Hopper-Bottom Grain Dryer

Hopper-Bottom Grain Dryer CROP STORAGE Handling Equipment 16-6-22 If you've been looking for a faster and less complicated way to dry grain, you're going to like this new hopper-bottom grain dryer that'll handle up to 2,000 bu. at a time and can be used for grain storage once harvest is over. Ron Loyns, a Naicam, Sask., grain farmer and pedigree seed grower, developed the new dryer to get away from his 400-bu. batch dryer which required loading and unloading every hour and a half. It was inconvenient and couldn't keep up with his combine. He decided to come up with a totally new type of recirculating batch dryer by modifying a 2,000 bu. bin he had on the farm. It worked so well he dried 30,000 bu. with it the first season. "We start drying at 18 percent moisture and the dryer keeps up to the combine - no problem," he says. Grain is dried by a large centrifugal fan mounted alongside the hopper, an air plenum that runs vertically up the middle of the hopper, and a propane or natural gas burner. A circulating auger, powered by a 7 1/2 hp. electric motor, runs from the bottom of the bin to the top. Grain is loaded into the top of of the bin and feeds down to the bottom and is continuously recycled back up to the top. As it falls from the top to the bottom, it moves past 30 rectangular hot air ducts which feed out from the central air plenum like spokes on a hub. The ducts are open only on the bottom, forcing hot air down through the grain. A second set of spoke-like ducts, 26 in. below the hot air ducts, are also open only on the bottom but are vented to the outside of the bin, allowing the hot moist air to exit the bin. Dry grain is discharged through a slide gate at the bottom of the dryer. You can start drying with as little as 300 bu. of grain and add up to 1,700 bu. while the dryer is in operation. Electric motors drive the fan, circulating auger, and loading auger. "Your initial capital cost is less, especially since there's no need for holding space on either side of dryer or the need for extra augers. Grain is always protected from the elements and because grain is dried in larger volume, there's less chance of over or under drying. It's completely self-cleaning and safe. And, once you're done drying, you can use the drying bin for storage," says Loyns. Grain level sensors halfway up the wall and at at the top of the bin make it easy to monitor grain level from the ground. Drying temperature is controlled by a modulating valve and monitored with an analog thermometer. All dryer functions are controlled manually. A full bin will completely circulate in about an hour and 20 min. Loyns has contracted with a manufacturer to produce the drying bins. Sells for $20,000 (Canadian). For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ron Loyns, Naitek Drying Systems Ltd., P.O. 295, Naicam, Saskatchewan SOK 2Z0 Canada (ph 306 874-2950).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.