Cob Catcher Attachment

Cob Catcher Attachment COMBINES Accessories 7-5-28 "We've tested it for two years. We know it works," says Chat McBroom, Princeton, Minn., inventor of a new Cob-Catcher attachment that lets you harvest ear corn with your conventional or rotary self-propelled combine. McBroom has licensed Automatic Equipment Co., Pender, Neb., to manufacture and market the Cob-Catcher (patent pending) throughout the U.S. and Canada: "It'll save 70 to 90% of the cobs, depending on the make of combine," he points out. To install, you replace the top adjustable chaffer with the Cob-Catcher attachment, remove the lower sieve, then adjust the cylinder enough so no cob pieces are more than about 2 in. long. "On Massey combines, which have three top chaffers, you can govern the amount of cobs saved by replacing one, two or all three chaffers with Cob-Catchers. Replacing all three will put about 90% of the cobs into the grain tank with the shelled corn," says McBroom. He notes that, "because the corn-cob mix is virtually free of any husks or stalks, it flows like grain, with very little bridging when unloading the high-moisture material from hopper-bottom wagons, or trucks. Also, the cob pieces are small enough so you can run the corn-cob mix through an Automatic roller mill without having to equip it with a cob-crushing head. If you're using the same combine to harvest soy-beans in the morning and corn in the afternoon, it only takes about 15 min. to put the Cob-Catcher on, or to take it off and reinsert the chaffer," says McBroom. The just-introduced Cob-Catcher attachment is currently available for all later model Deere and Massey combines, plus a few other makes. "It'll be available soon for virtually all makes and models of later model conventional and rotary combines," McBroom told FARM SHOW. Sells for $159 to $200, depending on the make and model combine. For more details, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Automatic Equipment Mfg. Co., P.O. Box P, Pender, Neb. 68047 (ph toll free 800-228-9289; in Nebraska, call 402 385-3051). Editor's Note: During the 1982 harvest season, University of Minnesota agricultural engineers Vance Morey and Cletus Scherts adjusted a combine to harvest a mixture of corn and corn cobs. (They decreased concave clearance so cobs were broken up and would pass through to the sieves, removed the bottom sieve, and opened the top sieve to let the mixture of broken cobs and shelled corn pass through.) "One alternative is to dry the mixture of cobs and corn in the grain dryer, then separate the mixture with the corn going to storage and the cobs to the burner to provide heat for drying. Another alternative is to separate the entire mixture before drying, with the corn going to the dryer, and the cobs to a burner to provide heat for drying," Morey points out.

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.