LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The PAMI designed, star-shaped auger guard is probably the best accident-preventing device available anywhere, Jim Raz told engineers at the International Conference on Crop Harvesting and Processing held in Louisville, Kentucky in February.
Last year, while preparing his global marketing plan for the Augersafe polyurethane flighting invention, the Australian entrepreneur searched the internet looking for auger safety devices that could prevent human injury or death.
“I found this star-shaped guard made of three-inch square No. 9 wire mesh. If you look at it from the end, it has the shape of a star,” said Raz.
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“In my opinion, this is the best idea I’ve ever seen for keeping hands and feet out of the auger. The idea came from an organization in Saskatchewan, Canada, called PAMI (Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute).”
Although the Augersafe polyurethane flighting will reduce human injury once a person gets their limb into an auger, it does nothing to prevent the accident from happening in the first place.
Safety is a two part program, said Raz. Safer flighting is a vital element, but it only kicks in after the accident starts to happen.
In an ideal world, farmers would keep the machinery guards in place and grain auger accidents would not happen. However, the fact is that auger guards are removed regularly.
He said the PAMI design attacks this problem because the star shape reduces bridging and allows grain to flow. If grain flows properly, there’s no need to tamper with the guard.
The PAMI report that describes the star guard is Interim Research Update 766. It cites a number of reasons farmers remove the guards, the main one being that the guard causes bridging.
On older grain bins, the auger often doesn’t fit the door with the guard in place. Others producers say the guard reduces capacity and makes it difficult to push the auger into piles of grain. Also, it’s difficult to service the inlet with the guard in place.
The PAMI report said once the guards are removed, they are generally set aside, never to be reinstalled on the auger.
PAMI engineers decided they needed an auger inlet guard that does not inhibit the flow of grain, even if there is chaff and straw in the grain. If the bridging and obstructions could be eliminated, the guard would likely remain in place.
After trying different configurations, they found that bridging could be prevented in all but the worst of conditions if they used a three inch by three inch No. 9 wire mesh that’s bent at 90 degree angles every three inches. Looking at it from the end, it has the star shape Raz described in his presentation.
The angled star points of the wire mesh screen create enough structural integrity to support a 270 pound person. The screen must wrap around the auger in a semi-circle to provide 180 degrees of protection.
It must be no closer to the auger flighting than 2.5 inches and it must extend above and below the actual auger inlet. Openings in the mesh cannot exceed 4.75 in.
The other option pursued by PAMI was to eliminate the nuisance excuse for not putting the guard back into place.
The engineers reasoned that operators would be more likely to replace the guard if it could be quickly and conveniently moved in and out of position. Their solution is a quick-move collar that lets the entire guard assembly slide up the tube six feet without requiring tools.
This means an operator can slide the guard out of the way when necessary for grain piles, small bin doors and when bridging does occur. In a matter of seconds, the guard can slide back down into the working position.
Engineers at the conference speculated that the safest auger setup a farmer might envision would be an Augersafe polyurethane flighting protected by the PAMI star wire mesh guard mounted on a quick-move collar.
PAMI Interim Research Update 766 is available at www.pami.ca or phone 306-682-5033.
