Combines Rotor loss In Wheat

[tobaboy]

I agree on the rotor cover plates, which is why they are all out. The rain has helped us out some, but we are still experiencing rotor loss. I generally run the cylinder speed at about 600 in dry wheat, with the concave right tight, but I've found that in some of the wheat this year, particularly the superb, it has been better to run the concave open a little, like 13-14 with the cylinder up around 750. The wheat is all HRS and is running between 45 and 55, with 36ft. we're going between 3.5 and 5mph depending on conditions. 80-100bus, unbelieveable, is that irrigatedIJ I would think you should be able to run 3.5-4, thats generally what we can run in high-yielding winter wheat. How has the 480 been to you, if I remember correctly you also have an STSIJ

 

[Farmerman]

It is not irrigated, but we generally have good moisture here. I mentioned it is also CPS wheat, not HRS, although some farmers have had the same yields on Superb last year. We are enjoying the 480. I traded the STS in on the 480. We are doing around 3 mph in the wheat. I thought we should be able to do a little better, but I don't like grain on the ground behind the combine. We have the fan running wide open, but could still use more air. I talked to you about the wide-spread chopper last year. Do you still have itIJ After putting in the new knives on the factory chopper it still only spreads about 30 feet.

 

[tobaboy]

We still have the widespread, but it won't get you much more then 30, 33-34 under good conditions. We used to be able to get some big yields with CPS, but fusarium put an end to that 10 years ago. How is the canola in your area.

 

[Spike]

Tobaboy I've heard of this before, it happened on a 480R. Our harvest conditions are very hot and dry, we normally have sieve overload from straw build up hence we always run cover plates on rotors, about 5 aside. Normally never have the rotor loss monitor move, so when I heard about a 480R loosing grain over rotor I was surprised. After much searching and checking it was found that concave was badly out of adjustment side to side and allowing one rotor to overload. After concave adjustment everything settled down. Have also heard but not seen the coupling between rotor drives sliding across and only having one rotor drive. Please post what your outcome was as this will help us all

 

[Farmerman]

Combining has been going well, therefore the late reply. We only have 160 acres of wheat left. We only had 300 acres of canola this year and some of it was partially drowned out this spring. Yields have been anywhere from 40 to 65 bu_ac this year--quite variable. We averaged just under 50. What beautiful harvest weather this year, just the opposite of last year. How have things gone for youIJ

 

[tobaboy]

We finished up today, we've kind of taken it easy the past week knowing that the weather was going to hold, its nice for a change. Canola was between 30 and 50 and averaged 40, we were happy especially considering the hot and dry July, its amazing really how some of these new canola varieties perform. What kind of fertilizer do you put down to get 65 bus. canola and 100 bus wheatIJ

 

[Farmerman]

It is pretty wet here this morning. We have about 60 acres of wheat left. InVigor 5030 has been giving us some really good yields, especially on manured land. Average nitrogen without manure would be about 100 lbs actual N, a little less for CPS wheat and sometimes a little more for canola. Actual P + K are usually between 30 and 45 lbs_ac. Canola gets close to a lb_ac of sulfur and we add micronurients as per soil test. Rain is still the one requirement that most determines our yields--both timing and getting too much or too little. We are definitely very thankful for the beautiful harvest weather we could enjoy. Not everyone is finished here, but I would guess at least 80% of the crop is off. Are most people in your area doneIJ Did you ever solve your rotor loss in the dry conditionsIJ We had a few quarters of CPS wheat that yielded 60-65 bu_ac because of drier conditions this summer, and that 36 ft header was sure nice. My nephew said he spent a lot of the day doing a good 5 mph. Doesn't take long too clean up acres like that. Most of our wheat threshed very easily this year, and the canola didn't even take 2 weeks from the time of swathing to being ready for harvest. Might have time for a few more days out with the family!!

 

[Farmerman]

The sulfur is about 3_4-1 lb_ac for every bu yield of canola.

 

[tobaboy]

Wow, thats an enormous amount of sulfur. Our soils are naturally high in sulfur so we just apply a little as sort of an insurance against any deficiency showing up. Its raining here at the moment, which is nice seeing as we just finished seeding some winter wheat into powder.

 

[tobaboy]

Most people out here are finished now, just a few acres of flax to go. 5mph is more like it. We never did solve our rotor loss problem. After the rain we could go about 20% faster so I guess it was maybe the dry conditions. I suspect that the APS had something to do with it, I think it was maybe breaking the wheat up before it could get threshed properly by the cylinder. It also helped to open up the concave, it got rid of my white caps and increased my capacity a little. But in the end I was always limited by my rotors. With our 480 I rarely had any rotor loss, except maybe in really tough conditions. In canola I always had to stick in the cover plates to prevent overloading of the sieves. With this 480r for some reason its as if the rotors are less aggressive or something. I have to remove all of the plates for canola, otherwise I will lose it out the rotors as well. Its got me baffled, everything in the threshing system is up to spec and yet I continue to be limited by my rotor loss. I wish I was being limited by my sieves because then I would know what to do. As far as fertility goes, it sounds as if we apply similar amounts except for the sulfur. What kind of manure do you applyIJ I'm always amazed when I hear about some of the yields coming off of hog manure fields. I'm wondering if it has to do with the phospate levels on those soils. I was talking to a farmer last winter who takes a quarter section each year and applies ten times the normal amount of phospate in the fall. He does this in order to get his ppms up, I can't remember what level he's shooting for, but he says it takes about 18 months to show up on a soil test. After doing this he claims to get a significant increase in yield, I'm thinking of trying a few strips on a few different fields this fall.