Combines Milo gunk on unloading auger

[Bundy]

Good fun isn't it!!! Does the sorghum(milo) have honey dew(sticky substance on the leaves of the plants caused by insects) or is it just the moisture of the stems and leaves mixing with dust causeing the problemsIJ If it's got honey dew on it then the best solution is to walk away until you get a decent shower of rain on the crop to wash it off. Otherwise it will do exactly the same thing over and over again until you finally get it all off. Is it also building up in the concave and the on the sievesIJ Can really make a mess if left unchecked. If its just the moisture of the plants then spray the crop out with 1.5 to 2l of Glysophate (round-up) and then come back again in about 10 days and you shouldn't have to many problems at all. If you really have to keep going then try cutting as high as possible to avoid any leaf or green matter coming in with the heads, some varieties are better then others for that. But its an option. I know this isn't what you wanted to hear but I'm afraid it's really the only way to stop the problem from happening again.

 

[bkandra]

It seems to be just the sap from the plants. We had a fair bit of rain in August, and a lot of the plants suckered out. So there is ripe milo alongside suckers. That is why I really don't want to quit. We are still possibly 2 months from a frost and if I wait that long, a lot of the milo will be flat on the ground. I think I may just wait until later in the day to start, and take a few extra days to get it done. I have heard of putting some diesel fuel in the tank every night, and running it up the auger, and have tried it some, but that doesnt seem to work. What is really frustrating is that most of my neighbors don't seem to be having as much of a problem as I am.

 

[Bundy]

If you think it is just sap then I would really be going for the spray out option, although if it has tillered like it has, even that is going to be tough to do a good job on and you may be looking at 2l plus rates to really wipe it out and bring that moisture back down. (For some reason when it suckers or tillers like yours has, it's a hell of a lot harder to kill, the same thing happened to one of our paddocks this year) Within ten days you'll have it a lot dryer and much easier harvesting. like I say, it's not an instant answer, but I have seen some serious damage done to gear boxes,ect when augers, ect have been gummed up and not spinning freely. Are the leaves smooth and clean or is there any sticky substance on them at allIJ Thats the only way to be sure it's not honey dew. Cheers Bundy

 

[jk]

Fly on some sodium chlorate to dry it out, cut it in 5 days. Also, what about some gramoxoneIJ

 

[Bundy]

I think they are only contact effective. Will burn of leaf but won't kill plant. Similar to "Sprayseed" Will still remain sappy in the plantIJIJ

 

[guru]

a real pain in the ass..if you are having problems with the unloading auger how is the clean grain elevater handling the problemIJIJ if it is sap then spraying the crop is a good option...you can look a closing the flaps down in the bottom of the tank to reduce the amount of grain going through the unloading..we mounted a hose fitting on our auger so we could attach a hose from the pressure washer and pump water in while the auger was running seemed to clear away most of the crap and allowed us to keep operating we found cause it was easy to do we done it more often and all though it is a pain don't go home till u have done it harder to do when it has dried good luck