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Farm Equipment

Combine Safety

Rural Practitioners

Rural Educators  

Last updated 1/16/03

Crops are gathered by the header and fed into the throat of the combine by a cross auger. when the crop reaches the cylinder, it is processed by rotating bars that roll the material against the concave to separate the grain from the cob or seed head. Further separation is accomplished by shakers and fans. The grain is transported to a grain tank, which may hold up to 200 bushels or more, until it is unloaded by augers. The straw and chaff are discharged from the rear of the combine. Larger combines are often equipped with a straw chopper/spreader, which consists of three or four reinforced rubber strips rotating around a vertical shaft, to spread the straw more evenly on the ground.

Combines used in Georgia may have one of three types of headers. A grain platform is used to harvest most crops, and may range from 13 to 30 feet in width. It consists of a sickle bar cutter which cuts the plants, a reel which pushes the crop back over the cutter and a cross auger which brings the crop to the center of the header for feeding into the combine. A corn header is specifically designed for harvesting corn, and may handle from 4 to 12 rows. It uses snapping rolls to separate the ear from the stalk, minimizing the amount of material which must be fed through the machine. A row-crop header is used for crops such as soybeans, sorghum and sunflower. These headers appear similar to the corn header at first glance and handle from four to eight rows. Row-crop headers harvest only the plants which are in the row, minimizing the amount of weeds processed by the combine. The plants are gripped between rubber belts, pulled past a cutter and delivered to the cross auger.

The most likely accidents will involve a person caught in the header, pinned under the header or who has a foot caught in the auger at the bottom of the grain tank. Other injuries occur when a person is caught by a belt drive or struck by the straw chopper/spreader. Extra persons riding on the combine risk falling or being thrown from the machine and being run over, Overturns are not very common, but have occurred. If the combine is equipped with a ROPS cab, the operator who is wearing a safety belt should receive only minor injuries.

Fires are common with combines if the operator does not clean dust and chaff from the engine compartment daily. Overheated bearings, fuel leaks and electrical shorts can also cause fires on combines.

Injuries to Expect

Injuries may include fractures, lacerations and amputations. Entanglements may involve only a hand or foot, or they may involve the entire body.

Rescue Procedures

Shut off power and stabilize the scene. Block the wheels to prevent movement. If the header is involved, support the header to prevent settling or lowering. Remember, a combine may be very heavy and the header may weigh up to 6,000 pounds.

Determine the seriousness of the injuries and plan the extrication.

Always keep a charged fire hose and fire extinguisher ready for immediate use.

Patients entangled in a drive belt can be freed by cutting the belt. If clothing is wrapped around a pulley or shaft, it may be possible to manually reverse the shaft to unwrap the clothing. It may also be possible to cut away entangled clothing.

If a person is trapped beneath the header, it may be possible to free the patient by digging. The header can also be lifted off by jacks or air bags. Add supports as the header is raised to keep it from falling. Remember that a large base will be needed for the jacks and all supports to keep them from sinking into the ground under the weight of the machine. DO NOT raise the header with the machine's hydraulics. The header came down on the victim for some reason, which might be because of faulty hydraulics.

Entanglement in the header may involve severe injuries. The rescue procedures will vary, depending on the type header involved. If a corn head is involved, refer to the section on corn heads. Row-crop heads and grain platforms should typically involve lacerations and amputations, unless the person is entangled in the cross auger.

The cross auger is supported by a bearing at each end of the header. It can be manually reversed by removing the drive belt or chain and turning the shaft with a pipe wrench. It is necessary to remove the shields to access the belt or chain, which is usually located on the left side of the header. The cross auger can be adjusted upward to relieve some of the pressure on the patient. Removal of the auger will involve removing the bearings at each end and pulling the shaft from the auger. Carefully support the auger during the removal process.

A person caught in the conveyor behind the header can be freed by manually reversing the drive. Another possibility is to cut the chains and/or bars to free the patient.

A person who has passed the conveyor will be processed like any crop material. There can be no rescue past this point, only a recovery of badly-mutilated body parts.

A hand or foot caught in the grain tank auger may be freed by reversing the auger. The guard over the auger can be removed for better access.

CORN HEAD

The corn header is a crop gathering attachment found on corn pickers and combines. It has aggressive rollers, called snapping rolls, that pull corn stalks downward at speeds of 10 to 15 feet per second to snap the ears of corn from the stalk. As the stalk passes between the closely-spaced snapping bars, the ears are snapped from the stalk and then transported by gathering chains to the combine for threshing or to the husking rolls and elevator on a corn picker.

Sometimes the stalks or other trash do not feed properly and will jam in the machine. Modern combines have a reversing feature which will clear most jams. Injuries occur when a person attempts to free a jam with the machine running. when the jam clears, a person holding onto a stalk cannot react fast enough to let go before his hand is caught in the machine. The victim may be pulled in by the rollers until the upper body prevents further involvement.

Corn headers feature heavy construction and will be quite heavy as well. The "Jaws of Life" tools will not be able to spread the frame of a corn header, so disassembly or another approach will be required. Cutting torches might be used to cut the machine apart, but cutting may be difficult because many parts are made of cast iron or hard surfaced steel. The header alone on a 4-row combine will weigh about 2,500 pounds, while an 8-row header will weigh about 5,500 pounds.

Injuries to Expect

Injuries will be severe to the entangled body part. There will be crushing injuries and all the flesh may be torn away by the rollers. A complicating factor for rescuers is that the victim's body may block access to the injured body part and to the header itself

Rescue Procedures

Shut off power and stabilize the scene. Support the machine with blocks or cribbing to prevent its gradual lowering.

Determine the seriousness of the injuries and plan the extrication.

Try to spread the snapping bars and snapping rolls by loosening them using hand tools.

Call the local equipment dealer and request assistance with disassembly of the machine. Consider calling a physician to the scene to amputate the limb if appropriate.

Air bags can be used to spread the header and free the patient if there is no time to disassemble the header. Place the air bags carefully to prevent slippage and to ensure successful spreading of the header. Use strong wedges to hold the snapping rolls apart while rescue tools are being repositioned.

DO NOT use chains or cables in attempts to spread the frame. The cables or chains may slip or break without warning.