The Edible Bean School on realagriculture.com, sponsored by Pencil Co-op, features a discussion with combine technicians Brad Saunders and Andrew McCarthy on optimizing harvest quality. They emphasize the importance of proper combine setup, including maintaining equipment, adjusting components for gentler handling of beans, monitoring rotor speed and wear, and ensuring clean sample collection and residue spreading. The technicians stress the significance of checking and maintaining all components to maximize efficiency and preserve bean quality during harvest.
Welcome to the Edible Bean School brought to you by Pencil Co-op! Today, we’re diving into the world of harvest quality with combine technicians Brad Saunders and Andrew McCarthy at Delta Power in Exeter, Ontario. In this episode, Brad and Andrew are going to share their expertise on how to fine-tune your combine to avoid cracked seed coats and splits to ensure top-notch bean quality.
Setting up your combine properly is crucial for a successful harvest. Starting with hooking up the implement and checking all hookup points, hoses, and electrical connections, Brad emphasizes the importance of proper maintenance. Ensuring oil levels are good, greasing all components, and checking the condition of pickup teeth are essential steps to prevent damage and increase efficiency.
Feeding the beans into the combine requires attention to detail. From adjusting pickup tooth to ground clearance to monitoring the condition of infeed augers and transition augers, gentle handling is key to maintaining bean quality. Ensuring proper maintenance of rotors, checking transmission gear boxes, monitoring belt tension, and adjusting rotor speeds based on moisture levels are vital steps to optimize thrashing and prevent damage to beans.
Monitoring the condition of flighting at the front of rotors, checking the wear of pins, and ensuring concaves are not wearing thin are crucial factors in maintaining proper thrashing. Monitoring and adjusting the speed of combine components during harvest is essential to maximize efficiency and ensure bean quality.
Ensuring a clean sample in the bin and proper spread of residue across the field is the final step in harvest quality. Tensioned conveyor chains, functioning fans, clean sieves, sharp chopper knives, and proper maintenance of wear strips are key factors in achieving this goal.
In conclusion, proper combine setup, maintenance, and monitoring are essential to ensure high bean quality during harvest. By following these tips from Brad and Andrew, you can optimize your combine’s performance and maximize efficiency while maintaining top-notch bean quality. Happy harvesting!
