pedalstomper78
Gold Member
The only thing to watch is to make sure that you keep the speed of the grain low enough. Move it too fast and suddenly you end up with a high BCFM when you take the loads in.
Grain Auger / Conveyor
- Thread starter nomad
- Start date
At first, when I read, spead of grain should be kept low, I thought its speed, ft / min, should be low and, it can be done easily by making bigger duct / pipe diameter. But, you say BCFM (Bushel Cubic Flow) should be low.. Then, its capacity will be low. Do you mean it should be low at start-up?
pedalstomper78
Gold Member
Actually, by BCFM I meant Broken Corn and Foreign Matter. Usually about 3-4% most elevators will start to dock you from what I've seen. Also, fines and broken grain tend to lead to storage issues and the grain going bad. That's why there's cushion boxes in the end of most legs.
Aha, I thought it was flowrate. Ok, I am new to abravations and terms in this field. Does such things happen in vacuum type elevators? A few days ago, I looked into a mobile vacuum grain auger powered by tractor and it looks very simple. Grain flows through cyclone, ducts and rotary valve (also called air lock here.) Blower or fan doesn't have any contact with grain. So, I see only critical component in this mobile vacuum grain transporter in the flow is rotary valve and it too is a simple drum which opens and closes grain flow periodically. Maybe, you are talking about big, industrial vacuum types.
pedalstomper78
Gold Member
Honestly, I haven't had one of the ones that I'm usually around apart. I do know that if you get the grain going too fast, it'll break when it comes to that sudden stop. That's why when you look at a leg system, there is a cushion box at the end of it. Those restrict a small amount of grain into a "pocket" of sorts. The other grain comes down and hits this instead of steel offering it some cushion and less breakage.
Thanks Pedalstomper. In last days, I've read somethings more, conversations of end users (more realistic than company websites) on forums and found out that most of them are not happy about their mobile/portable, tractor attached, vacum grain loaders. They look like they are happy only about its flexibility character of suction hose part which can be moved easily. Maybe, manufacturers haven't focused themselves much about the vacuum type as tractor attachment (probably, due to there is much more money in industrial types such as systems in flour mills where the vacuum is used everywhere.) When I get more info and if we make a new simple design, I'll post here.
pedalstomper78
Gold Member
Something else to watch is the fact that it does take a lot of air to move grain.....but speeds need to be kept down. It's a delicate balance. Hopefully this can work out!
I'll take this into consideration. Thanks again. By the way, those who are interested in conveying/transporting grains, hay, etc may like to visit this very informative website I found a few days ago bulk-online Forums
However, my interest here is PTO powered utility equipment.
However, my interest here is PTO powered utility equipment.