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Show EFFICIENT OPERATION OF FARM MACHINES WILL SAVE MUCH GRAIN FOR HUMAN FOOD i Properly Adjusted and Operated Tractor Outfits Will Eliminate Warte. (Prepared by the United States Department Depart-ment ot Agriculture.) The most essential thing in setting a separator for thrashing is to get it level. Here again the thrasherman should not guess, but should have a good spirit level and use it at every setting. To do its best work the machine ma-chine must be as nearly level as possible pos-sible from side to side, and it is generally gen-erally conceded best . to have it level lengthwise, although a few inches difference dif-ference in level between the front and rear ends is not likely to be detrimental. detri-mental. If the machine is set on soft ground, one or two of the wheels may sink further Into the ground than the others after it has been standing for a short time, and the ope-ator should not forget to watch this point. A very slight difference in level between be-tween the two sides of the separator will make the shafts all run against the bearings on the lower side and have a tendency to cause them to heat. It will also cause the grain constantly to work toward the low side of the separator sep-arator and make it more difficult for the cleaning mechanism to do good work. Even if the machine is set on n barn floor, it should be leveled carefully, care-fully, for barn floors are rarely precisely pre-cisely level, and the weight of a sepa-r.'tfor sepa-r.'tfor may make it sag in weak places. The main drive belt should hang loosely over the pulleys, with just enough tension to keep it running smoothly. If it Is too tight, it will have a tendency to pull the separator out of place and will put unnecessary strain on the cylinder shaft and boxings box-ings and possibly make them heat or pull the cylinder out of line so that the teeth will not run true. When thrashing in the open. It !s well to pay attention to the direction of the wind, if there is any choice In the direction in which the machine Is to be set. It is much more pleasant for the men working at the machine If it can be set so that, the wind blows the dust and chaff away from '"era. If a steam engine is used, the setting should be such also that sparks will he carried away from the separator and straw stack. The separate- should always be blocked solidly to prevent vibration as much as possible and to prevent the belt from pulling the machine forward. for-ward. Tt will frequently save some time if blocks of the right size and shape for this purpose are selected or prepared before the thrashing starts and carried with the machine from place to place. Wornout or broken plowshares make excellent blocks. Cylinder rnd Concaves. The problem of adjusting the cylinder cylin-der and concaves is to get them placed in proper relation to each other, with the right number and arrangement of teeth in the concaves for the grain that is bring thrashed. The adjustment adjust-ment should be such (is thoroughly to loosen till the grain from the heads without cracking or breaking up the straw into suoh fine pieces that reparation repa-ration will be difficult. It Is essential that 1he cylinder and concaves be adjusted so that each tooth is at all times equally distant from the two between which it is pass- ing, and that the concaves be kept close enough to the cylinder that un-thrasbed un-thrasbed heads cannot get through. .A large majority of the thrashing machines of the country are now equipped with self-feeders. It is a mistake, however, to assume that because be-cause the feeding is done mechanically mechan-ically the feeder will always deliver the unthrashed grain to the cylinder in the proper manner when the bundles bun-dles are pitched on promiscuously and at irregular intervals. The governor which controls the feeder should be adjusted so that It will stop feeding as quickly as possible when the speed is reduced below normal. By all means it should be adjusted to act more quickly than the governor on the engine. The bundles should be pitched on one at a time, with the heads toward the machine, and the distances between be-tween bundles should be as nearly uniform uni-form as possible. In bundle-thrashing, the center, or dividing board, should nearly always be used to keep the bundles from piling up into the center of the carrier. If one man on each side of the machine cannot pitch bundles bun-dles in the proper manner fast enough to keep the machine supplied. It will usually be better to supply extra pitchers pitch-ers than to have the two men pitch two or more bundles at a time without with-out any regard to the way they fall in the conveyor. It Is hard work to keep the bundles going Into the machine ma-chine in a steady stream, with the heads r.H pointing in the right direction, direc-tion, but unless this is done it is Impossible Im-possible for the machine to do its best worK. Cleaning the Grain. The adjustment of the cleaning mechanism and the proper direction of the blast from the fan to separate the grain satisfactorily from the chaff calls for more skill on the part of the operator than anything else in connection with the operation of a thrashing machine. One of the main duties of the man in charge of the separator sep-arator is to see that the grain Is as nearly free as possible from chaff and wped seeds before it is delivered from the machine. At the same time he must see that the amount which goes back in the tailings elevator to be relhrashed is kept low and that the loss occasioned by grain being carried out of the machine and Into the stack is eliminated as nearly as possible. The condition of the grain and the construction of different makes of machines are so variable that it is impossible to give any definite defi-nite rules in all cases. However, an operator who knows the function of each part of the cleaning mill; how to make all adjustments, and does everything every-thing possible to maintain the proper speed, should have no great difiicully in saving practically all the grain and cleaning it well at the same time, if he will examine the machine frequently frequent-ly to see just how much stuff each part of the cleaning mechanism is handling and the amount and character char-acter of the tailings. The quantity of tailings should be small and they shou'd contain very little plump grain and light chuff. |