TAILINGS ELEVATOR.
The tailings are carried back to the cylinder by an elevator usually worked with a chain. This chain should be kept tight enough not to unhook, yet not so tight as to bind.
To put the chain into the elevator, tie a weight on a rope and drop it down the lower part of the elevator. The chain may be fastened to the rope and a man at the top can then pull the chain up, while another feeds it in at the bottom. When chain has been drawn up to the top, the rope should be dropped down upper portion of elevator and used at bottom to pull chain down after it has been adjusted over the sprocket. Some one at the bottom should continue to feed the chain in as it is pulled down, so that it will go into the elevator straight. When the chain has been pulled through it may be hooked and adjusted to lower sprocket, and tightened up by screws at top. Turn the chain around once by hand to make sure there are no kinks in it.
The tailings should be small, containing no light chaff and little full-size grain. They are a good indication of how the sieves are working. If much good grain is coming through, see if it gets over the conveyor sieve by way of the extension to the tailings auger, or over the shoe sieve. If the sieves are not right, they may be adjusted in various ways, according to the directions of the manufacturer.
Grain returned in the tailings is liable to get cracked in the cylinder, and much chaff in the tailings chokes the cylinder. For every reason, the tailings should be kept as low as possible.