Combine-Mounted Weed Seed Collector

Combine-Mounted Weed Seed Collector COMBINES Miscellaneous 20-2-1 "If we can send a man to the moon, why can't we make a combine that won't put weed seeds back out on the ground?" FARM SHOW recently printed that comment after reading it in the Canadian magazine Ontario Farmer. Soon after, Glenn Reicheld, of Jarvis, Ontario, stepped forward to say he'd already done it. Reicheld modified his 1982 White 8600 combine to collect weed seeds coming off the sieves and blow them into a self-unloading forage wagon that he pulls behind the combine. He used it last year for the first time, collecting chaff and weed seeds from 30 acres of cropland heavily infested with weeds. "I don't know how much difference it will make in reducing weed pressure this year because some weed seeds undoubtedly get knocked off at the header. However, I'm sure that it'll help reduce the problem," says Reicheld. A bolt-on steel plate diverts material that falls off the sieves into a high-speed 6-in. dia. auger that's connected hto a blower unit mounted alongside the combine. Bigger material from the straw walkers continues to fall into the field. The auger is belt-driven off the shaft that operates the straw spreader. "It doesn't collect a lot of material, but the material has a high concentration of seeds," says Reichold. "I compost the material or pile it up on vacant ground. I think the same idea would work on almost any combine. Many farmers probably don't want to bother with pulling a wagon behind their combine. However, I think that eventually we'll be forced to do something like this because of environmental concerns with herbicide residues building up in the soil. And I think it'll pay off on any field with particularly severe weed problems. "I bought the blower and auger as one unit and paid less than $500 for it. The blower rotates at about 2,900 rpm's. I can adjust the angle of the steel catch plate to allow more or less material to fall into the auger." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Glenn C. Reicheld, Rt. 3, Jarvis, Ontario, Canada N0A 1J0 (ph 519 587-2200).

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