The harvest window is fixed by the crop and the weather, and a combine is a single point of failure inside it. A breakdown does not cost machine hours — it costs standing crop, either to weather or to shatter loss, and it cannot be recovered by working late afterwards. Everything about this inspection is therefore preventive replacement rather than condition assessment: belts and chains that would probably last are changed anyway, because 'probably' is not worth the crop.
The steps ChatterFix schedules for this PM. Every step is a checkable item on the work order — a technician can speak their way through it without touching a keyboard.
The harvest window is fixed by the crop and the weather, and a combine is a single point of failure inside it. A breakdown does not cost machine hours — it costs standing crop, either to weather or to shatter loss, and it cannot be recovered by working late afterwards. Everything about this inspection is therefore preventive replacement rather than condition assessment: belts and chains that would probably last are changed anyway, because 'probably' is not worth the crop.
In-season failure with a dealer's workshop already saturated and parts on back-order. The second risk is fire: chaff and crop residue accumulate on hot engine and exhaust surfaces, and combine fires are common, fast, and frequently total the machine — with the added exposure of starting a field fire.
Annually, well before the season rather than the week before it, so that parts arrive in time. Blow-down for chaff is a daily task during harvest, not an annual one — that is fire prevention, and it is the item most often skipped when the weather is closing in.
This procedure — and every other PM for your industry — is already built into ChatterFix. Pick your industry and it lands on the right equipment, on the right interval, in about three minutes.