WFEOlI
Guest
Enlarging the openings in the separator grate is a must. The only time you are better off with the smaller spacing is in very dry, brittle straw, which would tend to exit the cage too easily and load up the chaffer. Most of the time, however, and ESPECIAllY in corn, the larger grate openings make a dramatic difference. In fact, AGCO now offers a larger separator grate opening with a different separator grate that can be installed at the factory or by the dealer. They call it the high-wire separator grate and it has considerably larger openings and the wires are closer to the surface so cobs don't get ground up so badly. If you don't have this in corn, milo, and even small grains, you're hurting yourself. Haven't seen quite the dramatic difference in soybeans, but it certainly isn't hurting anything in soys. In corn, the larger opening prevents cobs from becoming lodged in between the wires and plugging the holes, which really hurts your separation capacity. It also allows corn, particularly high yielding corn, to separate more easily, reducing losses and making machine easier to set and higher in capacity. You can do what you talk about above, or simply remove every other wire in the factory grate to enlarge the opening to gain this advantage. I've had excellent luck just removing every other wire. Good luck.