[kirbyfarms]

I have a '01 2388 with a 1020 head and went to cut a bit of wheat today and it would bunch up in the header, right in front of the feeder drum! First off the wheat straw is a bit green, but it did this to me last year in the middle of harvest and I thought i had fixed the problem. I had a ploy skid liner in the bottom of the feeder house and the crop had a two inch climb to go up, so I took out the ploy skid out and thought that would fix it. The combine has field tracker on the feeder house and a rock drum in the feeder. The drum is adjusted all the way to the highest position. On the header, the wheat is not wrapping around the auger, I have the stripper bars all the way out but not rubbing, but when it gets to the feeder it justs bunches up on top of the auger in front of the feeder drum. After that happens nothing will feed in. Any help or advice is much appreciated!!!

 

[adk247]

move the drum down

 

[goalie]

Drum should be in middle position. Also make sure the fingers are timed right.

 

[combinekid]

I would make sure that the bottom drum stop is no higher than the mid position. Also we normally like to run some half links in the feeder chain to get the drum out a little further because of the field tracker mounted on the front. At least one half link, and if the chain is fairly new, you may be able to run up to three half links in each strand. Usually the closer you can get the feeder drum to the auger, the better it will feed. Also make sure that all you're retractable auger fingers are in place and they are timed properly. Opinions vary on whether you need auger flight extensions or not. It might not be as much of an issue being that you have an 88 series with the wider feeder, but some guys still think that they feed better with them on. Also if the straw is tough or green, it definitely will not feed as well. Hope this helps.

 

[superh]

Run with the front drum as far forward as possible. On a machine with tracker the book shows that the max distance from the feeder house slat the the tracker plate is 1&1/2" have seen a lot of tracker machines with this distance a LOT more than that and they don't feed for hoot... If you machine has a rock trap and it is backfeeding check out my web site www.razorrockbeaters.com or send me a e-mail.

 

[hydro100]

Also may want to check that the stripper plates are properly adjusted. It could be that the auger is pulling the straw up over the top and the combine is never given a chance to grab it.

 

[jalopy]

throw your stone drum in the iron pile and get a smooth one, problem solved

 

[redhat]

Stone drum works fine as long as it is allowed to float and the lower stop is in the lower or mid position for wheat. The std smooth drum will feed slightly better than the stone drum but not worth changing for that sake alone.
Make sure the feeder slats don't contact the feeder face when drum is set forward.

 

[jalopy]

I feel this guys pain, I had same machine same header same problem, I tried everything, all drum positions, lengthened feeder chain, all finger timing, all auger positions, all combinations, nothing helped. Even worse I was cutting in the same field with a deere, he was having no trouble. I was ready to light it on fire.

Finally swapped out the stone drum, problem gone.

Some varieties and straw conditions are worse than others.

Just my experience.

 

[combinekid]

I know this would sound far fetched, but I have talked to a few guys with feeder chains that had slats with edges wore round use a grinder to square them up again. Never done it myself, but they said it helped. Serreated slats will feed a little better too. I'm in the same boat, I have never had a feeding issue with a combine that couldn't be solved. Everybody around here has a stone drum. A smooth drum is very rare to be seen around here.

 

[pureel]

If this was the first harvesting for the season it may take a few acres to get your header "polished up" it should work fine after that. Also do you have pickup reels on your header being a 1020 you should have try adjusting your teeth to pull the cropp in closer to the auger. Also this is a strecth but is it clean between your auger and your feeder drum. No dirt or anything in there. Good Luck

 

[kirbyfarms]

Thanks a MILLION!!! Jalopy, bought a smooth drum out of salvage and installed it today and NEVER had a feeding issue all day. Wish I would of done this a couple of years ago. We have checked the timing of the auger fingers and a lot of the other stuff, but that fixed it. P.S. have a stone drum for sale!!!! REAL cheap too!!!