler Belt Keeps Feederhouse From Plugging

Baler belt keeps feederhouse from plugging COMBINES Accessories 16-1-7 When sunflower stalks caused the feeder-house conveyor chain on his combine to plug up, Fred Last, Homewood, Manitoba, solved the problem by replacing the original conveyor chain with a chain that's got a round baler belt attached to it. "The feederhouse conveyor chain on my 1976 New Holland 1500 self-propelled combine moved so slow that sunflower heads and stalks fell between the slats and wrapped around the feederhouse shaft until it quit driving," says Last. "The only way to unplug the conveyor chain was to remove the header which I had to do every 20 acres or so. The baler belt keeps crop material from falling between the slats. I combined 200 acres with it last fall and never plugged up once. I think it would work in any crop where feederhouse plugging could be a problem." Last removed the rivets from the conveyor chain slats and bolted them to the top of the 16-ft long, 52-in. wide belt, putting the chain below the belt. He used finishing bolts, inserting them from the bottom up through the belt, then tightened the nuts down on top of the slats. "There wasn't room fora wrench to tighten the nuts on the last few bolts where the belt ends joined together so I had to weld the bolts to the chain to hold them in place," says Last. "It was a tricky job. I used an old conveyor chain so I could keep the original conveyor chain in top condition for combining small grain because it does a better job of pulling bunched-up grain apart." For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Fred Last, Box 25, Homewood, Manitoba, Canada ROG OYO (ph 204 745-3066).

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