POWER WASHING A GLEANER
Printed From: Unofficial Allis
Category: Allis Chalmers
Forum Name: Farm Equipment
Forum Description: everything about Allis-Chalmers farm equipment
URL: https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=154196
Printed Date: 06 Aug 2025 at 2:31pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.10 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: POWER WASHING A GLEANER
Posted By: FREEDGUY
Subject: POWER WASHING A GLEANER
Date Posted: 22 Sep 2018 at 3:53pm
| Do you guys that run "2"(F/M/L) series Gleaners run a power washer on their machines at the end of the season, or just blow it off withe an air compressor/ leaf blower and call it "good"? Thanks |
Replies:
Posted By: wheatbreeder
Date Posted: 22 Sep 2018 at 4:25pm
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Washing after harvesting good if you run the machine a while to dryout the bearings ------------- Farm stuff 8050,6690,175,F2,5050,WD |
Posted By: Ben (MI)
Date Posted: 22 Sep 2018 at 7:07pm
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Power wash then grease and oil chains. ------------- Part time farming with a 1980 7060 and 1984 F3 hydro. |
Posted By: AC7060IL
Date Posted: 22 Sep 2018 at 7:59pm
| What others have already replied, plus vacuum/clean out all grain to remove MOUSE food. |
Posted By: Carl(NWWI)
Date Posted: 22 Sep 2018 at 10:18pm
| Yep, same as the above. A clean combine is a happy combine. |
Posted By: wekracer
Date Posted: 23 Sep 2018 at 7:24am
| My L2 has mot been pressure washed in a couple years. It is probably due. I blow it off good a couple times a season. I just hate getting everything wet. Especially all the electronics. I was actually thinking of posting the same question to see what others do. |
Posted By: FREEDGUY
Date Posted: 23 Sep 2018 at 8:50am
Dad is the same way about getting the combine wet, to my knowledge,it(F2) has never sat out in a rain since we've had it,12 years. Dad not too keen on it sitting out during the night to collect dew
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wekracer wrote:Posted By: Kevin in WA
Date Posted: 23 Sep 2018 at 10:41am
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I vacuum and blow out my M2, I wipe down the sheet metal with a wet rag, I don't like the idea of water getting into everything, but I only harvest wheat and am never in the mud. |
Posted By: shameless dude
Date Posted: 23 Sep 2018 at 12:14pm
| Creston combines wheat in the mud! LOL , I never power washed my combines, just compressed air and dig out any left over grain, and any trash (nesting material) |
Posted By: CrestonM
Date Posted: 23 Sep 2018 at 7:08pm
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Gee, you mess up one time for the sake of keeping the show going, and it sticks with you forever... I never wash combines that stay in a barn. I just blow them off with the air compressor hose. If it's stuff that won't blow off, I'll wipe it off with a rag and use WD-40 if there's grease/oil to clean off. The previous owners of our Super 100 swear it's never been wet, and I'm not about to start now. Air and a rag does it for me. I don't think my grandpa's L3 has ever been wet either...still has the chalk delivery numbers written on the header. Plus, I don't like the idea of getting all the electronics/bearings wet. Just my preference. If you really want to make it nice...rub on some Blue Magic Metal Polish Cream. It'll make your Gleaner shine like a mirror, I kid you not. After using the polish, I can read the "Allis-Chalmers" on my cap crown in the reflection.
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Posted By: FREEDGUY
Date Posted: 25 Sep 2018 at 5:10pm
| CrestonM,is this product an "elbow grease" method( I am not opposed to) or applied with a buffing machine ?? Thanks |
Posted By: CrestonM
Date Posted: 25 Sep 2018 at 5:56pm
| I used to do everything by hand, seein's as I'm too "frugal" to buy a buffer. I did, however, make sort of a buffer by welding a 3" washer to a 1/2" bolt head, which I fit into a drill chuck. I applied a little adhesive to the washer and stuck a buffing pad on that. It actually works well. |
Posted By: FREEDGUY
Date Posted: 25 Sep 2018 at 6:05pm
| Thank You !! Dad does have a power buffer though !! |
Posted By: CrestonM
Date Posted: 25 Sep 2018 at 6:24pm
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The Blue Magic polish is pretty easy to work with. I just smear a little on, let it sit a few seconds, then begin rubbing. It will turn kinda black, and that's the oxidation it's pulling off the galvanized metal. Keep rubbing and it will get that mirror shine to it. I suggest try a small bit of cream in an inconspicuous spot first, just to make sure it gives a result that you like. The application lasts about 2 years from what I've noticed. Then it reverts back to how it was before. If you try this, let me know how it turns out.
One thing I might add...I tried the cream on some exposed galvanized metal on one of my All-Crops, and for some reason, the polish didn't do anything...looked the same before and after. I don't know what the difference is, other than the All-Crop has been outside for 68 years, and the L3 has been inside. |
Posted By: Carl(NWWI)
Date Posted: 25 Sep 2018 at 6:42pm
| Washed many combines, never had an issue. If a bearing fails it's because it either didn't get greased or because it's 30+ years old. If a sealed bearing gets water in it, the seal is rotted anyway, so the bearing is bad regardless. If you never wash it, you will never get all the chaff away from moving components, allowing inaccurate inspections causing in field down time. After washing either my 4 combines or the ones I did at the dealership allowed me to easily find problematic parts. |
Posted By: VAfarmboy
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2018 at 12:55am
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DON'T, JUST DON'T! Trust me on this! We bought a used combine from a AC dealer in another part of the state back in the 80s and when we looked at it it was still sitting in the farmer's shed. Farmer who traded it said it had never sat out in the rain or even had the dew settle on it. We assumed the dealer was going to load it up on his trailer and haul it straight from his farm to our farm dust and all since it was a used machine. If they had, most of the dust would have blown off it going down the road at 55 mph anyway, but they didn't. Instead they hauled it back to their shop and power washed that thing and waxed it to the max. It looked brand new when it rolled off the trailer but damn near every sealed bearing on that machine had to be replaced the first season we ran it and it had less than 500 hours on it when we got it. Vaccum all of the grain out of it with the shop vac, and blow it off with a leaf blower and put it away. If you just absolutely have got to wash it use a spray nozzle on a garden hose NOT a pressure washer and don't aim the water stream directly at any sealed bearings. I you decide to power wash it just go ahead and order a whole bunch of bearings and put them in a box in the cab because you WILL be needing em!
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Posted By: CrestonM
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2018 at 9:19am
| I'm beginning to think like Carl on the bearing issue. Why is a sealed bearing called a "sealed" bearing if a spray of water can get in and ruin it? |
Posted By: Tbone95
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2018 at 9:23am
| Hotly debated topic more than once.....I don't know. A spray of water isn't a spray of water. That which comes from a garden hose gun versus 2500 psi out of a pressure washer are 2 very different things from the standpoint of what they'll penetrate and damage. |
Posted By: CrestonM
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2018 at 9:27am
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Correct, Tbone. I had the garden hose on my mind when I wrote that. I'd think as long as the pressure washer was used around the bearing and not sprayed directly on it, it wouldn't hurt. But then again, I just play it safe and don't wash. Just air, vacuum, WD-40, and rags.
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Posted By: SteveM C/IL
Date Posted: 26 Sep 2018 at 10:42am
| Aint no sealed brg gonna stand up to a direct hit from a real pressure washer. Even a ricochet wouldnt be safe. Each to their own on this one. My F2 will stay dingy with air pressure cleanup.No one around here to impress. |
Posted By: FREEDGUY
Date Posted: 27 Sep 2018 at 7:24pm
| Creston, I picked up a jar of BM(you didn't say it was pricey, LOL!) and tried it out on the grain tank extension. Looks promising though! I will post before and after pics if all goes well ! If nothing else, it will be worth the "slickiness" on the corn head!! |
Posted By: CrestonM
Date Posted: 27 Sep 2018 at 9:08pm
| I think a jar of it at my O'Reilly's was $3, but it may have been on sale. Been a while. How did it turn out? Looking forward to seeing photos! |
Posted By: Carl(NWWI)
Date Posted: 27 Sep 2018 at 11:16pm
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Haven't needed any yet....had one fail. Was the upper clean grain elevator bearing. Pressure washer never hit it. Failed anyway. My A2 sat in a shed for 10 years. Covered in filth. That needed all of them replaced. Every one of them was sealed and dryer then a popcorn fart. Guess what, they all had to get replaced and water never touched it. Wash many things with bearings and no issues. I've used a pressure washer probably daily for 3 months straight every year for the last 10 years. Whether it's my job or for my hobby. The only way you will wreck things is if you are point blank with it. Washed probably 500 condenser coils this summer, no problems, gave the washer to the new guy, folded all the fins over on a brand new $12000 HVAC roof top. Who was to blame? The pressure washer or the miss use of the equipment? |
Posted By: chaskaduo
Date Posted: 27 Sep 2018 at 11:41pm
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The pressure washer, it allowed itself to be misused. ------------- 1938 B, 79 Dynamark 11/36 6spd, 95 Weed-Eater 16hp, 2010 Bolens 14hp |
Posted By: Tbone95
Date Posted: 28 Sep 2018 at 6:55am
OK, so you are very good at it. Were you good the first time you used one? Would you recommend people just do it, or knowing what the guy did to his HVAC unit would you suggest people perhaps do it a safer way? At least until they've developed some experience? Yes, bearings go out for various reasons, including age, sitting too long, lack of grease, and WATER.
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Posted By: HagerAC
Date Posted: 28 Sep 2018 at 7:18am
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I'm with Carl on this. I feel like a sealed bearing is sealed for a reason. I don't sit there and spray directly at the bearings but my M3 gets a couple baths a year, no bearing trouble. I like to keep things cleaned up to avoid the chance of fire, and to keep the mice out of it. Just my .02 ------------- 30+ A-Cs ranging from a 1928 20-35, to a 1984 8070FWA, Gleaner R52 |