Fast Way To Measure Grain Loss

Fast Way To Measure Grain Loss COMBINES Accessories 20-2-10 You can check grain loss quickly and easily with this on-the-go powered "drop board" for combines unveiled at the re-cent Northwestern Ag Show in Portland, Ore. Inventor Chris Tolke, St. Helens, Ore., built the first device for his father's Case-IH 1680 combine in 1993 and it's been used on a total of 2,000 acres of grass, vetch, and clover since then. Although the men do not harvest small grains, Tolke says it should work on them, too. The device consists of a framework made of 3-in. channel iron that mounts underneath the combine grain separator fan just ahead of the sieve discharge. It holds one, two, or three 2 by 4-ft. drop boards made of 1/4-in. thick plywood. Tolke simply flips a switch in the cab to drop one sample board at a time. He used an electric windshield wiper motor to power the unit. With each flip of the switch, the motor makes one revolution and drops one of the boards which are held in place by "catches" that attach to rods connected to the windshield wiper motor. The system works good for gathering samples of crop and chaff at different speeds and different locations throughout the field, Tolke notes. It could be custom-built to fit any combine, he adds. He estimates the price to manufacture them would be $1,000. He'd like to find a manufacturer or he may build them himself. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Chris Tolke, 58947 Saulser Rd., St. Helens, Ore. 97051 (ph 503 397-1565).

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