[dmaxdiesel]

We have a '91 9400 deere we use to run a 20' table on for wheat and soybeans and a 843 head on in corn. My father was told by another farmer to remove the filler plates and it would help reduce power requirements and do a better job in wheat. I just found this fourm and it looks like if anyone would know it would be you guys. Can i leave the filler plates out for all three crops and what are the goods and bads of not having filler plates, any other adjustments i need to make because of the removal of the filler plates? thanks

 

[bushel]

hi dmd,

it might depend on what kind of wheat you have
if you have normal or hard threshing wheat

i can just speak for the hard threshing stuff
in that case you cant get down
with the power requirements and have a better
sample at the same time

 

[9500my89]

Yes I would definitely recommend removing the filler plates for wheat & beans.The filler plates are necessary if you need to harvest very high moisture corn i.e, over 30pts.

 

[stubby]

We run filler plates on all our crops. (Wheat, chick peas, and dry peas). It seems to help threshing especially in wheat as we seem to get a lot of white caps without them. As Ubuntu says though, it more about the conditions of your crops.

 

[oklahomajoe]

Just put a new concave in my 8820, did not reinstall the filler plates. We cut wheat, beans, milo, corn and canola. The guy helping me could not understand why a person would want them. I hope I did not make a mistake leaving them out. Please, someone explain their benefit with them in and how it helps with threshing grain. Our primary crop is wheat.

Thanks

 

[smooth]

the filler plates on the cylinder are most beneficial in corn. they help to keep the cobs from getting broken up and ending up in the sample. don't really see the need for them in small grains, and it seemed to me to maybe take alittle more hp. and is easier to slug in wheat. i would suggest when running a machine with them installed to put a few golf balls in to help keep the dirt loose for better cylinder balance.

stubby have you ever tried concave inserts to help the white-cap problem?

 

[oklahomajoe]

I guess I miss understood the term filler plates and what they are. I was aware of filler plates on the cylinder used for corn, but the ones that are on my concave are what I am asking about. They were put their by the previous owner, who are very experienced custom harvesters, and are located low and to the front of the concave. They seem to block off part of the concave and cause the wheat to be threshed farther up the cocave. They are bolted underneath and cause the front portion of the cocave to fill with grain. This may be a dumb question, but I am still not sure that I understand the theory of why they are used.

 

[jd9600guru]

I have got in the habit of taking them out for wheat harvest, seems to feed better and makes a BIG difference in cylinder viberation.

Back in for corn and they stay in thru bean harvest unless the beans are green and tough.

These are the kuchar plates I should mention.

 

[cliffcutter]

We're on our 2nd set of filler plates for our 8820 that is used mostly in corn and beans and occasionally wheat.We believe strongly in them.They're meant to help keep the crop mat pressed between the concave and raspbars and to keep it moving rearward.Having small bits of crop or residue inside the cylinder would serve no useful purpose.We also have golf balls inside the cylinder (one ball per section of raspbar/fillerplate holder).We got this idea from a JD mechanic.The balls fly around inside the cylinder to keep the dust and debris from taking a set against the raspbars and filler plates.They work slick for this and we've never lost one or had one break up.

To eliminate the vibration/rumble a cylinder makes when starting up,we "feather" the separator engagement lever to slowly turn the cylinder so the dirt can fall out between the gaps between the raspbars and filler plates.Then we fully engage it and go wide open throttle to move it on out the back of the machine in huge cloud of dust.It's best to do this when you shut down for the night so it's ready to go the next day.

If I remember right the 9000 series filler plates might have narrow slots cut in them so the dirt falls out of them easier.And with an electric separator clutch there'd be no way to to feather it on.It's either on or off with a bang on these machines.

 

[ralf]

I will try to explain a few things:

filler plates:
are bolted to the cylinder in between the rasp bars. They were originally meant to harvest corn, to keep the cobs from going inside the cylinder, where they do not do anything. The filler plates keep the corn cobs in between the rasp bars and the concave to get the kernels rolled off the cob.
In wheat it is generally suggested to remove the filler plates. Since the wheat head is attached to the straw it can not get inside the cylinder. But the gap between the rasp bars allows the crop matt to fluff up before it gets hit again by the next bar. That is similar to old age hand threshing with the stick.
Some operators run stripper heads. In this case only the wheat head goes into the combine and the straw is left in the field. Filler plates are required in this case to keep the wheat heads between cylinder and concave.

concave inserts:
are placed in the rear of the concave, where the wires end. By filling the big holes in the concave, the crop mat is kept in longer and therefore threshed longer. I have never tried this in wheat, but it is necessary in high moisture corn. High moisture corn needs to stay in the concave longer, because the kernels are tougher to get of the cob, what takes more threshing time.
In dry corn it can vary. I have been in corn varieties, where I had to fill the hole back side of the concave with inserts to keep the husks moving instead of plugging the rear of the concave. In other varieties I had to take all the inserts out to keep the kernels from going up onto the walkers.