Your preharvest winter wheat checklist

It’s nearly time to kick off this year’s winter wheat harvest! Everyone is anxious to get in the field, but preparing your combine is essential for ensuring a smooth and productive season.  

With preventive maintenance and proper preparation, you can minimize downtime and maximize your productivity. Here are the top five things you need to do to get your combine and equipment ready for the winter wheat harvest.

Inspect and Maintain the Combine
Your combine is the heart of your harvest operation, and it’s essential to ensure it’s in peak working condition.  

• Check belts, pulleys, chains, sprockets and other wear parts. If any are frayed or damaged, replace them to avoid failure during harvest. Proper belt tension is also key for efficient power transfer and operation.  

• Grease the entire machine to ensure proper lubrication of critical components.  While greasing, inspect bushings, bearings and other moving parts. 

• Air filters are another critical component — clean or replace them to maintain good engine performance and fuel efficiency. 

• Check the hydraulic systems for hydraulic leaks, worn hoses, and cracked lines and fittings. Repair or replace components proactively as needed to limit in-season breakdowns. 
• Don’t forget to inspect your header as well. Ensure the sickle is sharp and replace any worn or missing sections and guards.

Brush up on CEMOs
Once the combine is ready to roll, it’s time to fine-tune CEMOs (CLAAS electronic machine optimization system) settings for optimal performance.  

• Adjust key settings like threshing, separation and cleaning. The system can guide you through adjusting your combine harvester for your specific conditions of winter wheat. 

• Once your base settings are set, CEMOS provides features like CEMOS Auto Perform, which automatically adjusts settings like fan speed, cleaning system and crop flow, ensuring that the combine harvester is working at optimal settings for different crop conditions and environments. 

• For newer operators, CLAAS provides Learn Procedures to ensure the operational ranges of the potentiometers are set correctly.  

Getting these settings right before the harvest begins will save time and prevent costly adjustments during the harvest itself.

Test and Calibrate Yield Monitoring System
Yield monitoring systems provide valuable data on crop performance during harvest.  

• Calibrate the yield monitor before the season starts. An improperly calibrated system can lead to inaccurate yield maps and, as a result, poor data for future decision-making. 
• Make sure that your GPS is aligned and functioning properly. If your combine has auto-steering capabilities, calibrating the GPS will help you save time and fuel by reducing overlap during the harvest.

Inspect and Prepare Supporting Equipment
While the combine is the star of the show, it’s important not to neglect the supporting equipment.  

• Check augers and grain carts for any signs of wear or damage. These machines should be fully operational, as delays in transferring grain can lead to lost time and potential quality issues.  
• Inspect the tires and brakes of your trucks and trailers to ensure they are in good condition and ready for use. Any issues with hauling equipment can result in costly delays and increased downtime during harvest.

Plan for Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Harvest time can be intense, and it’s important to be prepared for emergencies.  

• Make sure that fire extinguishers are easily accessible and fully charged, as the risk of combine fires increases during harvest due to the dry conditions and friction from moving parts.  

• Create a maintenance log to track repairs and parts replacements and keep a stock of essential spare parts on hand, such as belts, filters and fuel filters.  

Last but certainly not least, enjoy your harvest season! You’ve worked hard to plant, grow, tend, and now harvest your crop despite stressors and challenges. Enjoy the fruits of your labor.