ADAPTING HEADER TO HANDLE IN BULK TOO

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29384, 10 December 1960, Page 8

ADAPTING HEADER TO HANDLE IN BULK TOO

“Jp'ARMERS who already own modern headers in good order or who do not desire to bulk handle all their crops do not need to sell their old machines and buy new bulk headers or a and auger for fitting to their present unit,” says Mr C. J. Crosbie, farm advisory officer (machinery) of the Department of Agriculture, Christchurch. “The present header may be altered so that it is capable of doing both bag and bulk work.” Mr Crosbie, who is well known for the interest he has taken in bulk handling, offers a method of making this possible. "Briefly, the procedure is to encase the bagging platform on the three open sides with removable plywood or sheet iron sides and fit a centre division piece and a slide to handle the seconds. A suitably shaped piece can be fitted in a hole cut in the floor to receive the base of the auger and an auger drive arranged to a sheave bolted on to an existing pulley on the side of the mill. “To control the auger, one of the belt guide pulleys is mounted on a bell crank with a push-pull lever fitted. Guide strips with suitable clearance hold the belt on to the respective sheaves. Auger speed should be about 700 r.p.m. At this speed a 6in auger on a sft to 6ft header will unload about 30 tons an hour at a 45 degree • slope: a 9in or lOin auger will unload 60 tons an

hour or more and is more suitable for the larger self-propelled machines. ‘‘For reversion to bagging work all that has to be done is to remove the auger and two of the sides of the grain bin and fit a plate over the hole in the floor. This should take about 10 minutes. “It is not necessary to fit sloping floors to the grain' bin of such dual headers, as the grain under the angle of repose will not flow out and automatically forms the sloping floor. Such grain need only be tidied up at the end of a run.”