Gleaner L2 head feeding troublle
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Topic: Gleaner L2 head feeding troublle
Posted By: wekracer
Subject: Gleaner L2 head feeding troublle
Date Posted: 04 Oct 2017 at 9:49pm
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I know it has been discussed a lot but I have had an 82 L2 with 318 head and I am having feeding trouble. The combine is a beast and I have it tuned well but ever since we have had it I have had trouble feeding beans. It wants to slug and plug the feeder beater. I have all eight springs in the clutch and adjusted between 1/4 and 5/16" as the book says It does well in good dry beans but two days ago we had a good dry day and no dew over night. Rain was in the forecast the next night so I took a vacation day to cut beans. It was overcast all day and The beans were 11% but the stems and pods had some moisture in them and would build up on the cutterbar and slug the feeder beater. It wasn't bad on the outside rounds but in the taller beans in the middle they would be so heavy I couldn't clean it out without dropping the header Problem is the neighbor has been helping with his 1620 and 15' head because he would rather run his than our F2. He was able to run while I sat plugged up. I rode with him a couple round while he was cutting and the beans just fell in nice and even. I know if my head would feed like his I would have been walking right along beside him. I have been looking at R52's but if the heads don't feed any better than I think I'm going to a 1680. I think the gleaner is a superior combine but if the heads won't feed it doesn't matter. I am so discouraged. It was embarrising having a bigger combine and sitting watching with the landlord while the help kept running. I'm going to get some 3" suction pipe this week and bolt it behind the sickle. I have belt paddles bolted to the reel does anyone have any other suggestions. I'm so disgusted that I'm thinking of going red. |
Replies:
Posted By: wekracer
Date Posted: 04 Oct 2017 at 10:01pm
| To add to it. We have been running side by side for 5 days and he has never once stopped with plugging and I bet I've stopped 20 times to unplug my feeder beater. It's so bad my wife won't let me touch her during harvest cause my hands are So rough from pulling beans out of the feeder beater. |
Posted By: MACK
Date Posted: 04 Oct 2017 at 10:15pm
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First thing, cylinder bars. If cylinder bars are worn, beater will over feed cylinder. Next cylinder belt, if it is worn out, it slows cylinder while beater over feeds cylinder. Fighting on header auger. Use a square on fighting. It should lean toward center of head. Is auger as low as it will go without hitting bottom of pan? Is it as far back as possible with out hitting back stripper? Is feederbeater up as far as possible? If it is a full range cylinder speed, take torque sincere apart and clean up then grease it good. Grease fitting on outer dial. Of shelve. Most likely the beater is not the problem. MACK |
Posted By: dawntreader74
Date Posted: 04 Oct 2017 at 10:35pm
| mite haft to slow down the head a little bit' sure helped it tuff stem beans for me. |
Posted By: tbran
Date Posted: 04 Oct 2017 at 11:10pm
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the suction hose helps - it is an old Deere trick used in Ar. tuff conditions. Most important feeding issue on 300 heads is to get the reel back as close to the auger as possible. We used to run them with the tines almost ticking the auger flighting. ------------- When told "it's not the money,it's the principle", remember, it's always the money.. |
Posted By: shameless dude
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2017 at 1:24am
| are you combining with the rows? try cutting the bean rows at an angle, along with the setting mentioned above. |
Posted By: AC7060IL
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2017 at 3:57am
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Not your beaters problem. Like others have already said, your reel needs to assist beans into cross auger. If your reel is already set back to cross auger, then from the cab adjust it's proper height & speed? This may seem against your better judgement, but try lowering your reel all the way in its down position(but not running in the dirt), then match its speed to what speed your sickle can cleanly cut. Reel should cleanly sweep across cutter bar also. Too high of a reel setting will tip plants into head, but will not force them into cross auger. |
Posted By: AC7060IL
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2017 at 4:02am
| Use coconut oil to soften up your rough hands to keep the wife happy. |
Posted By: cwhit
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2017 at 5:12am
| And gloves. Use with the combine not the wife. |
Posted By: GregStremel
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2017 at 5:26am
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Just to throw an idea out there, check the timing of the feeder beater fingers. I have an M. The feeder beater was adjusted according to the book. It plugged up something terrible. Finally I asked on this forum. Apparently, something was bent. The book said adjust the timing on the left side. I did according to what the book said. But the fingers did not retract when they were supposed to. Maybe someone can tell you at what point the fingers are supposed to be fully retracted. I do not remember. It made a tremendous difference. When it was not adjusted properly we would creep along and it would still plug. After the adjustment, we could go at a decent speed. This may not be your problem, but it is worth checking. |
Posted By: GregStremel
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2017 at 5:35am
| Are the beans piling up at the cutter bar? If they pile up there and then come back as a slug, then you will have problems. As others have said, the suction hose bolted behind the cutterr bar help. We also added a Crary Wind System. It blows the soybeans back into the auger. After the problems I had earlier, it is really nice to have a smooth flow of soybeans in to the header. |
Posted By: wekracer
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2017 at 6:07am
| Thanks for all the responses so far. The cylinder bares we're new wide spaced and hardened a couple years ago and I put a new belt on last year. In green stem beans it would slow down and stop. That's no fun pulling all that crap out the trap door. I'm certain that's not a problem now. I adjusted the beater up some last year but I will move it all the way this weekend. I will check the cross auger too. But most of the problem Is at the cutter bar. I have the reel as low as it will go without cutting off teeth and it is pretty far back. The way that header is made there seems to be a spot behind the sickle and in front of the auger that the reel can't reach. With the old hart carter on the F2 the sickle is much closer to the auger. The other issue that I have is if I move the reel up and back it won't pick up down beans like the old head. We used to have it set so that the metal tines would almost scrape the ground in front of the sickle and then feed them right into the cross auger. The neighbors 1620 was set the same way. We were on 15" rows running on a diagonal and I could see his reel picking up the beans his divider laid down the round before. Mine won't do that because the reel is too far back. Thanks for the help and forgive me if I'm ranting. |
Posted By: SteveMaskey(MO)
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2017 at 6:30am
| I also have a 318 head on a L3, it does not feed good either. Dad has a older M2 that feeds much better. If I could figure how to make the header control work I would put a green head on it |
Posted By: MACK
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2017 at 7:03am
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That is what I forgot to say in my first post. Put a JD head on it. Header control is no problem to hook up. You will love it. MACK |
Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2017 at 7:15am
| Feeder beater has to be UP ALL THE WAY. Reel has to be back as far as possible and fingers slightly tipped rearward. 3 inch hose will help. Short beans are your enemy. We used to bolt a mud flap to one reel bat over each row to give the beans a push. |
Posted By: CAL(KS)
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2017 at 7:56am
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on our early R series headers we bought some sheets that bolt on right behind the sickle and step up and then a flat run into the auger. This lets the reel keep ahold of the beans until they are nearly in the auger instead of leaving a gap like the oe flex sheets. made a big difference in beans for us. we farm all dryland so short beans are pretty common out here in KS.
forgot to mention those bolt on feather sheets were from AGCO and recommended by our dealer
------------- Me -C,U,UC,WC,WD45,190XT,TL-12,145T,HD6G,HD16,HD20 Dad- WD, D17D, D19D, RT100A, 7020, 7080,7580, 2-8550's, 2-S77, HD15 |
Posted By: wekracer
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2017 at 9:41am
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Thanks for the input, I think I'm going to get some 3" hose, and give that a try. if it works I'm due for feather sheets and I will look into getting raised sheets. I guess if nobody makes them anymore I will look into having some bent. I am also running the reel paddles that shoupe sells. they work pretty good but weren't helping much that day. As for the future, we have been looking at R52/62's. do they have the same issues? I know they have a feeder house instead of a beater but surely slugs would give them fits too. I understand the 500 series heads have the cutter bar moved back a couple inches. do they feed any better. I really like the simplicity of the gleaner compared to a Case but if I'm going to be fighting plugging like I do now then I think I might be leaning red. thanks and I will post updates after I make all the adjustments. we have rain in the forcast till Monday so it will be late next week at the soonest. |
Posted By: farmboy520
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2017 at 9:56am
I've got a R62 with a 520 head. I seem to have the same issues sometimes with the beans sitting right behind the sickle and before the auger.  I've got the reel all the way down and back where it is almost touching the auger. It seems that it doesn't matter, tall or short and they will pile up there. Sometimes having the head really low on the header control makes them feed better and other times not. When I run the header that low though it seems like it likes to drag up more also.
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Posted By: shameless dude
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2017 at 10:02am
| I still have my 2 1440's for sale. very seldom any clump problems |
Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2017 at 10:27am
| This advice is contrary to what most believe, but it works. Raise the header auger to 3/4" or a little more off of the floor after moving it FORWARD as far as the adjustment allows. This will mean adding a couple half-links to the drive chain. This only works for soybeans and will have to be changed back for cereal crops. John Keller from AGCO told me to try this 25 yrs ago and is helped tremendously. 500 series headers are much better than 300's for this feeding issue. |
Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2017 at 10:31am
| You'll also have to move the reel forward to clear the auger after this change. |
Posted By: critter
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2017 at 2:36pm
What John Deere head works best for a L3? We currently have a 320 that doesn't feed very well and we are sick of it. |
MACK wrote:Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2017 at 4:53pm
| Why don't you spend an hour and move the auger clear forward and up 3/4" inch or more?? You might be surprised what that will do in soybeans. |
Posted By: Daehler
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2017 at 8:13pm
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The beans a few days ago were not wanting to feed worth a darn and that was with a 630f deere head that my boss runs. The macdon draper he has wasnt working good at times either so i wouldnt feel bad about feeding issues. Ive grown up running a 318 head and at times its hard getting it to feed right especially in short beans. It normally doesnt have a problem in taller beans. ------------- 8070FWA,7080 BlackBelly, 7045,2 200s,D19,D17,G, WD,45,UC,7 AC mowers and lots more! "IT TAKES 3 JD's TO OUT DO AN ALLIS, 2 TO MATCH IT IN THE FIELD AND 1 FOR PARTS!" |
Posted By: MACK
Date Posted: 05 Oct 2017 at 9:31pm
| The 900 series are a good head. 920-922 and ect. They are a simple head underneath. Don't have all the ball joints to ware out and brake. Just a much better head than Gleaner, and I have rebuilt a lot of Gleaner heads. MACK |
Posted By: GM Guy
Date Posted: 07 Oct 2017 at 12:45pm
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Is the cylinder slowing down much? I am still wondering if you have issues on the torque sensing hub on the mainshaft. Are you greasing both fittings? As far as trading machines, I dont see what a header issue has to do with the combine. Switch heads, keep the combine. Only after trying all other options given above to make the current header work. Believe me, I get to run 1400-2100 series IHs part time for a guy, and I am so happy to come home to the Gleaners. that unloader is a joke, the auger bed system is a joke, cleaning system is a joke, tyhe hydraulics and drivetrain are also quite pathetic. The a/c works good and they just plod along, and I get paid by the hour, so I dont complain (much) :) ------------- Gleaner: the properly engineered and built combine. If you need parts for your Gleaner, we are parting out A's through L2's, so we may be able to help. |
Posted By: grinder220
Date Posted: 07 Oct 2017 at 3:12pm
| So what does 3 inch suction hose do for feeding? I've never heard of doing that. |
Posted By: GM Guy
Date Posted: 07 Oct 2017 at 4:05pm
You put it on the cutterbar in back of the sickle and it "trips" the stems of the beans and tries to lay it down on the pan and get it started under the auger. ------------- Gleaner: the properly engineered and built combine. If you need parts for your Gleaner, we are parting out A's through L2's, so we may be able to help. |
Posted By: wekracer
Date Posted: 10 Oct 2017 at 10:57am
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OK, I picked up a piece of 3" suction hose and have a dozen 1 bolt clamps. I plan on putting one every 18"-2' and bolting it to guard bolts. my question is how to set the reel afterward. do I just raise it up or movie it forward and down. if it's the latter I think It would pick up laid over beans better but I can see where that might hurt the feeding as well. thanks in advance. I also installed reel flaps from Shoup. Basically mud flaps that hang down 4" below the reel teeth.
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Posted By: MACK
Date Posted: 10 Oct 2017 at 9:09pm
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I would not move reel unless it hit your new tube. I use 4" drain tile. A few short pieces of angle iron bolted to guard bolts and wired to gather. MACK |
Posted By: Unit3
Date Posted: 10 Oct 2017 at 9:13pm
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Sorry, I got to this party late. We run a gray plastic conduit pipe with some 2"blue water hose behind it. The hose folds flat and acts like belting. Loose beans stay in the header. I read it up a ways to try running on an angle. The steeper, the better. We are running a 25 degree angle. We had a 500 a few years back with a Johnson Bean Saver/ rock guard. It worked best in tall beans. Running the angle treats the beans as singles. They don't seem to bunch up. They act like they are pulling each other in. It is like a sweeping action. ------------- 2-8070FWA PS/8050PS/7080/7045PS/200/D15-II/2-WD45/WD/3-WC/UC/C |
Posted By: SteveM C/IL
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2017 at 1:20pm
| No one has mentioned squaring off the edge of flighting with angle grinder.Have heard that can make a big difference in feeding. |
Posted By: wekracer
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2017 at 1:34pm
| I did see where a guy drove 1/2” lock washers onto the flighting to act as grabbers about every 1/3 revolution |
Posted By: groundhog55
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2017 at 2:49pm
| It doesn't seem right, but if you move the auger as far forward as you can and still be able to reach it with the stripper bars it will make a lot of difference. Also in the off season I cut 3 inches out of the linkages underneath and then it is like a 500 series head. After I did that, Our local dealer copied me and did other headers. It will be like a completely different machine. |
Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2017 at 3:10pm
| The problem isn't really feeding. It's getting the crop into the auger so it feeds it evenly to the feeder house. Short beans tend to get cut and fall onto the dead space between the sickle and the auger. They build up high enough that the reel finally kicks them all it at once and BAM !!, the throat of the combine is plugged from uneven delivery of the crop. As I pointed out earlier moving the auger forward as far as possible (adding links to the drive chain) and up 3/4" inch or more off of the floor will improve this crop delivery problem in soybeans. If you don't take the time to do it, you'll never know how good it works. |
Posted By: wekracer
Date Posted: 16 Oct 2017 at 11:07am
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I just wanted to post an update. I went down to try out all the changes Saturday afternoon and ended up cutting 30 acres. Here's what I did. I raised the feeder beater up as high as it would go. the head cross conveyer was 1/4" from being all the way forward so I didn't mess with it, but I did take 9/16 lock washers and drove them on every flighting at 1/3 revolutions. I bolted the 3" suction pipe to the sickle guard bolts and raised the reel up basically all the way and the teeth just rubbed the pipe with it sitting all the way down on the ground. I also had the "mud Flaps" from shoup on the reel. it seemed to feed much more smoothly than ever before. I did plug the feeder beater twice but the first time was on the first round by the creek where I was picking up some short green grass on the far end of the table. It did build up and came in as a wad. the other time was my fault, I went from a clay bank with 10' beans down into good bottom ground with 2' beans and didn't slow down enough. just ran too much material in. But the conditions were similar to last week when I couldn't run at all. the beans were dry but the stems were still kind of tough so all in all I'm pretty happy. I may try moving the real forward and down to try to pickup downed beans better and see how that works. thanks for all the help. |
Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 16 Oct 2017 at 3:52pm
| The feeder beater should have already been clear "up" for corn, or don't you raise corn ??? Too bad you didn't raise up the header auger to 3/4" or more while you were at it. |
Posted By: ryan(IN)
Date Posted: 16 Oct 2017 at 4:10pm
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Even if the auger seems to be all the way forward I would still move it a bit. Finally got to try it myself this weekend on a 500 25' head on our R62 and it made it a completely different head. Beans hit the auger and they start moving instead of sitting there thinking about it for awhile and slug. Dr. Allis thank you for the suggestion! Made combining beans enjoyable again. ------------- ryan 1984 8070 FWA,1979 7060,1975 7040,1971 190,1960 D-17D,1957 D-14, 196? D-19G, 1975 5040,1971? 160,1994 R62 |
Posted By: wekracer
Date Posted: 16 Oct 2017 at 8:43pm
| Dr we have shelled a lot of corn with this combine and others. We have never had any trouble with the feeder beater plugging before so I don't guess we paid much attention to it. I did check the auger and it is about 3/4" off the bottom. Thanks for your help |
Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 17 Oct 2017 at 7:21am
| Raising the feeder beater clear to the top was a requirement and I've found it works better in soybeans to leave it there. Oats and wheat might be better down instead of up. |
Posted By: joepro91
Date Posted: 25 Oct 2017 at 12:30pm
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I am so glad that I found this post. I am having the exact same issues and have a post over on YT about it. I have an new to me M2 with a 315 head and have been having the same issues and frustrations to where I've considered selling the head and or whole setup. I have the same issue where especially in short beans the beans accumulate on the floor right behind the cutter bar and the reel can't seem to feed them in. I've chopped off and replaced many of the reel teeth trying to push the beans into the auger. I know where a series 2 head is with a sch knife on it. I may try to trade for it. You should see my hands from digging out the feeder beater. When the beans were taller they flew through and it was great but shorter beans just piled up behind the bar before they slugged the feeder. I might as well not have a reel on the head. The faster my ground speed wast eh better it fed because the beans would push themselves through. |
Posted By: joepro91
Date Posted: 25 Oct 2017 at 1:33pm
I'm really interested hearing about this. Are you saying you cut the flex linkage and moved the cutter bar closer to the head? I can see this making a world of a difference!! |
Posted By: ryan(IN)
Date Posted: 25 Oct 2017 at 1:36pm
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Series 2 head would tend to feed better in shorter beans but you loose the advantage of the flex in the 300 head plus they are getting some age on them. I would do the hose mod behind the cutter bar and adjust the auger like Dr. Allis says and see what you get. It made a world of difference on our 525. ------------- ryan 1984 8070 FWA,1979 7060,1975 7040,1971 190,1960 D-17D,1957 D-14, 196? D-19G, 1975 5040,1971? 160,1994 R62 |
Posted By: wekracer
Date Posted: 25 Oct 2017 at 3:22pm
| The 3” hose made a world of difference for me. I cut 30 acres Last Thursday afternoon and only plugged the beater twice. Both times were near dark by the creek that had been shaded for a couple hours. The moisture was definitely coming up but that’s all I had left to get finished up. I definitely would not have been running before the 3” pipe. |
Posted By: joepro91
Date Posted: 25 Oct 2017 at 4:00pm
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How did you adjust your reel to accommodate for the 3" pipe? I'm thinking of mounting 3" field tile on it. Now I just have to replace a pile of reel teeth!! Another question... My cutter bar is higher in the center then the ends. Is there an adjustment or is something likely damaged Like its a slight radius higher in the center of the cutter bar. |
Posted By: wekracer
Date Posted: 25 Oct 2017 at 4:05pm
| I just raised my reel up so it cleared the hose when the header was all the way down. However in really short beans it seemed like it had a hard time climbing over the hose. I was going to try moving the reel forward so that it just cleared the cutter bar and hose but I just kept rolling on to get done. I may play with it next year. |
Posted By: thumbfarmer
Date Posted: 28 Nov 2018 at 9:43am
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Dr Allis: U were exactly right! I raised the beater and moved it forward. I have a 320 header. Big difference thx! Sorry i know this is really old. |