Show MILLIONS OF BUSHELS OF HUMAN FOOD CONSERVED BY OPERATION OF MACHINES 4 py P y h s k Z 1 k xa 1 jr Z A THRASH WITH CARE AND ELIMINATE WASTE OF GRAIN prepared by the united states deportment department at 0 agriculture 0 the waste of grain through 0 the inefficient operation ol of thrashing machines though not a serious matter to the individual farmer is a matter of perhaps millions of bushels to the nation as a whole and to the nations that just now are looking to us for food to ward off famine when we consider that there are farms in the united states it Is evident that a waste of only a bushel a set e would be an enormous loss la in a the aggregate a gre gate eaf cf if the thrashing machines of the country wasted oly only three or tour four bushels of grain out of every thousand they thrash the loss of wheat alone in the united states every year would equal a quantity sufficient to furnish a normal supply of bread to a million people for nearly halt half a year the present importance of keeping thrashing machines at their highest point of efficiency thus thud Is easily seen it Is probably not possible to save all the grain men ven M with the roost most efficient operation under the best field conditions however the careless operator who does not know just what the different parts of his bis nin machine chine are for or who does not watch them ch closely e while icile the separator is running may waste a great amount of grain unnecessarily essa rily lie he will surely have to make frequent stops for repairs arid and adjustments every time a machine stops the whole crew usually several men and teams must be idle until it starts again a loss of time to everybody concerned failure to separate if a machine falls to separate all the grain from the straw it Is usually due to one or more of the following causes 1 the machine Is not being run at its proper speed 2 it is being crowded crovi ded beyond its capacity 3 the cylinder falls fails to thrash all the kernels out of the heads 4 the separating mechanism is not level or 5 the blast Is not adjusted properly cracked grain Is another source of waste chich kiich may become serious cracked grain may be due to excessive speed of the cylinder to the cylinder being too tod close to the oie concave teeth or to grain belog being returned la in the tailings tailing elevator and run through the cylinder repeatedly loss both from poor separation and cracked grain can be prevented in a large measure by proper adjustment of the machine and attention to it while in operation reduce loss of time the loss of time due to stops on account of breakage and wearing parts getting out of adjustment so frequent with thrashing machines mach can be greatly reduced and the ibe life of the separator lengthened appreciably if the machine Is overhauled preparatory to starting the seasons work and an all the parts put in good repair and adjustment and afterward watched intelli ge gently fitly while in operation it if the grain Is to be thrashed rapidly and waste reduced to a minimum it is essential that tho the engine should have sufficient power end and the belt pulley be of the right size to run the separator at the proper speed at all times the speed in revolutions per minute at which the cylinder should run is invariably stated by the manufacturer in the lu in accompanying the machine raach ln ond and Is often stamped on the machine lit itself self A variation vail atlon of more than a few per cent either cither above or below this stated speed Is sufficient to impair se piously the efficiency of the entire ma hl alne ire anee this Is so important the should be sure that his engine will not only develop power to drive the machine at the proper speed edwith with the ordinary load but that it also has enough reserve power to maintain normal speed tor for a few seconds under a heavy load even with the most careful feeding occasional choking will occur and it if the engine cannot maintain its regular speed with a slight overload more or less loss of grain will be unavoidable dont guess at speed the op operator prator should not guess at the speed of the machine for a variation of 5 per cent may reduce its efficiency the only way to determine the speed as closely as this is to use a speed indicator if a speed s P ced indicator was not furnished with the machine a good one can be purchased for 2 or less oie of these will last for bobra and will enable the to determine at any time the speeds at machine ron chine la ii running A thrashing machine cannot be expected to 10 lo do good mo work rk unless the belting ui ane pulleys are kept in good condl tion the speed at which the different parts should run and the power required to drive them are carefully calculated cu the pulleys must be kept in line so that the entire surface of the belt will run on them if all the power Is to be transmitted also the strain on a belt Is much greater it if it is allowed to project over one side of a pulley and thus be pulled across the rim A belt will not stay on the pulleys unless the shafts are parallel if a belt Is too loose there will be a constant tendency for it to slip on the pulleys and the parts which it drives will not have their proper speed such a bolt belt also tends to run off the pulleys and wear out the belt and the pulley facings on the other hand band a belt should not be too tight whenever the lagging comes off a pulley it should be replaced immediately dia dla tely covered iron pulleys have considerably more adhesion than uncovered ones of the same size with the same belt tension the important thing in covering a pulley is to get the leather or other lagging as tight as possible otherwise Is will soon pull oft off again obviously the nalls na alg or rivets should not be left projecting above the surface to injure the belt running leather belts all leather belts should be run with the grain or hair side next nest to the pulley thi outside of a belt must stretch a little every time it goes over a pulley and as the flesh side Is more elastic than the hair side the belt will last longer if run in this manner also the grain side Is smoother and will transmit more power because it brings more surface into actual contact with the face of the pulley A leather belt which has become dry an and d hard can be made soft and pliable again by cleaning it thoroughly and applying foot oil castor oil or sortie some etli other r reliable belt dressing rosin or mixtures containing enough rosin to leave the surface of the belt in a sticky condition should not be used to keep belt from slipping they will make the belt more adhesive fol foi a short time but it will soon become glazed and slip more than before the rosin was applied lubricating oil is 13 injurious to all kinds of belting which should be kept as nearly free as possible from this substance A leather belt that has become saturated with oil can be restored in large measure by scraping it as clean as possible and packing it in dry sawdust for three or four days sponging the belt with ga gasoline S or even dipping it will remo remove ve the oil too much gasoline however bluy n ay take all the dressing out of the belt and if it seems too dry after the gasoline has evaporated more dressing should be applied oil can be washed off a rubber belt with soap and water without injury to the belt tile the lacing of a belt should be such that it will pass over the pulleys with little or no shock or j jar ar A lacing should be fastened otherwise than by tying a knot especially it if the belt runs rims over an idler or service of separator the total amount of sen ice which a separator will give depends more than anything else upon the care and oiling of the bearings this is especially true of steel separators before the machine is started on the seasons work it Is imperative that it be gone over carefully to see that all journals and boxes are in proper shape and plentifully supplied with oil since the separator has so many parts which move at a high rate of speed and the who whole I 1 e machine is subject to constant con slant strain and vibration while in motion any parts that are not perfectly solid and tight are almost sure to give trouble before the season Is over the failure of any one part will stop not only the th 0 machine but the entire thrashing crew as aa well A good grade of oil should alwa always abe be used oil of interior inferior grade will cause more wear on the bearings and ma may Y feces laate more frequent stopping lengthening the working life of it a machine as expensive as a separator by even a few days or the saving of only a few hours time by the crew will more than pay the difference between the cost of inferior and high yade grade lubricating oil A good grade of light oil will cover the bearings which it la Is intended to lubricate more thoroughly and quickly than will thick heavy oil in hot weather thicker and heavier oil con can be used more satisfactorily than Is possible jn in cold A hearing bearing is more likely to be continually lubricated when a small amount of oil la Is applied frequently than when nhen a large quantity Is applied at rare intervals it if oil Is applied to a hearing bearing while the machine la Is in motion it will be quickly 7 and evenly distributed over the bear beara ing surface |