L3 Straw Walkers Turn Very Hard

I haven’t been able to find a service manual for my L3 yet, and I’m 115 miles from my operator’s manual. I was under the impression that with the chains removed, one should be able to rotate the walkers easily by hand. With all my might I can’t turn the sprocket, unless I drape the chain over the teeth and really tug hard on the chain. Then they’ll start to turn. I don’t think they should be this tight. It looks like the previous owner put new wood blocks in, but I’m wondering if there should be shims to increase the clearance.
Thanks!

Edited by CrestonM - 02 May 2022 at 2:32pm

My guess is a bent crank.                   MACK

Surely whoever changed blocks did it correctly but I have seen some (don't remember if it is an early vs late or corn special thing or what) some L series have a line where each block rides and the block has a groove to match, and some don't. Hopefully it wasn't mixed and matched incorrectly. If you're a skinny guy you can crawl in and look between the pan and the walkers and make sure there's nothing visibly wrong. I had our late L3 lock up this bean harvest and had the tin wear through on walkers where they just rubbed a little and caught them together.

Just so you know...I put new cranks in my F2 and the walls still move a small amount. I'd say they need to really move before you have a problem...my opinion...and yes you can make paper shims plus don't over tighten. Packing the walkers because the chopper plugged is called "baling". A real chore to dig out!!!

Green-stemmed soybeans + dull chopper knives = disaster !!!

And when this happens, it is always early in the season and the sun is shining and you're unplugging the rear end of the combine.

CrestonM wrote: I will have to post a photo of mine when I can get one, I think this is pretty ingenious. The previous owner removed all the rivets from the back square of sheet metal on the straw hood, and installed a piano style hinge at the top. Now that piece just swings up easy for access to the straw walkers. He had two combines that way.

I re-read it .Removed rivets so framing still there.

I would think so, Dr. It was a wheat/bean combine before I got it, so I don’t know what all it encountered. The owner seemed knowledgeable and honest, though.

Only crops I’ll ever cut with it are wheat and maybe milo, so I doubt I’ll have the plugging issue. But as a kid I was taught to routinely scan for 3 things: grain coming in the bin, tailings through the return, and straw out the back. If you’ve got all 3, you’re good to go.