Last year was tough on equipment around our operation and the auger on the combine was one of the victims.  There are two decent sized dents on the bottom of the tube right where the splice is(Nobody has owned up to these yet).  These dents are right on the bottom so the flighting has probably got it about worn through.  The other dents are on the very end of the tube where there's no flighting(I fessed up to this one, had my auger in all day except for the one round that it should have been, tree, ouch!)

I think we might be able to pound out the dents by the splice good enough to make it last a few more years.  My question is, is there anything to watch out for when pulling the tube off?  Will the flighting stay with the combine and the tube comes right off?  What is a good way to suspend the flighting once the tube is off?  I was thinking about getting ahold of some scaffolding for this job.  Any other ideas on a slick way to get it off and back on?  Unfortunately I don't have a hoist/crane in the shop.

Thanks in advance guys!