[NDfarmer2]

Has anyone installed a thermistor or similar device on the straw chopper bearing and installed a temperature gauge in the cab? Just heard of another new combine melted down because of the hot bearing. Saw one on fire just this fall.

 

[SWMan]

We were checking the temperatures a couple of times daily with a temperature gun. A couple of bearings were changed in season and ran hotter for a day or two and then stabilized.

Also check the run-out on the chopper rotor and the internal shaft through the chopper to see if bent. We have learned that the one combine that I have been having bearing issues with from day one has a bent chopper rotor!!! The other one has never lost a bearing but this one has been a constant headache.

I was also putting a little bit of grease into those bearings daily through fall which seems to be the current approach to the issue. New updated bearings are coming but don't ask me when...

 

[duane1620]

not sure what models you are talking about but I just changed out a chopper bearing on my 1620. the flange failed or the rubber ring failed causing the flange to fail which dropped the shaft onto the side shield and wore a hole into the side shield. we cut out the bad and welded in new metal. the chopper sensor never went off as the chopper kept on turning. the chopper blades finally started to hit the chopper pan and that's when I heard it. not a fun job to get the side shield out. sounds like the chopper problem has been around for awhile.

fwiw

Duane

 

[brink444]

I almost had my 7230 burn this fall due to a chopper bearing failure. It had 211 sep hours on it at the time. That was a wake up call. I will be keeping a much closer eye on them from now.

 

[Red Bremen]

Had one bearing go out last year with 150 hours then again this year at 300hrs
After this greased them every 25hrs with 30 pumps and the bearings still run at 190f this is on a 9230 new cab I know guys with 8120 and they only grease once a year!!

 

[torriem]

At the very least we make checking the chopper bearings (all three of them) temperatures part of our walk around check at night after quitting. I think this year we only greased them two or three times over the course of the season.

 

[sasksodbuster]

We had our chopper bearing fail at 140 hours on right side. I wish Case would make up its mind on how often to grease. Latest recommendation is once a year.

 

[NDfarmer2]

Like a indoor outdoor thermometer only the outdoor stat needs to have a much higher temperature range.

 

[MaluHarv]

I personally have been greasing the three chopper bearings everyday at start and give them each about five to seven shots of grease...running about 10 separator hours between greasing....

 

[RunninREDharD]

If I was in this situation, I think I would be going to my local machine shop (if I couldn't do it myself) and have them double the shaft size so it can't bend, double the bearing size so it can take the load and reinforce the cheeks that they are mounted in so that this can't happen. Obviously there is a problem that CIH does not want to address. This situation looks like a high risk where I can not only lose the field I am combining in but the combine itself. That is the last thing you need is for fires in the field and lose your productivity! IMO

 

[torriem]

5 to 7 pumps of grease each day seems to me to be quite excessive. That's more than enough to breach the seals, isn't it?

As for the shaft size, the outer chopper shaft is already very large (maybe two inches?). The inner shaft, though is much smaller, and that's the one that can bend and develop a wobble, which in turn affects everything else, including the bearing mounts.

The ideal situation would be to figure out a way to run a separate jack shaft across the combine, to eliminate the need for the shaft within a shaft.

 

[north1]

2008 8010 with 1100 separator hours. Grease chopper bearings every 100 hrs with 5-6 shots of grease. Shift rotor in low and run at idle for 10 minutes every time after greasing. Still have original bearings and knock on wood no problems. Have standard chopper, don't know if magnacut would make a difference.

 

[Millie]

The second time my bearings went out on my 8120 I went to my local bearing shop and got good timken bearings, with real locking collars. That was 800 hrs ago, never touched them since. I think the problem is those expensive crappie bearings case is selling, they have a tin ring for a lock collar, if your chopper is out of balance at all that tin works out then the bearing goes. The 88 series ran regular bearings on choppers, the cr combines run regular bearings on their back beater, but the flagship case has these funny crappie ones, and guess witch one ***** up all the time.

 

[Christian A. Herrnboeck]

LM35 temperature sensors JBwelded to the bearing housings of major bearings, wired to an arduino board, with a couple LED lights in the cab (1 light for every bearing). If bearing heats to over 65 celsius, light comes on.


Did this on our 8570. Cost 80 bucks. Cheap peace of mind.

Found a bad feeder drive bearing this year long before it would have failed and could change it on a rainy day. PM me if you want details on how I wired it up

 

[torriem]

That's an excellent idea, Christian. Could be a market for it!

1-wire digital temperature ICs are pretty cheap (not as cheap as the lm35 granted), and would make the wiring super simple with two wires from the arduino necessary to read all the sensors.

 

[Grumpyfarmer]

The second time my bearings went out on my 8120 I went to my local bearing shop and got good timken bearings, with real locking collars. That was 800 hrs ago, never touched them since. I think the problem is those expensive crappie bearings case is selling, they have a tin ring for a lock collar, if your chopper is out of balance at all that tin works out then the bearing goes. The 88 series ran regular bearings on choppers, the cr combines run regular bearings on their back beater, but the flagship case has these funny crappie ones, and guess witch one ***** up all the time.

Good thinking with the timken bearings! Would you be able to post the part numbers? With all these bearing stories I think I better have a spare set handy for next year.

 

[MNfarmer85]

The ideal situation would be to figure out a way to run a separate jack shaft across the combine, to eliminate the need for the shaft within a shaft.

Don't own one and haven't paid much attention to the chopper area of one either at a dealership or at a farm show, but what's the inner shaft driving? Might make for a cleaner looking machine to eliminate a separate shaft but if its going to cause expensive and damaging failures sounds like it would be better to run that shaft somewhere else.

Our combine is an old 1460 and the chopper bearings still look to be the original ones even with 5200 engine hours, non greaseable also.

 

[SWMan]

but what's the inner shaft driving?

It drives a small belt up to the rotoscreen, also the tailings processor and there is one other belt going forward to(I think???) the elevators.

 

[torriem]

Basically everything on the right side of the combine is driven by that shaft inside the chopper shaft. Though I think the rotary screen is driven from a pulley on the engine itself. But the shaker, rethresher, and elevator are all driven by this shaft. Though oddly enough the shaker is powered on the left side, but it gets power from the tailings auger, which in turn is run by the big pulley on the right-hand side. Clear as mud?

 

[MNfarmer85]

Basically everything on the right side of the combine is driven by that shaft inside the chopper shaft. Though I think the rotary screen is driven from a pulley on the engine itself. But the shaker, rethresher, and elevator are all driven by this shaft. Though oddly enough the shaker is powered on the left side, but it gets power from the tailings auger, which in turn is run by the big pulley on the right-hand side. Clear as mud?

Wow that's a lot... Probably would take a totally separate shaft running through somewhere else to cure that problem, and while they are at it make it a bit larger so its not going to bend. I know metals have changed over the years but on old combines anything pulling those kind of loads that shaft sounds like it takes would have been 2" themselves. Reason I say that is years ago they wouldn't have had a shaft that big for the elevators, but that was 1/3 the grain running through them also. Same with all those other components.

Either that or time for that chopper shaft to get a heck of a lot bigger...