FARGO, N.D. – There is already an enormous volume of air at work within the combine, so it makes sense that the harvest process might also benefit from some sort of controlled air movement up at the header.
The premise behind air reels is that the airflow gently pushes the crop into the cutterbar and the reel, which reduces shattering and crop loss and helps capture grain that might otherwise escape.
Although aftermarket air reels with air running through a specially fabricated central tube have been around since the early 1980s, there have been drawbacks. One of the obstacles has been that the producer must buy the complete air reel assembly rather than buy an add-on air device. As well, keeping the air pressure sealed and controlled was often a challenge because the air orifices feed directly off the central pneumatic tube.
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In 1996, the owners of a John Deere dealership in southern Ontario came up with an alternative. Peter VandeBorne and Tony Visser listened to what their customers were telling them about aftermarket air reel problems and their positive experiences with air reel performance.
The duo reasoned that rather than replacing the entire factory reel in an air conversion kit, it might be smarter to keep the reel in its original configuration and instead install an air manifold that mounts out in front. In this way, the farmer keeps whatever advantage he thinks he may have with his chosen reel and gains the benefit of airflow.
Their experimental system featured hollow pneumatic fingers hanging down in front of the cutterbar, in front of and below the original factory reel. Little orifices at the tips of these fingers gently blew the crop back into the reel and cutterbar.
The location and angle of the fingers could be adjusted to accommodate every crop, from downed beans and peas to straight-cut wheat.
Their 1997 prototypes on John Deere combines worked so well that by 1998 they were working with neighbouring Case, New Holland and Agco dealers to test their add-on wind manifold on a wide variety of combines and headers.
By the end of 1998, they decided to commercialize the device and go into full production with a new company in Mitchell, Ont. Their trade name is Advanced Wind-Reel Systems, or AWS.
The upfront air idea gives the farmer a number of advantages over previous air reel designs, said Frances VanDrunen of AWS.
“For one thing, you keep your original reel mounted in its original position,” he said. “The AWS is mounted out front and attached with four bolts, so you can have it on or off in 10 minutes. There are no seals or extra moving parts to wear out. The only moving parts are in the squirrel cage fan. We use a squirrel cage because it gives us better volume and pressure. We have a constant air pressure along the entire length of the air manifold.”
He said this provides precise control of the air and allows producers to get the most crop into the bin.
VanDrunen said the most important factor is bringing the air orifice down close to the ground, out in front of the cutterbar. The air blows upward, back toward the header, pushing most of the crop up and into the cutterbar before the reel has a chance to make contact with it.
“We have no double cutting. Most of your shatter loss in beans and lentils is from double cutting. That’s when the plant sits there for just a split second, waiting for the knife to come back a second time. With the air pushing up and back, the knife gets the stem on the first pass. There is no double cutting, so losses are minimal.”
Crop flow is another factor. With a reel-only system, bats come around and mechanically swat the crop into the auger. If there are six bats, there are six pulses in every rotation. These swats not only cause crop damage but also prevent even flow into the combine.
VanDrunen said constant airflow significantly reduces crop damage and load pulses. Even crop flow also allows the combine to work at a higher capacity. As well, the reduction of mechanical threshing by the bats reduces crop damage.
Although the AWS works well in all crops, including cereals, the big demand on the Prairies comes from lentil and bean growers, said AWS manager Jeff Dolmage.
“Over the years, the lentil and bean growers have bought flex headers, then they bought drapers, then they went back to flex headers or wind reels with the air running in the central pipe,” he said.
“But they kept looking for a better system to get a clean harvest.”
Throughout this experimentation, a basic problem remained constant: the reel always grabbed the crop, causing mechanical threshing and also double cutting at the cutterbar.
“If you can get enough air low at the ground and aimed up and back, you virtually eliminate those problems,” Dolmage said.
Dolmage said the company will provide a header-mounted fan when the customer requests it, but most of the units are built with the direct-drive fan mounted on the combine. He said the direct drive fan provides better efficiency.
A complete AWS kit for a 30-foot header costs about $11,000. For more information, call Dolmage at 519-348-0066 or visit www.awsairreels.com.
