Microwave Hay Dryer

Microwave Hay Dryer HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Hay & Forage Harvesting 18-6-1 Farmers driving rural roads near the town of Live Oak, Fla., had better be prepared for some big city-style traffic jams over the next few months because when this revolutionary new machine takes to the field, no one driving by can resist slowing down to take a closer look. The 50-ft. long gigantic "on-the-go" microwave hay dryer picks up a windrow of freshly cut hay with a standard-looking hay pickup, runs it past 210 microwave "motors", and then dumps it out the back, dried down and ready to bale. It's the first machine of its kind ever built and, according to inventor Harold Herron, the first time microwave technology has ever been used successfully to dry a crop in the field. He says his machine could be adapted to dry other high-moisture crops. "There have been other attempts in the past to use microwaves to dry crops, including a highly-publicized crop dryer built in Atlanta during the 1980's. But, the idea never worked out until now because theyalways tried to build a big microwave generator, which was too expensive. We use standard magnatrons to generate the microwaves - the same type of microwave units used in ordinary household microwave ovens," says Herron. "This design not only costs a lot less,than trying to build a big microwave unit, it also works much bet-ter." The 210 microwave magnatrons are spread evenly out along the machine's 50-ft. length. Hay is picked up by the dryer's 7-ft. wide baler-type hay pickup. It's lifted up onto seven 11-in. rubber belts positioned side by side. The belts run the full length of the machine. "It was a lot simpler and less expensive to use seven narrow belts rather than one wide belt, which would be too heavy and difficult to maintain," notes Herron. A 580 hp. diesel engine, mounted in the middle of the machine, drives a 320 kw generator that provides electric power and a hydraulic pump that drives orbit motors that run the conveyor belts and hay pickup. A housing made out of aluminum runs the length of the machine over the conveyor belts. Fans mount along the top of the housing. "It's an extremely well-built machine, not just some schlocky contraption put together out of junk parts. It looks like it came off a production line some-where but so far we've only built the one machine," says Herron, who'd like to bring the machine to market next year either on his own or in partnership' with an established manufacturer. Because the machine is self-powered, it can be pulled with a small tractor or even a pickup. Herron can cut, and then dry; 12 to 15 acres of hay a day with the dryer. "We pull it about as fast as you'd go with a square baler operating in heavy hay." Although Herron admits the machine will be expensive (no "production price" has yet been determined), he feels he and other high-quality hay producers can justify the cost. "It lets us cut hay in the morning, dry it a couple hours later and have it at the horsetracks in Miami by midnight the same day. People will pay a premium for it because there's virtually no leaf loss and it keeps the dark green fresh-mown appearance it has when you first cut it in the field. Animals love it." Herron says he can adjust the machine to take out as much moisture as necessary, depending on the crop. Because micro-waves work by "exciting" water molecules, the new dryer gets rid of the water without damaging plant material, unlike other types of dryers which heat up the crop material to get the water out. He has a simple answer for people who ask if the dryer is safe. "The only way you could get hurt by the microwaves is if you crawled up inside while it was running," he says, adding that the housing is completely sealed up so no one can "accidentally" get inside. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Harold Herron, Rt. 5, Box 177, Live Oak., Ha. 32060 (ph 904 776-2044; fax 904 776-1363).

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