Combine Grain Cleaner Destroys Weed Seed

Combine Grain Cleaner Destroys Weed Seed GRAIN CLEANERS Grain Cleaners (29C) 14-1-24 An Arkansas farmer-inventor hopes his new on-the-go grain cleaner that's coupled with a weed seed and insect "destroyer" becomes standard equipment for all makes of combines. Johnny Reyenga, who farms near Prescott, has been working on his new combine-mounted devices for several years. They consist of a screen cleaner that mounts on the grain tank spreader auger, and two weed seed and insect "destructors" - one that mounts behind the sieves and crushes everything that comes out the back end of the combine, and a smaller one, mounted on the side of the combine, that crushes material coming out of the grain tank-mounted cleaner. Last year the grain cleaner and "destructor" units were tested by reseachers at the University of Arkansas who found that the cleaner extracts up to 99% of foreign mat-ter, boosts test weights, and even reduces moisture content of grain samples by getting rid of fines and other trash. University researchers also found that Reyenga's "destructors" crush virtually all weed seed and insects culled from the harvested grain. "It doesn't make sense to separate out weed seeds and then dump them right back onto the field. The next year you buy chemicals to kill them," says Reyenga. His cleaner/destructor devices are mounted on an IH 815 combine. The grain cleaner mounts on the grain tank spreader auger and consists of a cleaning chamber with a screen bottom. As grain passes from the clean grain elevator into the hopper, it passes over the cleaning screen. Weed seeds, insects, fines, fall down through the screen, and are funneled into a tube that carries the material to the destructor mounted on the side of the combine. A pair of rollers crushes everthing that's fed into it. "As far as I know this is the first weed seed and insect destroyer mounted on a combine," says Reyenga, who's patented the idea and is negotiating with manufacturers to bring the cleaner/destructor on the market. "I built it mainly to crush weed seeds but was surprised at how many insects it kills. It does a tremendous job." Dr. Mike May at the University of Arkansas experiment station near Hope, Ark., tested Reyenga's cleaner/destructor in soy-beans last year. According to a report he issued on the tests, "It appeared to work well in the field. The cleaner removed weed seeds, insects, soil particles, stones, soy-bean plant residues and other small particles. Reduction of foreign matter lowered moisture content of test samples. Rolling and crushing foreign matter as it comes off the sieves and out of the cleaner destroyed insects and rendered most weed seed incapable of germination." Dr. William Loe, director of the research station, said the tests were impressive. "We were able to verify that it works the way he says it would. We're helping obtain patents and will assist in working with manufacturers interested in the idea." In tests, the cleaner reduced foreign matter in soybeans from an average of 7.7 percent to 1.9 percent. In some cases, foreign matter was reduced to less than 1 percent. Moisture content dropped nearly 1 percent, and test weight increased an ,average of about 4 percent. "I never have to clean grain back at the farm. It comes in clean from the field," says Reyenga. The cleaner requires no power to operate and only displaces 2 to 3 bushels in the grain tank. The small destructor mounted on the side of the combine is powered off the straw walker drive. The larger destructor unit, which mounts across the sieves at the back of the combine, is also powered off the straw walker drive, although Reyenga plans to drive future models with a hydraulic motor so speed can be easily varied. Generally, the higher the speed of the rollers, the better they work, he says, adding that, "They require very little power." Reyenga says he can mount his cleaner/ destructor on any combine for use in any grain. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Johnny Reyenga, Rt. 6, Box 140, Prescott, Ark. 71857 (ph 501 887-3678).

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