A REVAMPED seed destructor has been launched, promising to be cheaper, easier and more effective at tackling problem weeds.
The latest redesign to the Integrated Harrington Seed Destructor (IHSD) moves to a vertical mechanical drive system, a move which the distributor said will reduce the price to about $85,000 plus fitting costs.
Developed by Ray Harrington and the University of South Australia with investment from the Grains Research Development Corporation, further development of the IHSD has been conducted by SKF Engineering and DeBruin Engineering, with national distributor, McIntosh Distribution.
The vertical integrated Harrington seed destructor will have a much broader appeal to the marketplace
- Devon Gilmour
McIntosh and Son, dealer principal, Devon Gilmour said the ongoing developments with the iHSD had inspired the team to develop a simple, alternative version based on the already high performing cage mills from the hydraulic-drive system.
“We wanted to maintain the mill system from the hydraulic version.,” he said.
“With the capacity of the mills and the seed kill rate, we knew we had the right mill set to do the job.
“One of the keys was to drive the mill set consistently at 3000 revolutions per minute (RPM), the minute that drops off, it has the potential to compromise the mill capacity.”
Mr Gilmour said the new vertical mechanical unit tested within 20 RPM variance of the target speed.
“We know that when you are operating at over 3000 RPM, you are not getting the drop in capacity and you are getting the kill rate.’’
Mr Gilmour said new features made possible with the vertical design included a trap door that collected any foreign material coming into the system along with a rear hatch for easily checking grain losses.
“With horizontal systems, anything coming through drops into the mill set and there has been concerns with fires from objects like bolts coming into the mills,” he said.
“The vertical IHSD will have a much broader appeal to the marketplace and can be driven off a much broader range of combines. It can also be easily fitted on-farm.’’
Mr Gilmour said eight vertical units were successfully tested in some bulky crops during the WA harvest fitted to a range of header brands with various capacities.
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