The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1918-08-29

prepared by the United States Depart
ment OF Agriculture)
The most essential thing in setting
a separator for thrashing is to get it
level. Here again the thrasherman
should not guess, but should have a
good spirit level and use it at every
setting To do its best work the ma
chine must be as nearly level as pos
sib!e from side to side, and it is gen.
orally conceded best 10 have it level
lengthwise, although a few inches diff
ference in level between the front and
rear ends is not likely to be detri-
mental. If 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
for a 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
will make the shafts all run against
the bearings on the lower side and
have a tendency to cause them to heat.
1t 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 if the machine is set on
barn floor, 1t should be leveled care
fully, for barn floors are rarely pre-
cisely level, and the weight of a sepa-
ratOr may make it sag in weak places.
The main drive belt should hang
loosely over the pulleys, with Just
enough tension to keep 1t running
smoothly. If it is too tight, it will
hdVe a tendency to pull the separator
out of place and will put unnecessary
strain on the cylinder shaft and box
ings and possibly make them heat or
pull the cylinder out of line so that
the teeth will not run true.
When thrashing in the Open 1t is
well to pay attention to the direction
of the wind, if there is any cholca
in the direction in which the machine
is to be set. 1t is much more pleasant
for the men working ut the machine
If 1t can be set so that the wind blows
the dust and chaff away from them
If steam engine is used the setting
should be such also that sparks viii
be carried away from the separator
and straw stack.
The separate" should always be
blocked sOlidly to prevent vibration as
much rs possible, and to prevent the
belt from pulling the machine for
ward. It will frequently save some
time if blocks of the right size an
shape for this purpose are selected OF
prepared before the thrashing starts
and carried with the machine from
place to place. WornOut or broken
make excellent blocks.
Cylinder and Concaves.
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 such as thoroughly to
loosen all the grain from the heads
without cracking or breaking up the
straw into such fine pieces that scpa-
ration will be difficult.
1t is essential that the cylinder and
cOncaves be adjusted 50 that each
tooth is at all times equally distant
from the two between which it is pass
ing, and that the cOncaveS be kept
close enough to the cylinder that I'M
thrashed heads cannot get through.
The first thing in adjusting the cylin-
der is to see thCt the shaft is aligned
properly. that is, that one end is not
further forward than the other. There
is a constant tendency for the end of
the shaft to which the main drive
pulley is attached to pull forward,
and at the same time force the other
end back. The next step is to take up
any superfluous end play. Some pro-
vision for regulating end play Is found
on all machines. The space that must
be left to prevent friction on the end
of the shaft and consequent heating is
from one thirty-SecOnd to one sixty
fourth of an inch. or just enough to
uiiON tllc 1ltdlI " run llttlN. ANY
more play than is absolutely necessary
should not be tolerated, as it allows
the cylinder teeth to get close to the
cOncave teeth on one side and cOrre-
spondinLly far away on the other. The
distance between the cylinder and con-
cave teeth when properly adjusted is
generally not much over an eighth of
an inch. 1t is easily seen that a very
little end play will cause cracking of
the grain on the one side and allow
unthrashed heads to pass tn 'ough on
the other. For the same reason it
is important that all teeth in both the
cylinder and cOncaves be kept
straight. There should, always, be
wrenches in the tool box for straight
ing any which get out Of line.
SeIf-Feeders.
A large majority of the thrashing
machines of the country are now
equipped with self-feeders. 1t Is a
mistake, however. to assume that be-
cause the feeding is done mechan-
ically the feeder will always deliver
the unthrashed grain to the cylinder