Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

I almost made my first round with my R52 Gleaner, but didn't quite make it.
It started out well, ran a moisture test from the front headland at under 14%. Then I started adjusting the concave to get a better sample. Stopping every 100 ft to check to see how much grain I was throwing over. Opened up the fan damper, tightened up the concave again, adjusted the sieve. Still a bit of chaff and heads in the bin, but Beacher Wheat is hard to harvest. Now starting to put some material through this machine, running about 3.8MPH, rebuilt header feeding well. Starting to fiddle with the monitors to learn how they work.
Then all of a sudden the auger in the header is at a standstill. The drive chain has come off the sproket.

There is always cause and effect, I was a bit rash in thinking the chain was the cause, no such luck. It was the effect.
In rebuilding the header, i missed replacing a single washer over a simple eyelette that adjusts the auger position. As a result the eyelet opened up, the auger moved back and was jamming into the stripper bar. No big damage, but not something that gets fixed by putting the chain back on.
I flipped through the manual a few times before I realized what was the source of my angst. Drive to the front of the field and unload, I have some repair work to do.

Started to unload, then had to shut off the unloader to position myself a bit further from the wagon. This R52 is a lot bigger than my old MF540 and its going to take a few rounds to get used to the length of this unload auger. But it wouldn't start again. Damn electronics! Now I am tracing the wiring diagrams, why won't this auger engage?
Drive to the yard. Now I have more to fix.

First I need this auger emptied, and I don't want to drain it through the clean out, there must be 100 bushels in the bin. All the wires look good, but the clutch will not engage. Problem is, with the grain loaded auger the metal dog that goes in front of the sensor for detedting the auger position, has moved just far enough the sensor is not made. Sollution, place a piece of metal over the sensor and everything works. Of course it took and hour and a half to figure this out.

Now I can move my attention to the plugged header. I love my Gleaner. Within 20 min all the damaged parts are off, and repaired. 20 more minutes back on and modified to prevent such a future failure (needed washer now installed). The reverser works! Hard to justify calling it a plug when it is so easy to undo. BUT the little metal cover at the center to access the fingers has gone missing. That would have plugged up my old combine, i didn't ever hear it go through this one. Back out to the field to run this straw through and see if the other repairs are good. The auger slips as I pull in to the field, lilekly need to re-adjust the slip clutch.  That ends my night.  It was getting dark, my combine needs work, and I am getting a bit tired, nothing good will come of doing any more.

Thanks to a 1/2" rain today, well timed for the tassling corn, I can take my time to make the needed replacement and repairs tonight.

 

So the wheat harvest is at a stop, the field barely touched.   But that's ok the rain is very needed.  So far today, more rain than all of June.  But surprisingly, the crops have been hanging on and are lookig good despite the drought.  I credit fall plowing.

Head high by the 4th of July!  Just need rain to take advantage of a good start.

Views: 646

Comment

You need to be a member of Ontario Agriculture to add comments!

Join Ontario Agriculture

Comment by OntAG Admin on July 5, 2012 at 10:48am

Thanks Gus,

Let us know how the wheat runs...glad you got some rain.

Take care.

Comment by Mitch Lang on July 4, 2012 at 2:53am

Your corn looks nice Gus... Must be that fertilizer you used... :)

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Nova Scotia invests in beef sector

Farmers have until Dec. 11 to apply for the Nova Scotia Beef Development Program

hio Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Adopts Iowa State University Disease Diagnostic Codes

The Ohio Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory has successfully adopted Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory "Disease Diagnostic Codes" developed by Iowa State University. A Swine Health Information Center funded project has resulted in the successful adoption by the Ohio Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory of Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Disease Diagnostic Codes developed by Iowa State University. SHIC Executive Director Dr. Lisa Becton says the goal of the project was to make better use of diagnostic data when assessing trends for disease detection on a case basis, rather than just looking at PCR results. Quote-Dr. Lisa Becton-Swine Health Information Center: When tissue cases are submitted, a lot of times there is information that is provided by the attending veterinarian that is not always in a standardized framework. The system that Iowa State University VDL developed provides for a standardized coding framework and this is important because it allows further capture of the different p

Rebound in Pork Demand Needed to Support Stronger Hog Markets

The Chief Economist with EA Risk says a rebound in pork demand is what's needed to provide upward price support for hog prices moving forward. The day-two keynote address yesterday, as part of Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium 2026 looked at the outlook for the hog market. Dr. Lee Schulz, the Chief Economist with EA Risk, formerly Ever.Ag Risk Management, says although hog supplies are forecast to be similar to year ago levels, weakened demand for pork due to the economy, fueled by a higher cost of living has put substantial downward pressure on hog prices. Quote-Dr. Lee Schulz-EA Risk: Consumers are not keeping up. If you look at real disposable personal income, it's been down four months, month over month here in 2026, pretty large decline here in September. So, consumers are, are, are feeling it. I think they're seeing it, but again, they're also feeling it then in their pocketbooks and what that has done is it's impacted demand across the board. Pork has, has been one of them

Sask Pork Concludes a Successful Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium 2026

he Communications and Marketing Coordinator with Sask Pork credits the Sask Pork team and the Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium advisory committee with a successful 2026 edition of the annual event. Although the numbers have not yet been crunched, the 2026 edition of Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium held this week in Saskatoon drew a possible record number of participants from across North America. Sask Pork Communications and Marketing Coordinator Steve Seto says it was a team effort. Quote-Steve Seto-Sask Pork: Our advisory committee was absolutely fantastic, which is a group of people, industry representation, whether it be packers, genetics companies, everybody that is involved in that committee. They make symposium go. We meet a few times a year and we say, what are the hottest topics, what are people concerned about, what do we need to address? And they are able to help build our agenda and they do a fantastic job. The advisory committee, everybody that was involved wit

Beyond Meat’s Q3 revenue falls 8.1%

Beyond Meat, a plant-based meat alternative maker, reported an 8.1% year-on-year fall in third-quarter revenue, according to Reuters. The company said the decline was mainly due to a drop in the volume of products sold, reported Reuters. Gross margin rose to 19.3%, the highest in five years, which the company attributed to reduced manufacturing, inventory and logistics expenses. The net loss narrowed from a year earlier, helped by improved gross profit and other income. International retail sales rose, driven by increased burger and ground beef sales in Europe. Beyond Meat expects fourth-quarter net revenue of $54 million to $59 million. It said the operating environment remains uncertain and volatile and may affect future results, and it is limiting guidance to the fourth-quarter revenue outlook because of that uncertainty.

© 2026   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service