Hand-Held Combine

Hand-Held Combine COMBINES Miscellaneous 29-4-33 There's no need to make a test run with a combine to see if a field's ready to harvest, thanks to a new hand-held harvester that cuts and threshes a clean grain sample in minutes. "The idea for the Micro Harvester came to me when I was selling combines," says Francis Gode, Le Catelet, France. "I used to go to farms for the first use of a new combine. We were often wasting our time going from field to field because the grain was not ready for harvest." Gode worked with several French research institutes to build a miniature harvester that could be hand-held and battery-powered. The self-contained unit cuts and threshes the grain, depositing it in a glass jar for moisture testing. The device was developed in 2004. Gode says it's the only cordless harvester of its type. The machine has three separate functions. The operator lowers the stripper mouth over the grain heads to pick the grains. The grain is then threshed with the miniature concaves, and finally blowers separate the grain from the trash. Clean grain falls into an attached jar. Gode is looking for distributors or resellers in North America. Currently he is selling it for 415 Euros, which is $534.23 (U.S.) or $662.87 (Can.). Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Francis Gode, R Gode & Sons, 15 bis rue Augereau, 02420 Le Catelet, France (ph 0033 323 662 005; email: gode.catelet @wanadoo.fr; website: www.gode.fr).

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