Installing the Kooima Ag Universal Knives to fit Claas® V-Max Drums

Our Kooima Ag team works hard to make quality parts for our customers. We have been developing our universal knives to fit Claas® V-Max drums and working to get them ready for our customers. Read how Nolan installs our universal knives on a Claas® 502 machine.

The Kooima Ag universal knives will fit Claas® 494 - 502 machines with a V-Max drum. The machine we used to install these knives was a 502.

To install the knives, start by opening up the feed roll cabinet. Next, you will want to park the shear bar. This will keep the shear bar locked in place and out of the way during the installation process.

The Kooima Ag universal knives to fit Claas® V-Max drums are made with an easy way to differentiate the rights and lefts. Our knives have notches on the side, these notches will face the outside of the drum. The knives will come in pairs with 4 bolts.

After setting out the knives, bolts, and clamps, we are going to take a knife and put the clamp with feet (K1318915) on the outside of the knife. The clamp with feet will always go to the outside of the knife. We like to have the clamp planted on the knife before starting to install the knife on the cutter drum. Position the knife in place on the cutter drum. Once in place, hand tighten the bolt on the outside of the knife. Let the other side float while grabbing a clamp without feet (K1318738) and another bolt to finish installing the knife. With the clamp without feet, place it on the knife and bolt it in place. Now, with the smallest impact, snug the outside bolt lightly first. These knives are ground into a tee every time we grind them in, so when the knife bolt is impacted on the outside, the inside will float into position. After impacting the inside bolt, the knife will be brought up. Then, we will go back to the outside bolt and impact it again. We recommend doing a slight impact on the outside bolt, then a hard impact on the inside knife bolt, and finally another hard impact on the outside knife bolt. Finally, with the shear bar parked, move the knife past the shear bar to make sure it won't hit anything. Once one side is complete, do the same thing on the other side.

Begin the same way, by placing the clamp with feet on the outside of the knife. Again, the notch on the knife will go to the outside of the drum. Hand tighten the bolt, then place the clamp without feet on the inside and hand tighten the bolt. We recommend using new bolts each time you replace the knives on your drum. We also recommend using new clamps each time you replace your knives. Whether or not to change your clamps is a question we often get, and it is a personal choice, even though we recommend it. You will do a light impact on the outside bolt, then do a hard impact on the inside bolt, then do a hard impact again on the inside bolt. Push the knife past the shear bar to make sure it is in the right position to move past the shear bar.

Follow the same process to install the rest of the knives. Once all the knives are installed, do one final spin of the drum to ensure all the knives are in place. Finally, torque all of the bolts. We recommend torquing the bolts to 225 lb. ft. Torque the outside bolt first, then the inside bolt. Mark each of the bolts as you torque them to keep track of the bolts that are finished.