Know When and How to Replace your Feed Roll Teeth

It is important to be aware of your feed roll teeth. They will start to wear, which can potentially cause damage to your feed roll. We will go over how to install new feed roll teeth along with some tips on how to know when to change them out. Changing out your feed roll teeth regularly is important to help with feed into your machine. We will be demonstrating on a Claas® 980 497 Series forage harvester.

To replace the feed roll teeth, you will start by removing the bolts from the old tooth. Use a drill and a socket to remove them. Once you have all the bolts out, the feed roll teeth are still stuck in the feed roll. It is nice to have a screwdriver and chisel to get it out. You can get a spot open, open and pry to remove the teeth.

When starting to install the new teeth, you will tap the teeth into place. Place one end of the teeth into the feed roll and grab a hammer to tap it into the right spot. As you move along, place the bolts and hold them in place with a lock nut so you don’t go past the hole. Once tapped in place, start all the bolts in the new feed roll.

Before tightening the bolts, there are a few things to keep in mind: Some impacts are fast – you never want to spin a stainless-steel nut and bolt fast, this will cause it to seize. To prevent this, add a little oil to each top to lube it a little bit. Also do not spin the impact very fast. Once you have added some oil, you can bring the bolt down to the feed roll, but do not tighten it. You will torque the bolts at 35 newton meters. This is a low torque, but the locking mechanism in the bolt will hold through and it will not fall out. Set your torque wrench to 35 newton meters or 26 foot pounds. Tighten the bolts and you are ready to head to the field!

Watch your teeth to make sure they don’t get too heavily worn and don’t have any sharp corners. It is best when you have sharp corners and higher teeth. With new teeth, it is easy to see that they will stand out from the feed roll helping to protect it. Old teeth will be right on the edge to the edge of the feed roll causing damage to it. When you start to see wear spots on the back side of your feed roll – its time for new teeth.

Contact us today so we can help you keep your feed rolls in the best shape possible. Call us at (800) 522-8874 or email us at [email protected] today!