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Post by kevlar on Aug 23, 2021 17:18:46 GMT -6
So this is how my life goes. Finally bought a 13 inch auger, have put it off for a couple years now. Got a Westfield 13 x 71 foot, 4 years old in mint condition, came from a farm our size, so not a huge amount of grain through it, no fertilizer, and always shedded. Cleaned up a couple bins and put into a hopper bin, and of course with my luck, just as I emptied the last bit of the last load, a chunk of cement went up the auger, just barely fit through the grate of the auger which is 3x3 inches. Never heard it go up the auger and couldn't get around to the tractor fast enough to stop it. Now it has a rattle and shakes a bit. We pulled it apart and took out the flighting, everything looks straight and good. I'm wondering now if at the join of the first two pieces maybe has a bit of a twist or something there, the rattle is just below the first join in the tube, and gets a bit warm where it's making the noise.
Has anyone ever straightened out a piece of flighting, is it something a machine shop can do or are we looking at buying a new piece? A shop close by can fix bent header augers, might call them tomorrow and see. This is just how things go around here, can't seem to keep anything in new condition! Only got to put about 3000 bushels through it before this happened  |
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Post by Oatking on Aug 23, 2021 17:34:07 GMT -6
I had my farm king 13-85 auger straightened at Rosenort Motors. The mechanic did a good job as it ran true afterwards. Replacement was expensive. Two sections was about 5000. Kevlar it was not perfect after but when full of grain it ran well. I think the shop you mentioned should be able to do a good job.
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Post by Beerwiser on Aug 23, 2021 18:00:47 GMT -6
I have only done it on 7" that is used to unload coal. All I did is roll it slowly on a nice smooth concrete floor and have someone watch for gaps and bent it accordingly. Wasn't perfect, but for coal it is always noisy. How long are the joints? Even laying a string across the flighting might should where the problem is.
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Post by generalchaos on Aug 23, 2021 20:19:50 GMT -6
When you put it back together you need to put pressure on it when you reattach the bearing. You have to stretch the flighting.
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Post by kevlar on Aug 23, 2021 20:34:11 GMT -6
I was just looking through the manual and reread how to set that top bearing, I may not have put enough tension on it. Will give that a try tomorrow.
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Post by Albertabuck on Aug 23, 2021 21:21:26 GMT -6
I can't see that hunk of concrete causing any real issue, the flighting is deep enough no way it could cause anything to bottom out. I don't know how the joints are connected, I know with my TR10-51 it had begun to shake and rattle when empty more than originally. Now I never run it fast either, lucky if I ever run it much over maybe 350-400RPM and thats loaded, always slow it down when empty. But one fall I was getting it ready and while running it to get rid of a birds nest in the crown, half of a half inch bolt fell out. Long story short, that bolt had been broke for a while. The second one was wore a fair bit. Drilled everything out to 9/16, put in two Gr8 bolts, locknutted and all, never run so quiet before. Certain speeds can set up resonance in an auger, bit slower or faster and it goes away, but at that just right certain speed they can literally rattle themselves apart when empty. This happens with both big and small. Its the grain the flighting rides on while working, when empty, most of the flighting is dragging on the tube. The fact you mention it is getting warm close to the joint is what makes me suspicious.
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Post by Albertabuck on Aug 23, 2021 21:30:11 GMT -6
I forgot, yes you can straighten flighting. Small diamter or where it don't need to be exact, like someone said, roll it on the floor and adjust as required. But to do the larger stuff proper, bit more to it. The deeper flighting though usually needs to be shrunk on the side that stretched as it bent else it will end up with a bit of ripple when it is straightened back out. Done with heat, exactly like how you shrink sheet metal while doing bodywork. Its a science and intriguing to watch someone do it who really knows what they are doing.
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Post by kevlar on Aug 23, 2021 22:04:09 GMT -6
We took it apart at each join and the bolts were good and they had a tight fit, everything looked good. I had doubts about the cement doing anything as well, like you said there is lots of room in there, but I remember one time on a ten inch auger it got a stone jammed between the tube and the edge of the flighting, banged like crazy, thought the top bearing had gone, luck had it the stone was right near the top and noticed it while checking the bearing. I imagine it would have worked it's way out eventually, but it took a good pry to get it out. That was my first thought of what might be the issue here, but not so.
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Post by SWMan on Aug 23, 2021 22:19:22 GMT -6
Maybe the tube isn't straight? Proper setup on a large auger is key. Same thing happens to me with something new, always wreck something. Backed away from the header last year without unhooking the multi-coupler, combine was less than a week old.  |
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Post by meskie on Aug 29, 2021 0:01:40 GMT -6
I just thought that all Westfield augers shook and rattled from new. All ours have.
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Post by kenmb on Aug 29, 2021 8:43:52 GMT -6
Our mk10 x 71 would have periods where it rattled a lot and then would settle down. Just kept running it. First year with the new Meridian 10 x72 and can't find one way that the Meridian performs better than the old wore out Westfield. Yes, it is probably quieter when empty. And the access doors are better, which is nice because the manual calls for daily greasing where as the Westfield got greased when it crossed my mind sometime during harvest.
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Post by kevlar on Aug 29, 2021 9:47:45 GMT -6
We tightened up the bearing a bit at the top of the auger like mentioned earlier, it seemed to help a bit. Still seems to rattle more than I would like, but a part of me is wondering if it actually rattled like this when we first used it but still being in the honeymoon phase with it, never noticed it. Will use it this fall and maybe take it apart again in the winter and check it all again.
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Post by kenmb on Aug 29, 2021 10:34:42 GMT -6
It's one of those things that after you have done due diligence you have a choice: start changing stuff out or run it.
A bad decision is to run something without doing due diligence.
If you have done your due diligence, ran it, and it grenades I would simply chalk it up as life happens. It's when you grenade something and never bothered to even check into it that there is blame to be had.
But yes, our Westfield would make a God awful racket now and then when empty. The whole auger would shake badly, more so than the normal shaking of an empty auger.
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