I’m soaked through to my unmentionables. The grain dryer was nearing capacity and we were about to move on to another field. When we left for lunch to let the dryer catch up a bit the grain cart was fully loaded (and untarped) and the combine was partially loaded. I drove home and made a sandwich, and about the time I finished it started raining at my house. Grain getting wet in grain carts, trucks, and worst of all combines is not a great thing. So I ran back to the truck and raced the storm to the field. I got there first and luckily our hired hand had the same idea and was just pulling up in an empty truck as I arrived. Thinking I better get the grain off the combine before the big cloud burst hit I quickly moved the combine into position to unload into the truck as soon as the tarp was rolled over. Then……
SNAP!
I punched the button to turn the unload auger on and heard a bad noise. And then no grain came out. So I moved out-of-the-way so the grain cart could unload. Wet grain is hard to unload from a truck and isn’t particularly good for the grain handling system so I jumped out of the combine and began running to the truck in the torrential rain to get the tarp closed ASAP after the cart finished. On my way I sidetracked to the pickup because I noticed the dirty air filters I swapped out of the combine this morning were still in the back of the truck and they are not cheap! They were in boxes so they turned out to still be dry, but I tossed the soaking packages in the cab of the truck, then ran to the semi. This happened to be the semi with the small trailer so it couldn’t take the full capacity of the grain cart. So then I ran over to the cart to close the tarp on it. Of course the wind caught the tarp and both of us had to coerce it back in to position. I was beyond getting any wetter at this point.
Of course after all this the sun came right back out like nothing had happened. The shear bolt had snapped on the drive for the unloading auger on the combine. It happens, but this was a bad time for it to happen because the auger was full of corn and that’s quite a load to start with.
Handily the combine has three extra shear bolts hanging right next to the drive mechanism. Dad and I put in another bolt and snapped it right away. Starting to wonder if we have a real internal problem with the auger here. We had the turret auger replaced on a combine a few years ago. It’s not cheap by any means. But we tried another shear bolt. I turned the auger on and quickly off. Right as it shut off another bad noise, but a different sound. Dad was on the ground watching. The roller chain that powers the auger jumped a tooth on one of the sprockets. A check of the chain tension indicated it wasn’t perfectly tight, but no where near out of normal spec. We tightened it anyway. Third time’s a charm and we got the combine unloaded with no adverse affects from the very wet grain left in the tank.
After it was all said and done a very minor problem. Really not a problem at all because shear bolts shearing are just doing their job and preventing really expensive things from breaking. With some dramatic music and video editing all my running around in the rain probably would make good reality TV. It probably would be played up as our harvest on the brink of disaster or something.
I’m thinking the reason the bolt sheared in the first place was because I’d run out of room to put corn so the auger was full when I quit for lunch. The auger is full lots of times when I’m unloading on the go and must stop because the cart is full or I have to turn around. This all happens at full power. But maybe since I turned on the auger at idle engine speed after lunch it wasn’t able to overcome the load and the bolt snapped. Everything is good now except we are done harvesting until we dry up again.
Oh but now I can’t find my Leatherman that I know was clipped to my pocket earlier today, and my phone won’t charge.
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Great story. I’m that it in the end it wasn’t anything serious.
I loved the juxtaposition of the “Well that was fun” headline and the picture of you not looking like you had a good time underneath it!
I’m glad the expensive things eventually worked, that the grain was saved, and I hope you find your Leatherman and that your phone behaves better when dried out.
Looks like maybe I just have a bad outlet in the kitchen. Phone charging fine now!
That was funny!
I hope your phone is ok afterall.
It charges fine. The camera hasn’t worked for about three weeks. Coincidentally I’m due for a phone ugrade this month.