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Combine Baler Combo Harvests Two Crops At Once
The high-yielding wheat grown in the Palouse region of southeast Washington produces lots of straw. Now two farmers in the area have figured out how to harvest grain and straw at the same time.
"Our average wheat yield is 100 to 120 bu. per acre, and we get five tons of straw per acre, too," says Curtis Coombs. "
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Combine Baler Combo Harvests Two Crops At Once COMBINES Miscellaneous 33-4-3 The high-yielding wheat grown in the Palouse region of southeast Washington produces lots of straw. Now two farmers in the area have figured out how to harvest grain and straw at the same time.
"Our average wheat yield is 100 to 120 bu. per acre, and we get five tons of straw per acre, too," says Curtis Coombs. "We used to burn it, but that's getting harder and harder to do."
Coombs and a neighbor, Steve Shoun, tried baling behind the combine and then pelletizing the straw, but the pelletizer wouldn't work with dried straw. After hearing about how Australian wheat producer Graham Shields hooked a baler behind his combine, the two decided to try that approach.
"We talked to Graham and decided to try his Combaler Bale Direct System," says Coombs. "We had to fabricate a different hitch to match up with our hillside combines."
Coombs and Shoun connected a Hesston 4790 baler to their Case 8010H combine. To achieve adequate traction, the combine has to also have auxiliary rear drive. The rear axle carries the tongue weight of the baler. All residue from the combine is funneled directly into the baler.
Coombs cautions that adding the baler complicates the grain harvest. "You have to realize you're harvesting two crops at the same time," he says. "When you're putting out a bale every 58 seconds, your grain carts and trucks can't just run alongside the combine unless you've got someone retrieving the bales to get them out of the way."
Not counting the handling equipment, Coombs says modifying and connecting the baler runs around $50,000. That, of course, is in addition to the combine, baler and bale handling equipment.
"We ran it over about 1,000 acres last year," says Coombs. "While we are still modifying things, on the whole we had no issues with the baler. The great thing is that you can take as little or as much residue as you want by adjusting the height of the cut."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Strauff Fiber LLC, 324 Lower Hogeye Rd, Dayton, Wash. 99328 (ph 509 382-9611; cell 509 520-6411; Strauff.fiber@live.com; curtis@ strauff-fiber.com).
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