Aftermarket Beaters Offers More Flow And Durability

Aftermarket Beaters Offers More Flow And Durability COMBINES Accessories The Wildfongs have done it again with their new beater for Deere and Case combines Like their rock-hard concaves Vol 39 No 2 their beaters are built tougher and designed to be more efficient than OEM equipment “Our beaters have a smaller diameter drum than OEM but the same circumference ” says Russell Wildfong “This along with the hardened steel bars provides more throat space for debris and increases beater efficiency by 20 percent or more ” Wildfong with his sister Danielle and his father Rick farms 9 000 acres in Saskatchewan That real-world experience helps identify problems with combines and gives them the ultimate testing ground for possible solutions One such problem was OEM beater design “We’ve had several combine fires caused by beaters filling up with fine trash ” says Wildfong “When they catch fire they are incredibly difficult to put out ” Wildfong notes that factory-installed beaters with their small throats seem to be choke points on combines While underneath one trying to clean it out he started asking himself what could be done about it Horsepower wasn’t the problem “When you pay for 500 hp why not use it ” says Wildfong To reduce plugging up with fine debris they kept the OEM circumference but went with a smaller drum They also beefed it up “We designed a beater using heavy-duty oil field pipe instead of the cheap light thin steel pipe used by OEMs ” says Wildfong “We welded on brackets to bolt on wear plates The plates beat down rocks and pass the debris through ” Wildfong’s design is closed If a fire does break out it won’t spread like it does in OEM open designs Unlike other after-market beater makers the Wildfongs dynamically balance the beaters “We put them in a high-speed balancer and run them at 1 000 rpm’s ” explains Wildfong “A combine only runs at 500 rpm’s ” He notes that a little vibration from poorly balanced beaters can result in premature bearing failure “A properly balanced beater should save the bearings says Wildfong “They’ll last as long as the beater ” The Wildfongs tested out the new design on their own fields first In 2015 he installed one on his Deere 690 while his dad operated a second 690 with the OEM beater “We were harvesting barley when we hit a low spot that was still green ” says Wildfong “My dad’s plugged up but mine went right through it He was plugged for two to three hours while I kept harvesting ” He points out that a plugged beater often means replacing the drive belt That can add $200 to $300 to the lost time “We made a few tweaks to the design and got it where we like it ” says Wildfong “We are farmers and want the absolute best design I hate getting out of the combine to unplug or fix a problem ” Since first introducing it in 2015 the beater has been priced at $3 500 Can Wildfong notes that rising costs are making an end-of-year increase necessary “The price will be $4 000 on January 1 except for FARM SHOW readers ” says Wildfong “We will honor the $3 500 Can price for FARM SHOW readers through the end of January ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Wildfong Enterprises Box 368 Craik Sask Canada S0G 0V0 ph 306-203-9426; russell@wildfongenterprises com; www wildfongenterprises com

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