In brief
During the testing, PAMI made a number of observations which a producer should consider before making a buying decision:
- Pulse crops damage easily. Use appropriate equipment. Avoid unnecessary handling. Whenever possible, handle crops at a high moisture content (M.C.).
- The belt conveyor had lowest damage, while the steel flighting auger had the highest.
- Paddle conveyors had the highest capacity. Producers should flood feed all conveyors to maximize capacity and minimize damage.
- Belt conveyors had the highest efficiency of power usage (comparison of specific capacities).
- From an economic viewpoint, producers must consider the grain damage that is done by the conveyor. For fragile, high priced crops, the producer should consider a conveyor with low-damage characteristics in spite of the high capital costs.
- When elevating at a steep angle, the drop height caused grain damage. Some producers use bean ladders to soften the drop.
- Steel and bristle augers were difficult to completely clean. This may be a problem for seed growers.
- Bristle augers tended to plug and break their shear pins when operated at lower PTO speeds.
Introduction
Pulse crop production is a growing industry. In 1989, the three prairie provinces devoted 730 000 acres (295 000 ha) to the production of peas and lentils. Due to good market conditions, it is expected that these acreages will steadily rise.
Pulse crops are much more susceptible to damage than most cereals and other grains. Therefore, it is very important to use conveying equipment that minimizes damage to these high priced crops.
The Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) has completed a study comparing four unique conveyors. The characteristics of paddle conveyors, belt conveyors, and bristle flighting were compared to the traditional steel flighting used in existing augers.
Note: The reader is cautioned that the following information is only a summary of the test results. For complete information, contact PAMI at 1-800-567-PAMI and ask for Report # RH0288.
How Do they Compare?
Crop damage
Crop damage - general: Handle lentils as little as possible, at a safe, but high moisture content (M.C.). Peas are less susceptible to damage, plus they are not as severely docked at market as the higher priced lentils. For comparisons, the most aggressive conveying system would inflict about 0.1% damage in spring wheat. In these tests, PAMI only used visual tests to determine damage. Other damage, such as reduced germination, was not considered.
Crop damage - peas: In Century peas at 13% MC, the belt conveyor had the lowest damage at 0.2% (Figure 1). The bristle and paddle conveyors were close behind at ranges of 0.2 to 0.7% and 0.5 to 0.9% respectively. The conventional steel screw auger had the highest damage at 2.7 to 2.8%.
Figure 1. Crop Damage, Century Peas at 13% M.C., One Pass.
Crop damage - laird lentils at 12.8% M.C.: In Laird Lentils at 12.8% M.C., the paddle and belt conveyors had the least damage ranging from 0.4 to 1.0%. The bristle conveyor was next with damages of 0.6 to 1.3%. The most damage was caused by the steel flighting auger at 1.8 to 2.6% (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Crop Damage, Laird Lentils at 12.8% M.C., One Pass.
Crop damage- laird lentils at 15.4% M.C.: Although, there was very little difference at the higher moisture content, the belt and paddle conveyors had the least damage with ranges from 0.1 to 0.3%. The steel screw conveyor was next at 0.2 to 0.5%, while the bristle conveyor had the most damage at 0.3 to 0.7% (Figure 3).
Conveying lentils at higher moisture content is advised for reduced damage.
Figure 3. Crop Damage, Laird Lentils at 15.4% M.C., One Pass.
Crop damage - elevation height or conveyor speed: Tests indicated that changing elevation height or conveyor speed had little effect on grain damage.
Note: PAMI grain damage tests only considered the effect of the crop's travel from the inlet to the outlet of the conveyor. Damage due to crop dropping from a height was not measured. Producers may consider using a bean ladder if the drop height from the conveyor is excessive.
Capacity
Capacity - general: In all three crops, the capacity of the paddle conveyor was the highest. Following in capacity were the steel flighting and the belt conveyor. The bristle flighting conveyor had the lowest capacity. If the paddle conveyor was rated at 100%, the others would rank approximately as follows: steel 85%, belt 65% and bristle 50% (Figure 4, 5, and 6).
Figure 4. Capacity, Century Peas at 13% M.C.
Figure 5. Capacity, Laird Lentils at 12.8% M.C.
Figure 6. Capacity, Laird Lentils at 15.4% M.C.
Capacity - elevation height: Figures 4, 5, and 6 show capacity at 200 elevation for all crops.
In drier crops, the paddle, steel and bristle conveyors showed very little capacity decrease with an elevation increase to 300. However, in the same dry conditions, the belt conveyor lost 35% capacity.
In higher moisture crops, all conveyors lost capacity as elevation increased. The steel flighting (9% loss) was the lowest, followed by the paddle (14%), the bristle (26%) and the belt (30%) (Figure 7).
Figure 7. Capacity Loss in High Moisture Crops with Elevation Change From 20 to 30°.
Capacity - PTO speed change: Generally, the capacity of the paddle and belt conveyors continued to increase as the PTO speed increased. However, the capacity of the steel and bristle screw conveyors, used for these tests, peaked at a PTO speed of 400 to 500 rpm. Also, bristle augers tended to break their shear pins when operated at lower PTO speeds.
Efficiency (specific capacity)
Specific capacity - Specific capacity is a measure of how much crop a conveyor can move for a given energy input. This number can be used to compare a machine's efficiency relative to other machines.
Note: Although efficiency comparisons were a part of the PAMI tests, producers should realize that this factor is very small when calculating yearly costs. In all cases, even labour or repair costs were greater than power costs.
Efficiency - dry crop: For comparison purposes, in dry material, the paddle and belt conveyors were about equal with the highest specific capacity. Compared to the above, the steel (55%) and the bristle (25%) had reduced efficiencies (Figure 8).
Figure 8. Comparative Efficiencies in Dry Crop.
Efficiency - high moisture crop: In 15.4% M.C. lentils, the specific capacity of the belt conveyor did not change from the dry crop. Compared to the belt, the efficiencies of the paddle (70%), the steel (40%), and the bristle (20%) were lower for this high M.C. crop ( Figure 9).
Figure 9. Comparative Efficiencies in High Moisture Crop.
Power requirements
For the PAMI tests, all conveyors were powered by a PTO equipped tractor. At 540 rpm, power requirements ranged from 4 to 19 hp (3 to 14 kW).
Economic analysis
Factors affecting conveying costs: For economic analysis, PAMI used an annual production of 200,000 lb (91 t), CONVEYED TWICE, based on 1989 grain and operating prices. To determine TOTAL COST PER YEAR, the following factors were considered: GRAIN DAMAGE, FIXED COST and OTHER COSTS. Unit costs are also given in dollars per hundred weight (dollars per tonne).
The major cost to the systems was the GRAIN DAMAGE with FIXED COST playing a secondary role. GRAIN DAMAGE was especially important when conveying the high priced lentils. OTHER COSTS included POWER, LABOUR, AND REPAIR.
Seed growers should note that extra labour costs may be required to fully clean a bristle flight conveyor.
Conveying costs - century peas: For peas at 13% M.C., total yearly conveying costs with a steel auger were lowest at $510.00 per year, even though damage costs were highest at $222.00 (Table 1).
For the same crop, the belt conveyor had the highest operating costs at $754.00/year, even though the damage was only $17.00.
Table 1. Yearly Conveying Cost for Century Peas at 13.0% M.C., 1989.
| Conveyor | Fixed
$/yr
(% total) | Damage
$/yr
(% total) | Other
$/yr
(% total) | Total | Unit
$/cwt
(S/t) |
| Steel | 223
(44%) | 222
(44%) | 65
(12%) | 510 | 0.26
(5.62) |
| Bristle | 394
(68%) | 58
(10%) | 126
(22%) | 578 | 0.29
(6.37) |
| Paddle | 505
(75%) | 75
(11%) | 95
(14%) | 675 | 0.34
(7.44) |
| Belt | 608
(81%) | 17
(2%) | 129
(17%) | 754 | 0.38
(8.31) |
.
Conveying costs - laird lentils at 12.8% M.C.: For Laird Lentils at 12.8% M.C., the belt conveyor had the lowest yearly costs at $2353.00 (Table 2). The steel auger had the highest cost per year at $7430.00.
With the higher priced Lentils, yearly cost was affected mainly by grain damage. The crop damage by the belt conveyor accounted for 68% of its yearly operating costs. The amount damaged by the steel auger amounted to 96% of its yearly operating costs.
Table 2. Yearly Conveying Cost for Laird Lentils at 12.8% M.C., 1989.
| Conveyor | Fixed
$/yr
(% total) | Damage
$/yr
(% total) | Other
$/yr
(% total) | Total | Unit
$/cwt
(S/t) |
| Belt | 611
(26%) | 1597
(68%) | 145
(6%) | 2353 | 1.18
(25.94) |
| Bristle | 394
(14%) | 2393
(82%) | 125
(4%) | 2912 | 1.46
(32.11) |
| Paddle | 506
(17%) | 2393
(80%) | 99
(3%) | 2998 | 1.50
(33.05) |
| Steel | 224
(3%) | 7135
(96%) | 71
(1%) | 7430 | 3.72
(81.92) |
.
Conveying costs - laird lentils at 15.4% M.C.: For Laird Lentils at 15.4% M.C., the paddle and belt conveyors were about equal for yearly cost performance (Table 3). These conveyors caused the least damage at 35 to 40% of the total cost of about $1100.00 per year. The steel conveyor had the highest yearly cost due to damage, accounting for 87% of the yearly cost of $2294.00.
Table 3. Yearly Conveying Cost for Laird Lentils at 15.4% M.C., 1989.
| Conveyor | Fixed
$/yr
(% total) | Damage
$/yr
(% total) | Other
$/yr
(% total) | Total | Unit
$/cwt
(S/t) |
| Paddle | 506
(50%) | 400
(40%) | 105
(10%) | 1011 | 0.51
(11.15) |
| Belt | 609
(53%) | 400
(35%) | 135
(12%) | 1144 | 0.57
(12.61) |
| Bristle | 395
(23%) | 1198
(69%) | 142
(8%) | 1735 | 0.87
(19.13) |
| Steel | 224
(10%) | 1995
(87%) | 76
(3%) | 2294 | 1.15
(25.29) |
.
Description of test equipment
Steel Flighting Screw Conveyor Inlet: screw conveyor with steel flighting, 8 in (200 mm) diameter, 40 ft (12.2 m) long, with double flighting at inlet.
Bristle Flighting Screw Conveyor Inlet: 6 in (150 mm) steel flighting with 1 in (25 mm) nylon bristles on the edge, 8 in (200 mm) conveyor tube, 41 ft (12.5 m) long.
Paddle Conveyor Inlet: rubber paddles 8 in (200 mm) wide x 4 in (100 mm) high at 6 in (150 mm) intervals, continuous chain, square tube, 60 ft (18.3 m) long.
Belt Conveyor Inlet: 12 in (300 mm) wide belt, textured, continuous, 10 in (250 mm) diameter, 50 ft (15.2 m) long.
| Suppliers of conveying equipment |
The following is a listing of known conveying equipment suppliers for the prairie region.
Bristle Auger Conveyor
| Manufacturer | Distributor |
Sudenga Industries |
Gaber Distributing Ltd.
Box 850
Roblin, MB.
R0L 1 P0
(204) 937-2134 |
Unverferth Manufacturing Co. |
Unverferth Manufacturing Co
Box 357
Kalida, Ohio 45853
(419) 532-3121 |
Wachtman Agri Supply Inc. |
Wachtman Agri Supply
Box 12
Grelton, Ohio 43523
(419) 256-6725 |
.
Belt Conveyor
| Manufacturer | Distributor |
Speed King Industries Inc. |
Ramboc Ent. Ltd.
Box 96
Headingley, MB.
R0H 0J0
(204) 837-1263 |
Behlen Industries |
Behlen Industries
Box 1120
Brandon, MB.
R7A 6A4
(204) 728-1188 |
Commercial Welding |
Commercial Welding
Box 2008
Winkler, MB.
R6W 4B7
(204) 325-4195 |
.
Paddle Conveyor
| Manufacturer | Distributor |
Farm King Allied |
Farm King Allied Inc.
Box 1450
Morden, MB.
R0G 1J0
(204) 822-4467 |
.
Steel Auger Conveyor
| Manufacturer | Distributor |
Brandt Industries Ltd. |
Brandt Industries Ltd.
705 Toronto St.
Regina, SK.
S4R 8G1
(306) 525-1314 |
Westfield Industries Ltd. |
Westfield Industries Ltd.
Box 39
Rosenort, MB.
R0G 1W0
(204) 746-2396 |
Farm King Allied |
Farm King Allied Inc.
Box 1450
Morden, MB.
R0G 1J0
(204) 822-4467 |
Power-Matic Industries Ltd. |
Power-Matic Industries Ltd.
Box 759
Morris, MB.
(204) 746-2364 |
Sakundiak Farm Equipment |
Sakundiak Farm Equipment
Box 1996
Regina, SK.
S4P 3E1
(306) 545-4044 |
Bergen Industries |
Bergen Industries
Box 133
Drake, SK.
S0K 1H0
(306) 363-2131 |
Flexi-coil Limited |
Flexi-coil Limited
Box 1928
Saskatoon, SK.
S7K 3S5
(306) 934-3500 |
Spray-Air Canada Ltd. |
Spray-Air Canada Ltd.
Box 188
Carseland, AB.
T0J 0M0
(403) 934-3591 |
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