Augers can be one of the most valuable items on a farm, and yet when they don’t work – one of the most frustrating. And for those who don’t know what an auger is, its a long tube on a frame which has a shaft inside with a spiral flight welded to it. As the flight turns, granular things like grain or fertlizer get carried along the tube. The are used in a variety of situations, but mostly to either load or unload trucks. If you know a truck driver who delivers to farms – get them to tell you their best auger story. They will have one!
We used to have a Briggs and Straton engine on this auger. (At this point, any one reading this that has had a ‘Briggs’ will have a smile on their face as they know whats coming) It had a routine. It had to be followed. Two pull starts on full choke with fuel on and then one pull on half choke with the fuel off – and then it would start. You madly rushed to turn the fuel back on while it was coughing and then it was right. But if you deviated from the routine in any way – or it just plain didn’t want to start, or if the wind was blowing in the wrong direction… well you could pull start it till your arm fell off and it just wouldn’t go. When I took over the farm – I replaced it with a Honda.
However, in the defence of augers and their motors – they have a hard time.
They generally are left out in the open – their motors often uncovered.
‘Does that motor go?’ asks a dubious truck driver who is already running late for his next pickup. As farmers with comprehensive maintenance programs, we know it had an oil change, filter and spark plug service completed – (but perhaps we can’t remember exactly what year that was… Hmmm??).
‘Well it was running last time I used it.’ the farmer replies.
So, we expect the poor neglected motor to spring to life like its brand new – then run flat out for 2 hours giving 110%, only to then be turned off hot and left to sit for the next month (or months) with the fuel going stale, until next time. Yes, thats the life of an auger and its motor.
In our case though, when the auger we use to load our truck with fertiliser actually rusts through the auger tube so the fertiliser falls out half way along – its time for a major maintenance program. So below, we have the auger with the motor and drive assembly in pieces.
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It has gone away to have a new tube, bearings, flight, chain and drive shaft fitted. It may even have new paint! Dan and I have had the motor off. Cleaned the carbie, flushed the fuel tank, new filters, oil, spark plug. Greased the universal joints in the housing, replaced the perished jockey wheel. Ready for the next 40 years of neglect – I mean normal use.
Life is tough on a farm 🙂