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Shield Deflects Flying Beans
“I used to find soybeans laying on the feederhouse of my combine during harvest so I knew there were beans going over the back of the head onto the ground,” says Waseca, Minn. grain farmer Dave Born. “I solved the problem by building a simple metal deflector that bounces flying beans back into the header.”

    Born says before he built the deflector he was probably losing a bushel of beans an acre or more. “It doesn’t seem like a lot until a person sees what’s on the feederhouse and then realizes there’s 3 or 4 times that many already on the ground from each side of the header. With beans at $9 a bushel or more, that’s a lot of crop I’m not getting paid for.”

    Born’s solid deflector is made from 1/8-in. thick sheet metal. Three sections of 2-ft. by 8-ft. pieces are bolted to the back of the header, supported by braces bolted to the top of the deflector and the header frame. Each piece has a 4-in. lip at a 30-degree angle on top to deflect flying beans back into the auger. The top 8-in. of the center piece is partially cut away for better visibility, so Born welded a secondary lip about 12-in. above the base on that section. He also installed 3 lights on top of the deflector for better night visibility.

    “I know the setup works real well because there aren’t any beans on the feederhouse, even in dry conditions,” Born says. “I can’t quite see the whole auger from the cab, but I can see all of the reel and the whole sickle bar. I’m sure the beans I saved in the first day alone more than paid for my time and materials.”

    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup,
David Born, 77977 350th Ave., Waseca, Minn. 56093.


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2017 - Volume #41, Issue #5