BRANDON – Laurie Brownlee says farmers who use his invention will never climb a bin again to see if it’s full.
“If you have confidence that a sensor gives you correct signals that you can believe when the bin is full, you can eliminate plugged augers, spilled grain and failed shear pins,” said the trucker from Unity, Sask., who designed his new Full-Bin Super Sensor to keep the operator on the ground.
“Most of all, it eliminates the need to climb up there.”
Brownlee said the sensor works on any size bin, on air seeder tanks and for grain or granular fertilizer.
Read Also
VIDEO: Green Lightning and Nytro Ag win sustainability innovation award
Nytro Ag Corp and Green Lightning recieved an innovation award at Ag in Motion 2025 for the Green Lightning Nitrogen Machine, which converts atmospheric nitrogen into a plant-usable form.
Judges at this year’s Inventors Showcase awarded Brownlee second place and the $500 cash prize.
“The whole idea is to keep people from climbing up those ladders. We all know that’s dangerous,” Brownlee said.
“With this system, we have a bright orange warning light down at the bottom of the auger to tell you the bin is full. You can’t miss it when it goes on. We also have an optional audio alarm.”
He said the red and white plastic capsule he developed is a tilt switch. It hangs in the bin from the auger’s down spout and floats to the surface as the grain rushes over it.
As grain flows around the capsule, it pushes it off to the side, so it always stays on the top surface of the cone. As the peak of the cone nears the top of the bin, the angle of the capsule becomes greater until finally the tilt switch triggers the orange light.
Brownlee said a conventional mercury switch would not work in this application because it only works in one direction. He needed a tilt switch that would trigger regardless of which direction it floated to on a 360 degree cone.
“This works in every direction,” Brownlee said. “Every time.”
The plastic capsule contains a stainless steel tube attached to an electrical wire, to which Brownlee suspends a stainless steel pendulum. The pendulum is also attached to an electrical wire.
When the capsule floats out at enough of a side angle on the cone, the stainless steel pendulum makes contact with the stainless steel tube and an electrical circuit is complete. The bright orange light goes on and the operator knows the cone is at the top of the bin.
“The idea just popped into my head one day,” Brownlee said.
“There’s two other systems on the market, but they’re totally different from this design. With these stainless steel components, this will last forever.”
The 12 volt system plugs into the tractor electrical system or runs off the auger battery. One complete system sells for $595.
“We’ve had some farmers buy five units and put them on each auger,” he said.
Contact Laurie Brownlee at 306-228-2971 or visit www.fullbinsupersensor.com.
