Roll-Top Hopper Cover For Combines

Roll-Top Hopper Cover For Combines COMBINES Accessories 20-6-18 A Weyburn, Sask., business woman has de-signed a "roll-top" hopper cover for combine grain tanks that works like a roll-top cover on a grain truck. Linda Dzen, a mechanical engineer, de-signed the water-tight covers and she makes each one herself. They're made from 18-oz. weather and UV-resistant vinyl and mount on a steel frame that bolts onto the combine grain tank. A 1-in. dia. steel rod slips through one side and is connected to a pair of cables that are rolled up by a hand crank. When the top is closed, the steel rod is held tightly in place by clips that keep the cover "tight as a drum". Dzen also makes portable grain storage bags and vinyl covers for auger motors, aeration fans, seeders and chemical applicators, etc. (Vol. 19, No. 4). "One of my customers asked me if I could sew a vinyl cover for his combine hopper and I said that I could. Then he said that it sure would be nice if it would roll up. That's when I started thinking, æWhy not?'", says Dzen. "It eliminates the need to crawl up onto the combine to put a tarp on or to shovel out wet grain. The cover rides up over a peak so it easily sheds rain. It works much better than using plastic tarps which can easily get blown off or torn because they don't fit tight." Designing the hardware to fit each combine model is the hardest part, she says. "So far I've designed the hardware and made tarps for all Deere and New Holland combines. I'm working on the hardware for Case-IH, Gleaner, and Massey Ferguson models." Available in white, yellow, red, or black colors. Covers for New Holland models sell for about $750 (Canadian); for Deere models, $800. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Linda Dzen, Box 1204, Weyburn, Sask., Canada S4H 2L5 (ph 306 842-1311).

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