R62 in dry edible beans

Have been using an R62 in dry beans the last 3 years and would like to increase its capacity. First two years had a first gen sunnybrook rotor in it and last year I put in a bison rotor. Bison rotor eliminated all rotor rumble and plugging and also brought rotor loss way down. The only complaint I have is that it didn't increase capacity very much and it took all the power the combine had. What I think is happening is that it is overthreshing the beans as there is nothing coming out of the discharge but the stringy material from the vines. I don't know if it is rolling in the cage or what but it is definitely sucking the horse power. Now I am thinking of modifying the concave to a screen type, something with round holes about an inch in diameter and also doing the same to the separator grate. Anyone have some experience or suggestions? Also looking for a wrecked concave and grate to work with if anyone has some in their scrap pile and would be willing to part with them for cheap. Don't want to cut up my existing ones in case my experiment doesn't work.

I am with the good Dr on set up....you should not be using all your power in beans

I guess I should have added that we did put in a full set of steep pitch helicals from agco. It definitely helped even with the sunnybrook rotor but my rub bars wore out and no replacements are available for them. I figured if there was too much rotor loss with the Bison I could always retard the flow by adjusting the angle of the separating tines. Before we got the R62 we had an R7 and the old allis engine definitely had more grunt than the cummins. That being said the old P1 processor in it didn't take too kindly to that power and even after I basically doubled up all the ribs in the cage it still blew up. Just for reference, in pintos mid afternoon, 3.7mph in a 3000lb crop taking in 30ft, windrowed with a Pickett one step. Rotor and shoe loss combined <.2bu/acre. When the sun goes down struggle to maintain 2mph and very little change in loss.

Be a lot of work, but cut pieces of concave wires and weld on top of the existing wires one at a time to make concave resistance less, but allow for separation of the seed. Also, what about wheat cover plates?? other than no separation with those.

I never did find a separator grate to work with but have a few ideas to try and make the one I have work. Mine is the low-wire chromed version but apparently there are high-wire ones as well. Not sure what they look like and likely never will as they are discontinued in chrome and on back order non chromed. So my next option is to get a cover kit part #71373509. Also on back order and have no idea if it would work or not as there is no description of it anywhere that I can find. Apparently there are some in stock at various dealers but none within a thousand miles so not likely to lay eyes on one. Does anyone know what the kit looks like or how effective it is? My next option would be to modify my existing one. Was thinking of pulling all the wires and adding a bar between each existing one so material would flow over better instead of having to bounce over the way it does now. My thinking is that with the narrower spacing material would not have time to fall in but still be open enough for beans to fall through. My suspicion is that with the current grate the material is getting rolled between the rotor and the grate and that is the reason why it is using so much power and almost all the plant material is ending up on the shoe. Any idea if this would work? I really don't want to modify my existing grate just to scrap it if it doesn't work and then have to find another that doesn't cost a fortune. A new chromed one is about $6k cdn.

I tried making some flat straps with 1 inch holes in it today but decided that it didn't leave enough open area. Ended up pulling all the wires and taking it to a welding/fabricating shop. The plan is to make a cover with 1×1.5 inch holes in it that will cover the entire grate. Now the question is what type and thickness of material to make it out of? Was thinking about 3/16 or 1/4 inch thick hardox or stainless steel. The stainless would be easier to roll to match the curvature of the grate but not sure if it will be hard enough to last. Any ideas?

I am not familiar with the R62, is it possible, you are attempting to push too much thru it?

Well the cage blew up today. I guess worn helicals are the least of my problems. Parts are probably going to be more than it's worth but what can you do?

The machine gets looked over every year and there is definitely some wear on some pulleys and sheaves. No glazed belts though and no belts running in the bottom of the groove. The rotor belt is the only main one that has been replaced recently. Have not noticed any belt slippage or bounce and I usually do a walk around while the machine is operating once a day. Also check for loose or missing cage bolts every morning. It looks like the center ring of the cage broke and that allowed the concave to drop on one end which lead to a cascade of other failures. Didn't notice anything was wrong other than getting some rotor rumble if I started pushing too hard. I realized there was something wrong when I heard a thumping sound and got out and noticed that the left side of the combine was moving in and out about an inch. That must have been when the helical bars that cross over from the threshing to separating side finally broke.

Acguywill wrote: Ended up getting a used cage and did extensive reinforcing to it. Also put in a full set of new steep pitch helicals and extended the helical from the corner of the feeder house about 10 inches into the separator grate. I did that to try and get some of the material away from the transition area and reduced wear on the first part of the separator half of the cage. Haven't seen any increase in capacity but hopefully it will increase longevity. Did about 50 acres with it yesterday and the new helical bars are already wearing out so now I am not sure what to do. Maybe these combines are not cut out for doing beans. Between the cost of the cage, helicals, and a week's work I know that I have sank over 10k into it and it's looking like it may only last a few hundred acres. Starting to look like I should come up with a plan b.

Get on the combine forum and ask some of those guys there that have done edible beans. That or call butler ag at hoople North Dakota and talk to Dan Hurtt. None of what you’re describing is normal. Helicals should not wear that fast unless you’re not using chrome helical bars. Dan does a steep pitch kit and makes some changes to how agco has it setup and that might help you as well.

I should also add that there is really not much material entering the combine. A thirty foot windrow at about 3mph max down to about 1.5 in spots averaging 2.2ish in 3500lbs beans. Feeder chains in low speed with no feeder house mods done and have never plugged it.

Zero. Tried running the rotor everywhere from 160 to 260 with very little change in performance other than basically a linear increase in capacity. Over 260 bad things start happening to the beans. Actually has good capacity at about 450 plus but at that speed it looks as if the beans have went through a hammer mill.