The returns clutch has been driving me up the wall since I got the combine 10 years ago. I should have left well enough alone, as it was welded together when I got it.
Believing that it was there to serve a purpose, I replaced it with new parts, and then my troubles began. Many is the hours spent in the field releasing the belts and hand walking the returns on to a tarp and then shoveling them back through the combine. I’d get going again, just to repeat the ritual a half hour later. I do combine in hilly terrain - mainly up and down, with only slight sidehill. The speed at which I combine doesn't make any difference.
It doesn’t seem to matter what I replace, it’s always the same story.
Last year, I replaced all the bearings in the system, the rethrasher shaft, the elevator chain and its sprockets as well as the clutch pieces. Every time the system jams, the expensive clutches pieces get hammered and rounded smooth. I had everything apart, inspected the elevator to ensure there was no sheet metal in the way. With the belts off, everything spins freely.
I’ve tried the elevator chain with very little slack and with lots of slack thinking it was material jamming in the sprockets. I’ve ensured that all the auger flighting angles forward like a shovel and made sure none was bent back. There's about 3/8" clearance between the flighting and the trough.
My work around has been to plug off the last sections of the bottom sieve so there are no tailings.
This week, after ensuring that the returns path was completely clear, I got the separator going and the clutch was clicking intermittently with no load. HELP!