Whilst viewing this combine we noticed unfortunately the Table had not received the care and attention which the combine had enjoyed!

unfortunately it had been left outside for several years! And it's condition was very poor as you can imagine, coupled to that it was a powerflow model with the belts which was even worse as these tables are more prone to issues over the standard freeflow, with many more moving parts than a freeflow ie rollers , bearings, rubber belts, which ideally need dry storage out of season.

The condition of this table had me worried as the cost of refurbishing it would be considerable in time and money.

Where to start? Well several hours with a steam cleaner to remove all the filth and algae around the vital parts, slacken off the front rollers the guards had been removed but were all intact but the timber supports were rotten so had to be replaced! All of the tensioners were oiled and greased to try and bring them back to ease of use! With the belts removed a check on the roller bearings surprisingly showed a very tight selection all round I would think they had been replaced and had not seen too much work? I was worried that they might of picked up surface rusting after being sat around in the elements! But I decided after inspection to run with them and trust what I could see.

Only one of the multi flow belts seemed to have any slight cracking! but not serious enough to replace, the drive belt and chains for table auger and knife drive were in serviceable order, so we're adjusted after the chains were soaked for a couple of days in a oil and diesel mix.

The wobble box oil changed and then after that the task of trying to get back the very heavily oxidised paintwork ! this would take many hours with a product called heavy cut 4000 this amazing product brings back even the worse of oxidation when used with a orbital polisher,

After many hours a couple of coats of wax to to aid future cleaning after harvest and during harvest whilst blowing down the combine it all helps!

with the table up and running correctly and belts retentioned and alighned properly it would be now time to start cleaning up the paintwork on the combine! 

Red is probably the worse colour for fading and this combine has an element of 30 years of wear and tear and the sun doing it's worse! But nothing is beyond plenty of elbow grease, patience, and perseverance, and I always like my combines to look their best at in the fields as it shows our commitments to our customers that we care about our job and our machinery which they entrust to harvest their crops.

In part 3 we look at getting the combine up and running and carrying out cosmetic jobs to the panel work and fitting the rear view camera!!