Microwave Hay Dryer Survives Death Of Inventor

Microwave Hay Dryer Survives Death Of Inventor HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Bale Handling (5) 20-5-4 No story in recent memory has sparked as much interest as the "on-the-go" microwave hay dryer first featured in FARM SHOW nearly two years ago (Vol. 18, No 6). Response to the invention, which uses ordinary household microwave "motors" to dry hay in the field, was so overwhelming we included it in our "Best Of FARM SHOW" Video Vol. II. Commercial development of the innovative hay dryer was dealt a major set-back late last year with the unexpected death of its 61-year-old inventor, Harold Herron. He suffered a massive heart attack at a Lake City, Fla., hospital and died December 24, 1995. The machine then took a back seat to settling Herron's estate. Now, work has resumed to bring the machine to market, as Herron had dreamed. The 50-ft. long hay dryer features 210 ordinary household-type microwave units and a 7-ft. wide baler-type pickup. Seven 11-in. wide conveyor belts run the length of the machine. It's powered by a 580 hp diesel engine in the middle that drives a 320 kW generator that supplies electricity and a hydraulic pump that runs the conveyor belts and pickup. "We tested it last summer and found it worked perfectly on Harold's light South-eastern Coastal and Bahai grass hay," Barbara Coulthurst, Herron's long-time personal accountant and now CEO of the Hay*Dry company, told FARM SHOW. "But we felt it also should be tested in heavier hay. So we tested the machine for two months this summer on 55 acres of heavy alfalfa at the farm of John Roe, a Milverton, Ontario, commercial hay producer and entrepreneur. We found we needed to increase air flow with heavier, wetter hay because we were getting too much steam and condensation inside the drying chamber. We installed a bigger fan and some ductwork in the aluminum housing over the conveyor belts to solve the problem." Says Roe: "With the increased air flow, we should be able to dry 1 to 1 1/2 tons of alfalfa per hour, which is adequate for yields in our second and third cuttings. But we still hope to increase that capacity by two to three times to make it commercially viable for first cuttings too." Meantime, a business plan is being drafted and negotiations are in progress with a North American manufacturer, Holland Equipment Co., to produce the machine, which has also dried other high moisture crops such as Palmetto berries and ginseng root with excellent results, adds Coulthurst. "We responded to hundreds of letters - I can't begin to estimate the number of phone calls - from all over the world generated by FARM SHOW's initial article. And we'll do our best to keep readers apprised of any significant new developments," she says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Hay*Dry, P.O. Box 258, Mayo, Fla. 32066 (ph 904 294-1380; fax 3067).

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