Spreader Handles Both Husks And Chaff

Spreader Handles Both Husks And Chaff COMBINES Chaff Savers 24-3-19 Roger Foster's 1968 Deere 105 self-propelled combine was originally equipped with only a small chaff spreader. When he decided he also wanted to spread husks and cobs, he didn't want to spend the money for a new commercial spreader. He decided to build his own. "I already had most of the parts I needed and was able to build it for less than $200. Commercial models sell for several hundred dollars," says Foster. The unit consists of a 3 1/2-ft. dia. 10-gauge steel disc that's rotated by a small hydraulic motor. The plate mounts just above and behind the combine's rear axle. A steel chute delivers chaff from the combine sieves down onto the plate. Foster cut some old V-belts into 1 1/2-ft. lengths and bolted them on top of the plate at intervals. The rubber strips grab the material and help swing it off the disc. "It spreads the material out evenly over all the rows. I've used it for five or six years with no problems," says Foster. "The hydraulic motor is off an old grain platform reel drive system that I no longer needed. The motor runs off a hydraulic system on the combine that I had set up several years ago to run a down corn reel. I use a control valve in the cab to start and stop the motor. I paid about $100 for the valve. "If I want I can adjust the plate forward or backward by simply moving a pin." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Roger Foster, Rt. 1, Box 108, Tower Hill, Ill. 62671 (ph 217 567-3417).

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