The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1918-08-01
Properly Adjusted end Operated Tiras1Asr ouens. win E,4uin... wassdaa

Properly Adjusted and Operated WI
Preparsd by tho United states Depart
ment Of Agrtculture.)
The most essential thing IN setting
separator for thrashing is to get It
level. Here again the thrasherrnan
should not guess but should have a
good spirit level and use 1t at every
setting. To do its best work the ma
Chine must be - nearly level as pos.
Sible from side to side, and It is, gen.
eral1y conceded best to have It level
qengthwise, although a few inches Off.
ference In level between the front and
rear ends Is not likely to be detri-
mental. II the machine Is set on
soft ground, one or two Of the wheels
may sink further into the ground than,
the others after It has been standing
Tor q short time, and the operator
should not forget to watch this point.
A very slight difference IN level be-
tween the two sides Of the separator
win make the shafts all run against
the bearings on the lower side and
have a tendency to cause them to heat
gt will also cause the grain constantly
TO work toward the low side Of the sep
arator and make It more difficult for
the cleaning mechanism to do good
work. Even II the machine Is set on
b barn floor. It should be leveled care
fully, for barn floors are rarely pre-
cisely level, and the weight OF a ssepA-
rator may make It sag In weak places
The main drive belt should hang
loosely over the pulleys with Just
enough tension to keep It running
smoothly. IL It is too tight, It Will
have q tendency to pun the separator
out Of place and viii put unnecessary
strain on the cylinder shaft and box
1ngs and possibly make them heat or
pull the cylinder out Of line so that
the teeth will not run true.
When thrashing Id the open, It IL
well to pay attention to the direction
OF the wind, II there Is any choice
In the direction tn which the machine
a. to be set It Is much more pleasant
for the men working at the machine
1f 1t can be set SO that the wind blows
the dust and chair away from them.
II a steam engine Is used. the setting
should be such also that sparks will
be carried away from the separator
and straw stack.
The separato- should always be
blocked solidly to prevent vibration as
much as possible, and to prevent the
belt from pulling the machine for
ward. It viii frequently save some
time II blocks Of the right size and
shape for this purpose are selected or
prepared before the thrashing starts
and carried with the machine from
place to place. WORKOUT or broken
plowshares make excellent blocks
: Cylinder and concavea.
The problem Of adjusting the cylin-
der and concaves Is to get them placed
In proper relation to each other, with
the right number and arrangement Of
teeth in the concaves for the grain
that is being thrashed The adjust
ment should be snch as thoroughly to
loosen all the grain from the heads
without cracking u breaking up the
straw into such hne pieces that sepa-
ration VIII be dldlcu1t.
It Is essential that the cylinder and
concaves be adjusted 30 that each
tooth is at all times equally distant
from the two between which q IL pass
ing, and that the cuncavA be Kept
close enough to the cylinder that M
thrashed heads cannot get through.
The first thing III adjusting the cylinr
der Is to PEE that the shaft Is aligned
properly, that is that one end ii not
further forward than the other There
Is q constant tendency for the end Of
the shaft toN which the main drive
pulley Is attached to pm forward,
and al, the same time force the other
end back. The next step Is to take up
any superduous end play. Sonte pro
vision for regulating end play b found
on al machines. The space that must
be left to prevent friction on the end
Of the shaft and consequent heating -
from one thirtysecnnd 70 one sixty-
fourth of an Inch. ar Just enough 10
allow the shaft 10 run freely. ANY
more paay than fs.dbs0autely necessary
should mt be liberated, % Il a1lCWs
the cylinder teeth To Get close to the
concaye teeth On one aide and corTe-
apondinGiys FAR away on the other. The
Distance between the cylinder and con
cave teeth when properly adjusted II
generally not much over an eighth d
m inch. Il Is easily seen that i very
little end play viii cause cracking 3of
Tie grain On the one side ana allow
unthraShed heads % PASS through cn
TIE other. For the same reason s
ii important that al teeth u both the
cylinder and concayes be kept
straight There should alwayA ~
wrenches ID the tool box Tor sfraighA,