Rubberized Dehuller Works On Spelt

Rubberized Dehuller Works On Spelt CROPS Miscellaneous David Tanner rubberized a rethrasher off an old combine to dehull his organically raised spelt Spelt has hulls that don’t thresh free easily This was a problem for Tanner who could get a premium for spelt at the Regina Sask farmers’ market “Spelt is popular for use in bread and other flour recipes ” he says “A lot of people who can’t eat modern wheat are able to use it I thought it would be a good crop to grow but I needed a dehuller of workable size ” Commercial grade dehullers are available but not economical for Tanner’s 40 to 60-acre crop When he saw a small-scale dehuller made from a Massey Ferguson rethrasher for sale at an auction he bought it “Rethrashers were standard on 410 or 510 Massey Ferguson combines ” says Tanner “They mounted on the side of the combine where they rethrashed grain that had already gone through the cylinder once Early ones were too aggressive with fingers instead of rub bars Later models had rub bars ” The dehuller he bought had the earlier style which he replaced with the rub bars Though spelt is harder to dehull it’s softer than many grains that are more common “The steel rub bars cracked the spelt ” says Tanner “I replaced them with 4 by 5-in pads cut from rubber belting I also attached rubber to the inside of the access door The most difficult thing was reaching in to tighten nuts ” With the pads in place Tanner found the spelt often has to be put through the dehuller twice He then runs it through a grain cleaner “The dehuller creates a lot of chaff and dust ” he says “You need to run it outside ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup David Tanner Box 8 RR 2 Regina Sask Canada S4P 2Z2 ph 306 757-7012; pure t organics@sasktel net

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