Crop Saving Vacuum Sweeper

Crop Saving Vacuum Sweeper COMBINES Miscellaneous 2-1-11 A field vacuum sweeper made from a crop dryer helped flax growers in Roseau County, Minn., salvage a "lost crop" last fall. Wet weather delayed harvest and before farmers could get in with combines, most of the flax bolls had dropped off and fallen to the ground. When a flax grower challenged Dwight Roll, manager of the Farmers Union Oil Company Co-op to come up with a way to salvage the crop, Dwight hit on the idea of a field-size vacuum sweeper. Vacuum for sweeping flax bolls off the ground is created by two 7 bladed 24 in. fans salvaged from a crop dryer and driven by a front pto drive. Chains around the outer perimeter of the sweeper help bounce flax bolls off the ground and into the sweeper's air stream. "We figure we salvaged about half the crop in most fields. However, it kept on raining and this reduced the machine's effectiveness. If it hadn't rained, I'm confident the sweeper would have picked up 75% or more of the flax bolls," Dwight told FARM SHOW. In flat fields already windrowed but not combined, the 8 ft. wide sweeper was operated between the windrows. It was also used in fields which had been windrowed and combined. Dwight notes that in building the sweeper, he was able to find used 20 in. galvanized pipe for spouting flax bolls back into a trailing wagon. "This size pipe and elbow would be expensive if a fellow had to buy it new at the going price," he points out. For more details, contact: Dwight Roll, Roseau, Minn. 56751 (ph. 218-463-2661)

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