A few special tools can dramatically speed in-the-field repairs to combines and harvest equipment, including:
- Super-deep-well sockets can slide over extra-long belt tensioner bolts. Take a standard deep-well socket of the right size, cut it in half, then weld it back together using a 12" long, 1” i.d. piece of pipe as the center section. The result is a deep, deep-well socket. Use the mega-socket with a battery-powered impact wrench to speed de-tensioning or re-tensioning those long bolts. Use discretion when running those tensioning nuts on or off the bolt. If the bolts are dusty or corroded, full-speed on an impact wrench can strip threads faster than you can take your finger off the trigger.
- 3/8” battery-powered impact wrench cuts the time needed to replace sickle sections and rock guards on small grain platforms in half. It’s best to always use new bolts to attach sickle sections. Those bolts stretch slightly when their nuts reach proper torque, which makes them sketchy to re-use.
- Ratcheting box end wrenches are another way to speed removal of belt tensioning nuts on long tensioner bolts. Just remember they’re for “speed” work, and their ratcheting mechanisms won’t stand up to breaking loose frozen or corroded nuts and bolts.
- Standard and metric thread files take minimal room in a toolbox and can rough-clean stripped or rusty threads on large bolts and studs.
- A ¼”-drive socket set, complete with ratchet, extension, screwdriver handle and screwdriver bits, is the answer to small nuts and bolts found all over big combines. Much better than using a pair of pocket pliers, plus a compact ¼”-drive socket case doesn’t take much space in a combine cab.
- A battery-powered reciprocating saw can gnaw through the toughest stalks and stems clogging a threshing cylinder or header. It’s still not a fun job, but the saw makes it faster.
Upgraded fire extinguishers. ABC-Class fire extinguishers range in size from 5 lb. to 20 lb. or more and are certified for combustible materials (Class A,) flammable liquids (Class B,) and electrical fires (Class C.)
Two-and-a-half gallon, air-pressurized, water-filled fire extinguishers are rated as Class A, and serve double-duty by pre-wetting crop residue if welding or torching needs to be done.
Never scrimp on extinguisher size. Anyone who has tried to put out a burgeoning combine fire with a succession of 5 lb. extinguishers knows it’s better to begin — and end — the battle with a 20-pounder.
Small, 5-pound ABC-class fire extinguishers are better than spitting on a fire, but a 20-pound version has a better chance of getting ahead of a combine fire. Water-filled, air-pressurized fire extinguisher: Water-filled extinguishers are easily re-filled at home, produce a long-reaching jet of water that can reach deep into combines, and work well for preventing fires by wetting crop residue before welding or torching. (Dan Anderson)
