Combines Bi RotorIJIJIJIJ Farmbuddy

"Pretty much all it is a axial flow rotor with the Massey beater". You are so wrong. The through put on the JD Rotor can not be beat. All other rotors keep the crop compressed and that causes a lot of friction and horsepower use. There is something to the expanding cage as crop moves through machine. I never thought it would work having a oblong cage but it does. It takes less power than anything out there. It is real hard to plug a STS rotor. I've had others and the STS rotor is the only one that has never been plugged.

Now you are so wrong. The distance between the seperation grates and the rotor on an axial flow is much greater than the distance between the concaves and the rotor. It does not keep the crop compressed.

I believe what turbo is referring to is the lobe-type seperation grates on the STS, which indeed provides far greater distance between the rotor and seperation grates than the comparable CaseIH. I never thought they would work either, especially in flax, but they do.

I'd have to do some speculation on this also. The STS has some nice performance features with the FAST providing pretty good rock and root protection, albeit at the cost of many FAST drive belts. Wear characteristics are more concentrated on the STS vs Bi-Rotor concave. Grain quality would be better on the Bi-Rotor concave augmented by the dual path grain handling system. Unfortunately, there is not much premium for grain quality in the bulk grain and ethanol markets. The STS discharge beater has been a problem area. STS lacks smooth ribbon material flow and positive crop control, whereas the lexion has a proven advantage via the synchronized APS, cylinder and chevron beater feeding into the twin separation rotors. JD will consider the Bi-rotor technology to achieve class 8 - 10 capacity within road size restraints. STS has been on the market since 1998, so its about time for a new combine intro next year. Caterpillar funded a lot of the 1993-94 Bi-Rotor combine development program and they also hold a couple of patents related to the valuable constant speed rotor drive _ variable concave speed as well as a second, albeit less valuable, cantilevered concave configuration. Overall, the 1993 - 94 experience of developing the Bi-Rotor combine via Agri-Technology has been followed by a decade of waiting for the technology to be introduced by John Deere. I expressed my concerns and reservations to Mark and Ralph about selling it to Deere back in 1995, but got out voted. We did feel it was in capable hands, via JD, but also knew they probably had alternative objectives for buying it. Sure, theres been a frustrating delay in its introduction, but all new inventions take time to gain acceptance within their industries and markets. On the otherhand, we see positive steps in the right direction. The current 60 Series STS draws clean air from above the engine compartment, which was a basic feature of the XBR2 engine package, so there may be light at the end of this tunnel. In the mean time, I've been busy working on CHIS and TRUCTOR - the versatile tractor with "U" in the middle.

Here is some pics from the Green Magazine article written by JR Hobbs. Article says the sprayer attachment was intro'ed for the 1963 season and cancelled in 1967. Could mount it on the 95H, 95, and 105. Had a 450 gal tank and boom widths up to 80ft. Booms were hydraulically controlled. No doubt one of these would make a great collector piece if somebody found one. Back to the birotor. One of things I would like to see from JD a bigger shoe for their class 8 and maybe class 7 combines. I think its kinda ridculous their class 6 combine is the same size of their class 8. I would also like to see fewer moving parts or a more simpler design but going by past JD designs, not sure if that is going to happen. Correct me if I am wrong but didn't I see some sort of a belt conveyor unloader on the bi rotor. I think something like that would be the next step foward. I'm just hoping JD doesn't take the STS combine and make the concave turn. Would like to see some more drastic changes or innovations just like the original 55.

Thanks for the photo. Obviously trying to get more use out of the combine power unit has been an objective of many people over the years. The XBR2 Bi-Rotor took the 1963 JD 105H concept another step closer to being feasible, since the entire threshing unit also slide out of the combine, along with the removal of the header, feederhouse AND rotor and rotary concave. Theoretically, this allowed the "rotor drive shaft" to then be used for the spray pump drive, which slide into the combine cavity along with a 600 gallon spray tank. Re: I would not be surprised or disappointed to see the Bi-Rotor Technology evolve into the STS Bullet Rotor combine to become the next generation BRT or BTS (Birotor Technology System). We found that since the shoe loading on the BiRotor was less since the concave holes were moving along with crop mat flow and direction, and Fc was greater, therefore the holes could be smaller than stationary concave openings. This resulted in less MOG onto the cleaning shoe. Consequently, the cleaning shoe could be relatively smaller versus the convention rotor shoe loading. less straw and broken cobs got through the grates to the cleaning shoe. Re: Unloader: XBR2 Bi-Rotor did have a conveyor chain with paddles for unloading at a variable rate regardless of engine RPM. Basic principles shown in US Patent 5,496,215 issued 5 March 1996.