Portable Crop-Drying System Dries Grain In Bags

Portable Crop-Drying System Dries Grain In Bags CROP STORAGE Bag Silos A revolutionary portable grain drying system that allows you to aerate and dry your grain in a poly bag was on display at the recent Canada Farm Progress Show in Regina The flexible system dries and aerates grain and also doubles as a storage unit allowing grain to be stored for up to 18 mo in the field It can be used for long term storage of corn wheat barley canola peanuts and other grains The system uses a specially designed 10-ft wide by 180-ft long polyethylene bag with poly tubes attached to both sides The tubes are fitted with a row of embedded membranes allowing forced air to flow into the bag from one side and go through the bag to exit the other side Grain is harvested and loaded into the bag using a standard bagging machine A trailer-mounted diesel engine and aeration fan unit is connected to the in-flow poly tubes The engine drives the fan which sends air flowing through the length of the tube and passing through the membranes and into the bag Heat from the engine is pulled into the stream of air Moisture is expelled through the membranes as the grain dries Once the grain has dried down the bag is sealed with a heat sealer Grain can be stored safely for up to 18 mo A standard debagging machine is used to remove grain from the bags The system comes from South Africa and is being distributed in North America by Setter Mfg Russell Manitoba The company has already set up dealers across western Canada and just started selling systems this summer They plan to set up dealers in the U S soon “Farmers have shown phenomenol interest in the system It has been used on a wide variety of crops in Australia and South Africa including soybeans wheat and corn ” says president Greg Setter Setter Mfg “It can be set up anywhere even if there isn’t electricity nearby You don’t have to wait for your grain to completely dry down before it’s bagged As a result you can get your crop off the field sooner “Because air flows in a cross direction through the bag you can use an actual fan instead of a centrifugal fan which results in a higher air flow The in-flow poly tubes are black which increases the air temperature inside the tubes by up to 2 degrees Heat from the diesel engine passes through a heat exchanger so exhaust fumes won’t contaminate the grain We also offer the option of using a gas engine-driven fan ” The air is pumped and regulated by a computerized electronic aeration control system “The engine and heating system is fully automatic It’ll start itself and shut off according to the humidity and temperature The drying process takes 4 to 18 days ” says Setter The system can be used with any conventional bagging machine or extractor Bagging and debagging machines are also available from the company According to Setter the DryloBag system costs about twice as much as a comparable standard grain bagger “However the operating cost of this drying system is low compared to other grain dryers on the market It costs only a few cents per bushel to dry grain You’re pushing air only a short distance across the bag and the horizontal air flow results in a lower static load which allows use of a high output fan “The warm air flows evenly through the bag so you don’t get hot spots or areas where the air won’t go through which can happen with conventional bins ” notes Setter Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Setter Mfg P O Box 686 Russell Manitoba R0J 1W0 Canada ph 204 773-2218; greg@settermfg com; www drylobag co za

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