Combine Modification Cuts Dockage To Less Than 1%

Combine modification cuts dockage to less than 1% COMBINES Modifications 10-4-29 Bill Derkach was disappointed with the amount of unthreshed heads in the clean grain tank and the blockage that occurred when combining under tough conditions with his Massey Ferguson 760 combine. He solved both problems with a $600 modification, according to a report in Grainews, a Canadian farm magazine. "The unthreshed heads would build up in the rethresher area and finally plug it," says the Ituna, Sask., farmer. "Then, I'd have to get off the combine, open the returns and dump about a bushel of heads onto the ground. I'd harvest another two tankfuls of grain and repeat the process." Together with neighbor, Ed Karpinski, he converted two combines. They removed the rethresher and extended the elevator up into the grain tank. "We used the short chain conveyor from the rethresher and extended it," explains Derkach. The elevator goes through the grain tank and is connected to a 5-in. dia. steel pipe that passes down through the firewall and through the engine compartment. The pipe continues behind and under the engine to the steel plate over the cylinder. They cut a hole for the pipe in the steel plate so the returns are placed directly onto the cylinder. The original monitor was reinstalled behind the shield so if the conveyor stops or plugs, the problem shows up on the console in the cab. Last fall the two farmers cut 2,800 acres between them with the two modified combines. "They worked beautifully ù not one plugging problem ù and much better then we expected," says Derkach. All grain they harvested was high moisture and had to be dried later. Another big advantage Derkach found was the dockage was cut from about 6% to ¢%. "Under tough combining or when you run through a low spot with green material or weeds, there would be many heads that wouldn't thresh as the rethresher overloaded. These heads would end up in the grain tank or be thrown over the shoe until the rethresher plugged, but not anymore." Reprinted with permission from GRAINEWS, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

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