when I do an inspection I keep a small notepad in my pocket, before starting the engine I check all dipsticks, take off all shields, walk around and look at bearings and rubber bushings, look under augers for cracks or holes, look at tranny and finals for grease or leaks on the ground or tin, open elevator doors and wiggle chains to see how tight they are and look at sprockets, how much rock on the walker blocks, on each side of the combine there is a tall thin shield that opens up to behind the concave, front of walkers and rear of shoe augers. I check the wood blocks on the back of the shoe augers,
look at bottom of walkers and sides for bends or cracks, look at top of walkers for bends or cracks on the sides, how are the rooster combs, check chaffer and sieve for cracks in frame, look that all the rows are in the same place, if a couple are laying flat it might be a simple fix or might be a broken unit. check augers for sharp edges,
start combine engage separator at idle, swing unload auger in and out, turn on the unloading auger a couple times, open and close concave a couple times and watch the gauge outside the cab, change fan speed or cylinder speed and watch gauge in cab,
walk around machine at idle and just watch idlers and pulleys spin, is everything smooth, what noises do you hear, then wind her up and feel for vibrations, change in noises.
I like to jack up each axle to see if there is any movement in the axle, on concrete you can push on a rear tire to see if the rear axle rocks.
