SECTIONAL VIEW OF THE AGITATOR SEPARATOR.
One or more of the wheels should be set in holes, according to the unevenness of the ground, and the rear wheels should be well blocked. Get the holes ready, judging as well as possible what will give a true level and a convenient position. Haul the machine into position and see that it is all right before uncoupling the engine. If holes need redigging to secure proper level, machine may be pulled out and backed in again by the engine. When machine is high in front it can easily be leveled when engine or team have been removed, by cramping the front wheels and digging in front of one and behind the other, then pulling the tongue around square.
Block the right hind wheel to prevent the belt drawing machine forward. Always carry a suitable block to have one handy.
In starting out of holes or on soft ground, cramp the front axle around, and it will require only half the power to start that would be required by a straight pull.
In setting the machine, if the position can be chosen, choose one in which the straw will move in the general direction of the wind, but a little quartering, so that dust and smoke from engine will be carried away from the men and the straw stack. In this position there is less danger from fire when wood is used.
THE CYLINDER.
The cylinder is arranged with several rows of teeth working into stationary teeth in what is called the concave. It is important that all these teeth be kept tight, and that the cylinder should not work from side to side. The teeth are liable to get loose in a new machine, and should be tightened up frequently. A little brine on each nut will cause it to rust slightly and help to hold it in place. If the cylinder slips endwise even a sixteenth of an inch, the teeth will be so much nearer the concaves on one side and so much farther away from them on the other side. Where they are close, they will crack the grain; where they are wide apart they will let the straw go through without threshing or taking out the grain. So it is important that the cylinder and its teeth run true and steady. If the teeth get bent in any way, they must be straightened.
The speed of the cylinder is important, since its pulley gives motion to the other parts of the machine, and this movement must be up to a certain point to do the work well. A usual speed for the cylinder pulley is 1,075 revolutions per minute, up to 1,150.
There is always an arrangement for adjusting the cylinder endwise, so that teeth will come in the middle. This should be adjusted carefully when necessary. The end play to avoid heating may be about 1-64 of an inch. It may be remembered that the cylinder teeth carry the straw to the concaves, and the concaves do the threshing.