Combines Hillside Combines

[lh]

Check with les Hill, Harvesting Engineer at the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute at Humboldt Saskatchewan. link provided http:__www.pami.ca_pami_locations_humboldt.htm

 

[hv_user]

I run a 8780xp with a hillco leveling system witch ads 25 to 30 thousand dollars.In steep sidehill operation the capacity will be much less if you don't have leveling. The gleaner rotery does better in this case. Out here we put leveling under all combines its safer and does a better job. If your have more than 20% sidehills leveling is a good thing to have.

 

[greenstrat]

If you raise 180 bushel_acre corn, you better be prepared to slow down if you are running over 8% slope with a level land machine. The problem is the sieves all have the same corner that the stuff runs to. I have a lot of places that my deere will not level to and it goes to 16%. like onion farmer says, it is a lot safer, plus so much easier on the operator. GS 40 bushel wheat would be for sure different here..

 

[NDDan]

Best authority I know of with Gleaner hill hugging rotarys is Blue Mt Ag in lewiston Idaho. They run in the Blue mountains where there is some very steep farm land. They do have bluegrass which can be challenging even on flat ground. The P1 systems that they had in two larger Gleaners until '89 worked better than the later P3s. The later machines have a more aggresive cylinder system which needs to be mellowed for the bluegrass. We found a way to do that this year when we took our first wack at bluegrass. We were able to equal or improve on the job that many other color machines in the area have been able to do with many years of fine tuning. I got plenty of tips from a custumer of Blue Mt Ag's and another bluegrass expert that runs N6s in massive fields of bluegrass in Washington. If your interested in Gleaner and bluegrass you'll want to get set up ahead of time. Number one problem with bluegrass is the so called linting or cottonizing. Seems like the best way you are going to limit that problem is a St. John enclosed rotor with sweeps or get some sweeps from me for the standard P3 cylinder. There will be a few other things you'll need to do if you get one with the P3 system but not a big deal. No worries about other crops with flatland Gleaners in the hills. Hopefully that helps you in some way if you are thinking Gleaner. Good luck

 

[lumpy]

Hillside leveling systems are primarially used here in the northwest where slopes can be as steep as 55-60%. Sidehill leveling system which level less than a hillside leveling system are used mainly along the Mississippi and Missouri river areas and some out in Pennsulvania. By using a leveling system it will increase ground speed and save grain when harvesting on slopes 13% and higher. By keeping the seperator level it threshes as it was designed. When running a level land combine on slopes all the material goes to the downhill side. When this material is on the downhill side on the sieves the air will take the path of least resistance so it doest seperate the grain from the chaff, there is no lifting of the material to seperate it. which means your lossing grain and your grain in the tank is "dirty". Rotory combines may be able to take more slope than a conventional, but they both have the same main problem when the material gets onto the sieves. So by using a leveling system it keepes the material running through the combine disstributed evenly causing the air to lift the lighter material of the sieves and allowing the grain to fall through. All crops are affected in the same way by slope.

 

[Road_Runner]

John W, Thanks. I did this, and they responded with some good detail information. ~RR