Combine Converted Into Stationary Grain Cleaner

Combine converted into stationary grain cleaner COMBINES Conversions 10-6-2 "Junked combines make great stationary grain cleaners," says Wilbur Lutz, Sinking Spring, Penn., who turned a burned-out 7700 Deere combine into a high capacity grain cleaner that lets him operate cornbines "wide open" in the field ù even on hillsides ù and then run the somewhat "contaminated" harvested grain through the combine cleaner back at the farm. Lutz found the burned-out combine at a salvage yard and took the whole back end of the machine home with him, leaving the cab, engine and header behind. He then removed one sieve in the machine and extended the grain pan under the remaining sieve. He installed an input auger just above the shoe area of the machine which distributes the grain evenly onto the sieve. He then enclosed the entire machine, especially the rear end where dust and dirt come out of the combine. All dirt and contaminents are jettisoned into an old hopper that keeps dust contained. The big combine grain cleaner mounts on top of Lutz's grain cleaning ù drying building. Grain is unloaded into a dump pit from the field and an elevator carries it up to the combine cleaner. It cleans the grain at a rate of over 2,000 bu. per hour and feeds it to one of two dryers in the building below. "The biggest advantage of this combine grain cleaner is that it lets us operate more efficiently in the field. We're able to operate our two 8-row Deere combines wide open without worrying about doing a perfect cleaning job. This has reduced grain loss out the back of our combines to practically zero," says Lutz. The combine grain cleaner primarily removes small rocks, dirt, cobs, and other bits of trash but it does not remove fines, which is exactly the way Lutz wanted it. After the cleaned grain has been dried, he runs it through a rotary cleaner to remove the now-dry fines, which he then feeds to livestock. "The system is efficient because we're not drying lots of dirt and trash, yet we get our fines dry for storage," he notes. The "made it myself" combine grain cleaner is powered by a 5 hp. electric motor. Lutz looked for a Deere combine to build the cleaner because both of the family combines are made by Deere. Lutz uses the grain cleaner primarily on corn and barley and says he installed a plexiglass viewing port so he can observe the inside operation. He's been using it for three years. "Some of my neighbors thought it was strange when I began working on it but they're really impressed when they see how well it works," says Lutz. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Wilbur Lutz, 825 Fritztown Rd., Sinking Spring, Penn. 19608 (ph 615 678-2933).

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