GCTV Ep#13 Sunflower Harvesting
Presenter: Kevin Charlesworth Grower & Chairman Aust Sunflower Assoc
This video will give you some helpful information on how to harvest sunflowers from crop readiness
all the way through to the final sample that you should achieve.
With crop readiness it actually starts right from planting time.
You have to make sure that you have good even plant populations that will make it easier
to harvest in the long run.
When ninety percent of the crop is dry and ten percent of the heads are still green the
crop is ready to harvest.
This will probably give you a moisture content of ten to eleven percent.
Your receival standards are nine percent.
When this goes into the silo it will dry down to that level.
Unfortunately if you try to harvest over eleven to twelve percent you will find it very difficult
to set your header as you will get a large amount of straw from the stalk and the leaf
which will make it very difficult to get a good sample.
For the header you actually need special attachments to the front of the header, which you have
to assemble on the front of the header before you even enter the paddock.
With your rotor set-up you need your rotor or drum spinning as slow as you possibly can
usually at two hundred and fifty rpm.
You also need your concaves to be set as wide as they possibly can.
You also need your concave to have large wires in it to allow the sample to go through.
Your fan needs to be set at eight fifty to nine hundred rpm with the top sieve set at
ten to twelve mil and your bottom sieve set at four to six mil.
Whilst you are doing this you need to make sure you do not have your spreaders in place
so you can see what is actually on the ground.
Often you will find there is a large amount of seed there but also that seed may have
no kernel to it.
If that is the case it is not a problem you have your header set correctly.
If there is a large amount of kernel in those seeds you need to go back and re-adjust your
header.
From there we need to have a look at what sample you have in the bin of the header.
You have a receival standard of four percent.
Now that is four percent of seed that is not whole or any trash that is in the sample.
These two samples here are straight off a header.
This sample is about two percent ad mixture.
This one here is well under one percent.
They are quite suitable for the market.
With the maximum percentage being four percent, this sample here is four percent, right on
the maximum limit.
This one here is also four percent but be very careful when you are looking because
there may be a large amount of fines in the sample, which you will not see when you first
look.
You should be able to achieve a sample of one and a half percent quite easily.
To improve grain sample you can add perforated sheets like this to your machine which will
takes the fines out of your repeats and clean grain elevators.
Some harvesters also have the same sheet on their out-loading auger.
This will reduce the ad mixture in your sample.
One of the hazards of harvesting sunflowers is the possibility of fire in the header.
To reduce the risk of this happening you must ensure that you keep your header clean, blow
dust off the machine as often as you possibly can, a couple of times a day at least.
This includes the radiator and the exhaust system of the engine.
Once you have actually cleaned the header itself go back to the exhaust system and clean
it again as it may have accumulated dust in the cleaning process.
Check all bearings at the same time to make sure that there is none that are getting hot.
Ensure you have one fire extinguisher very close to the cabin so that if there is a large
fire you will be able to exit.
Also make sure that you check your insurance policy because some insurance companies stipulate
what fire extinguishers you need on your machine and where they need to be located.
If you have a powder extinguisher on your header make sure you do not use it in a confined
space.
You have a large amount of money invested in that machine.
The last thing you want to happen is that machine to burn to the ground
So there are some tips on how to set your harvester to harvest sunflowers.
For more information please go to stored grain dot com dot au.
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