F2 Settings
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=175462
Printed Date: 27 Aug 2025 at 8:34pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.10 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: F2 Settings
Posted By: tractorman21
Subject: F2 Settings
Date Posted: 25 Oct 2020 at 6:51pm
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Hello, I started combining soybeans this weekend and the F2 is putting beans out of the back of the combine. Some of the beans this year are really small due to the lack of rain back in the summer. I tried slowing down the fan from 6-7 to around 5 , but the grain tank was filling up with trash. I have the cylinder set at 550 RPM and the screens are around 1/2 inch. Since the beans are small, should I close the bottom screen down more and try the reduced fan setting? Thanks for any thoughts. |
Replies:
Posted By: FREEDGUY
Date Posted: 25 Oct 2020 at 6:58pm
| Were the beans still coming out of the back after adjustments and a "dirty" tank? Are you certain they're coming out of the back ? The rock door isn't partially opened ?? |
Posted By: SteveM C/IL
Date Posted: 25 Oct 2020 at 8:11pm
| First thing to check is engine rpm. It has to be where it belongs and on the high side is better. Your bottom screen is too wide especially for tiny beans. Top screen may be too wide letting trash through to bottom. Unless they are unusually light,6-7 shouldn't be blowing them out. Are you driving fast enough to keep machine full? Little chaff on the chaffer will let them blow. How did you determine they are coming out the back? Did you stop and shut down machine and back up and survey the ground for beans shattered at sickle. Are they thicker behind the shoe or just everywhere? Book settings will get you a decent sample and capacity. My F2 is real happy in 60bu beans at 3.5mph cutting 6-30's. Your cylinder speed sounds good. That's where I cut my 9% beans and almost no splits. Cylinder clearance at 5/16 measured at the bar. Mine has wide spaced bars. |
Posted By: MACK
Date Posted: 25 Oct 2020 at 8:31pm
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Open the air up. You cannot blow a bean out the back but you can ride them out. Check fan for trash above choke. Make sure choke is actually opening all the way up. Are the fan blades full of dirt or twisted? Cylinder 1/4, 500 RPMs. MACK
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Posted By: AC7060IL
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2020 at 7:23am
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Try squeezing cylinder clearance to minimum (1/16”-1/8”?). Maybe speed up cylinder speed 16” drive pulley/belt instead of 20”? Then, Open air all the way, open chaffer 5/8”(top screen), close sieve 1/8”(lower screen). Harvest 25’, stop forward motion but let machine clean out. Then shut everything off. Step out, walk around, observe header loss, check for chopper threshing by looking for soybeans on ground inside adjacent standing crop behind machine, check ground area immediately behind for overage. Now, THIS IS CRUTIAL.. with a keen ear, SLOWLY- slightly open the Lower screen (sieve) UNTIL you hear soybeans seeds DROP. Now it’s sieve is correct. Most un-threshed pods laying on sieve should pass off sieve to returns & seed will improve(clean-up) graintank grain. Make any other adjustments needed based on other observations to continue dialing in your gleaner. Watch your gleaner’s tailings return elevator window cause it tells THE STORY. If it shows too much clean seed, open up the sieve some. If it shows Lots of unthreshed pods, try adding another concave if cylinder/concave has been squeezed to max. If it shows grain splits, then cylinder/concave is too tight or too many concaves?? |
Posted By: Steve Bright
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2020 at 7:48am
| Quit paying as much attention to the book, Open the sieves until the beans stay in the machine, Then adjust the air accordingly. If Soybeans are yielding well grounds speed will play a part. The guy who wrote the book is not the guy in the field, It is a guide only. I can always tell a John Deere operator that goes by the Book, If you go by the book with a John Deere machine you have just developed the best planter money can buy. |
Posted By: Lonn
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2020 at 9:08am
Not too often I got to agree with Steve but yep  ------------- -- --- .... .- -- -- .- -.. / .-- .- ... / .- / -- ..- .-. -.. . .-. .. -. --. / -.-. .... .. .-.. -.. / .-. .- .--. .. ... - Wink I am a Russian Bot |
Posted By: tractorman21
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2020 at 9:17am
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Thanks for the replies. Engine is running 2,300 to 2,400 RPM under a load. I have it set to 2,700 RPM no load. The beans are definitely coming out of the back. When I am picking, I can see where the beans have been blown into the beans next to where I have picked. Is it possible, that the beans aren't being correctly threshed and are going out through the chopper and being blown on the ground? After thinking about it, when I slowed the fan down, the grain tank filled with whole pea pods. I bought this machine from a farmer and he has it set up with the # 1 concave bar removed and the cylinder set at 3/8" clearance. Would I be better off to put the concave bar back in and set the cylinder closer to 1/2" like the book says? I can always adjust the cylinder down if needed, but I am already at 3/8" and I think going down to 5/16" is going to be a little tight. AS far as the ground speed, it's a Hydro Machine, I am running in 2nd gear and on the Hydro lever I am running between 5-6. The machine picks really well and for the most part does a good job. |
Posted By: Ray54
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2020 at 9:56am
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You got the experts telling you close the concave down, give it a try. I never cut a bean, but grain is grain. Generally speacking you don't blow good grain out. Without enough air to much chaff on the screen so grain cannot fall, it then rides on top of the chaff and out the back it goes. If you have not checked or set the gauges on the concave adjustment you need to open the trap door and check the clarence of the concave. Then as you have been told by others watch the return, that is why you have a door on the elavator up on the top real easy to do. If it is not thrashed so the beans are out of pod you are not going to do a good job with the rest of the process. It seeems many think if you adjust once and it does good you leave it there forever. Just doen't work that way. Never hurts to try different things as long as you check for lost grain. No harm in putting it back if the change did not help. No magic settings that works every time, just trial and errer. |
Posted By: Steve Bright
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2020 at 10:37am
| If beans are coming out the chopper they are not being thrashed properly, You should have a concave bar on the rock door, and I think another right behind the door, Been a while since i ran an F series, with the concave bars in lower the cylinder until no beans are coming thru the chopper. Run the cylinder speed just slow enough that you do NOT split the Soybeans. |
Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2020 at 10:51am
| I think among other things, you are driving too fast !! 3 MPH on most F-2's is fast enough for the cleaning shoe. Is your tailing elevator running clean beans thru it, because it shouldn't be ??? You don't say if this is a gasser or diesel. Neither of them run 2700 RPM wide open. Diesel is about 2500 and gassers are 2900. |
Posted By: Lonn
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2020 at 11:01am
------------- -- --- .... .- -- -- .- -.. / .-- .- ... / .- / -- ..- .-. -.. . .-. .. -. --. / -.-. .... .. .-.. -.. / .-. .- .--. .. ... - Wink I am a Russian Bot |
tractorman21 wrote:Posted By: FREEDGUY
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2020 at 6:44pm
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Are the beans your seeing "whole beans" or remanents from the chopper ? 2 range/5-6 on the handle for ground speed??, we run a gear drive F2 with a 15' header in 1'st gear "maybe" 3/4 fast on the VS, granted that is the ONLY function on the digital tach that doesn't work, but I'm guessing 3 MPH tops . I'm surprised you haven't plugged anything upfront at that ground speed .
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Posted By: tractorman21
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2020 at 7:08pm
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The machine is a 4 cylinder Diesel and the injection pump was rebuilt at the end of last year. Diesel shop sent a man to the farm to install the pump and set the timing to 18* BTDC. The engine will turn 2,700 RPM when it's throttled up wide open and under no load. That might be too high for longevity, but it will turn that fast. I am running a 13 foot grain head and the beans are picking about 20-25 bushels to the acre. First gear is way too slow and the combine seems to be ok in 2nd gear. In 40-50 acre beans I usually run in 2nd gear with the Hydro selector around 1-2. I am going to install the concave bar and try the cylinder at 3/8" and see what happens. If it starts to crack the beans, I can raise the cylinder and slow it down to 500 RPM. Thanks for the replies and the opinions. |
Posted By: tractorman21
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2020 at 7:14pm
| I forgot to mention that this machine has the modified cylinder bars and I feel like that's a big reason I can run in 2nd gear. |
Posted By: SteveM C/IL
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2020 at 8:19pm
| When you stop the machine full....pull the side panels and start pulling straw out the side and look for unthreshed pods...sounds like you got em. you need at least 2 concave bars no matter which style |
Posted By: MACK
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2020 at 9:28pm
| Lower cylinder to 1/4" like others have said. Hi cylinder clearance wears top crown off cylinder bars, causes material to follow cylinder around causing over thrashing and cracked grain. Also takes HP and lowers capacity . If beans are dry, one concave on door, skip one and one in #3. MACK |
Posted By: SteveM C/IL
Date Posted: 26 Oct 2020 at 10:00pm
| I suggest you check real rpm with a shaft tach. You can adjust electronic tach to match(screw in the back..I think there's a plug to remove. Check rpm sensor clearance first. Mine has the front rows of chaffer on separate lever. |
Posted By: Lonn
Date Posted: 27 Oct 2020 at 5:55am
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Sounds like your high idle is too high. Get a digital tach reader from NAPA and confirm rpm. ------------- -- --- .... .- -- -- .- -.. / .-- .- ... / .- / -- ..- .-. -.. . .-. .. -. --. / -.-. .... .. .-.. -.. / .-. .- .--. .. ... - Wink I am a Russian Bot |
Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 27 Oct 2020 at 7:17am
| You did not answer my question on what you see in the tailings elevator !! Are there any clean beans running thru it or not ?? Having a working ground speed readout is kind of important on a combine. Those wide tooth cylinder bars are a definite asset to easy threshing, but just because the cylinder will eat anything you throw at it doesn't mean the cleaning shoe can handle the BPH you're running thru the cylinder. |
Posted By: injpumpEd
Date Posted: 27 Oct 2020 at 8:13am
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My pump spec sheet for an F2 shows hi idle is 2475-2500, and full rated load is 2300. I put lots of hours in running combines, and I never pushed them hard enough to pull down to rated rpm, ever. Not sure why you're seeing a huge difference between hi idle no load and loaded rpm going through the field. I'm with Dr, and think you're pushing too much through it for one thing. ------------- 210 "too hot to farm" puller, part of the "insane pumpkin posse". Owner of Guenther Heritage Diesel, specializing in fuel injection systems on heritage era tractors. stock rebuilds to all out pullers! |
Posted By: SteveM C/IL
Date Posted: 27 Oct 2020 at 9:17am
| Without speed indicator you definitely drive by the return elevator |
Posted By: FREEDGUY
Date Posted: 27 Oct 2020 at 6:13pm
I CRINGE every time I see a post about doing a "dead stall" to check things out
 . How do you get the seperator going again WITHOUT excessive wear on the clutch ?? |
Posted By: Lonn
Date Posted: 27 Oct 2020 at 7:34pm
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Open the thresher door or raise the cylinder. If you want to really know how your machine is doing, stalling combine is the best way and what the dealers recommended at least back when I worked at one. ------------- -- --- .... .- -- -- .- -.. / .-- .- ... / .- / -- ..- .-. -.. . .-. .. -. --. / -.-. .... .. .-.. -.. / .-. .- .--. .. ... - Wink I am a Russian Bot |
Posted By: SteveM C/IL
Date Posted: 27 Oct 2020 at 7:59pm
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My stall method is to chop the throttle and stomp the brakes and kick the sep clutch out just before the engine stalls. Works for me. Engage separator like normal and open to full throttle and let it clean out before continuing....the cylinder is not plugged. |