The Prairie Agriculture Machinery Institute has published several new research updates.
The papers look at issues as diverse as soil packing, feeding grain screenings, and the issues that must be considered when choosing the best joint for a power take-off drive line.
Paper 743 on driveline joints compares the cardan joint to the constant velocity joint.
The question is not which is better, but which is better suited to the job, the paper says.
CV joints will operate at a larger angle than cardan joints, but are more expensive.
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
CV joints are necessary where high velocity power transmission is required and operating angles are acute. Paired Cardan joints are not able to transmit power properly where angles exceed 30 percent without losing power and/or causing vibrations. Operating at sharp angles severely reduces the life of Cardan joints.
When the unit must operate at an angle of more than 30 degrees, CV joints might be more economical in the long run.
Paper 748 notes that grain screenings can have a high nutritional content, at times
superior to pure cereal grains.
“The higher oil content of many weed seeds and volunteer oilseeds provides added energy and the weed seeds also contain significant nutrients, provided they can be made accessible to the animal.”
Processing is necessary to kill the weed seeds and make their nutrients available to livestock.
PAMI’s test put screenings through various settings on a hammer mill, cracking roll and flaking roll. It found that processing coarse and medium fractions by conventional grinding and rolling was adequate for ruminants. Fine fractions had to be fine ground to destroy weed seed viability.
The fine material, which can cause bloating and acidosis, can be used in an unpelletted form if bound to other feed with silage or water.
Update 749 gives the results of a study of five opener-packer combinations on wheat canola and field peas.
The study found that minimal packing (74 pounds per wheel) is necessary for optimum crop establishment in direct seeding. Increasing packing pressure showed no additional benefit.
Packing improved stand establishment under dry conditions, but over packing is a risk under wet conditions.
The study looked at various combinations of openers and packers: spoon and steel v packer; spoon and flat rubber packer; paired row and steel v; paired row and flat rubber; and sweep and tire.
The study results showed the differences among the opener-packer combinations were minor and probably not of economic significance to most farmers.
These reports can be obtained by calling PAMI at 800-567-7264 or by visiting the website at www.pami.ca.
