Small (tiny) combine - pull type - for grains?

[FlyFishn]

All,

I am looking in to various grains to grow on the farm. These would be primarily for milling down to flour to bake with. Down the road we may have 1/2 to 1 acre of different types. I am hoping next year we can plant some in small plots to experiment and see how it does here - that I think we can get by cutting by hand in smaller batches. I just don't see how we're going to harvest, say, 1/4 acre of buckwheat by hand without a lot of people.

Are there any mechanized forms of harvesting, such as a pull type combine, that would be a good option for harvesting?

My main concern with manufactured pull-type combines here in North America is they are all old and obsolete. We're dealing with the same with our current tractor, but as time goes on I have plans to upgrade tractors. All more modern self-propelled combines are way too big for us to even think about. Even the smaller old self-propelled machines are really way too big.

Another thought I had was to fabricate something, perhaps a bit more crude of a machine, but in fabricating what also comes with that is the knowledge of how it is made which translates in to how to fix it. Though, that would be a heck of a project. At that point - finding something already made for the purpose seems like a better option.

Thoughts?

 

[LouNY]

Could be cut with a sickle bar mower and picked up with forks to be hand thrashed.
And then there are small combines out and about but they are not inexpensive;
Plot Combine, Seed Combine | Kincaid Equipment Manufacturing
Gleaner K2 for sale
A search for test plot combines will bring up many more.

 

[ArlyA]

Combines are not simple machines. Seems you could spend the rest of your life trying to make it work. Have you seen this video?

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

I'm looking at an International 82 combine to pull. We grow a couple acres of buckwheat, and have about 3000 pounds of seed we could save annually. Old equipment doesn't scare me... New complex equipment does.

 

[oldnslo]

Are smaller pull type more common in Europe vs USA? I know 50+ years ago we had small pull type Alis Chalmers on the farm but they have pretty much gone out of existence.

 

[dodge man]

I see one around here being used on rare occasion but as I recall, it’s when they want to pick corn by the ear. Usually these are a 2 row picker.

 

[LouNY]

One other option is to find out when there are going to be antique equipment shows in your area, go to some of those and you may find someone with an old unit that would be willing to do some combining for you.
We still have an old pull type in a barn an AC with a 5 foot header.

 

[FlyFishn]

Thanks for the discussion thus far. Lots to think about.

I certainly don't know everything and mechanized farming has become quite tehnologically advanced. That said, I worked in the Ag industry for a number of years and have run numerous combines of lots of colors. So Im not "new" to the machines.

The idea of a sickle bar mower is intriguing. That would cut the crop for sure. I would need a way to gather and transport it, preferably loaded in the same path as the cut somehow.

That would, however, mean we would have to transport the chaff back after threshing to keep the organic matter in the plot.

Any ideas on HP requirement, though, for a model 82 pull type? Looks like they are 540 pto's.

 

[Eaglesfate]

You could look into the Asian Manufacturer/s an example

Multifunctional Rice/Wheat/Soybean/Sesame/Reed Harvester For Sale | Harvester Machines Supplier

As professional rice/wheat harvesting machinery supplier, we provide small harvesters for rice/wheat/soybean/sesame/reed. With wide applicability, high efficiency and low energy consumption.

www.harvestermachine.com

 

[paulsharvey]

There are some questionable machines on alibaba, as well as some Truely micro things, that look like a battery powered sander, mixed with a vacuum cleaner, for stuff in the 5 gal bucket to maybe the 55 gal barrel worth of grain;

 

[paulsharvey]

BOAZ: A Mini Wheat Harvesting Machine - Countryside

Add to Favorites By Benjamin Hoffman Choosing the right mini wheat harvesting machine for our small-scale operation took research. We settled on the BOAZ mini-combine. Bob Mowdy and I have …

www.iamcountryside.com

Here is article, with mixed review, of a BOAZ miniature wheat harvester.

 

[LHF2019]

If Old and obsolete is not your thing I believe the one you’re looking for is a JD 9601. I would love a pull type combine to mess with.

 

[t1kilo]

I spent time looking for something similar a few months ago. I’m not planning on doing much more than 1/3 to 1/2 acre, so it would be really hard for me to justify the expense of a pull combine. In the end, I decided to cut with a scythe and I’ve been working on building a thresher in my spare time over the past 3 months or so. I got the basis of my idea from this video.

I designed a 2 stage model and am using a stationary motor. Chaff will be dispensed out the side of the machine and grain will drop into a tote at the bottom. I’m not done with it yet though, so I really don’t have any operational pics to show.

 

[FlyFishn]

I spent time looking for something similar a few months ago. I’m not planning on doing much more than 1/3 to 1/2 acre, so it would be really hard for me to justify the expense of a pull combine. In the end, I decided to cut with a scythe and I’ve been working on building a thresher in my spare time over the past 3 months or so. I got the basis of my idea from this video.

I designed a 2 stage model and am using a stationary motor. Chaff will be dispensed out the side of the machine and grain will drop into a tote at the bottom. I’m not done with it yet though, so I really don’t have any operational pics to show.

Excellent input. I am very interested in your idea and progress.

From the sounds of it I think you are addressing one major question I had with the idea of cutting in the field and transporting for processing. I am not sure that we will get to the point of having even 1/2 acre of any particular variety/crop so if those are the numbers you are working to and are going down the road of transporting the cut crop to process out of the field that interests me very much. Can you elaborate on your thought process on this?

The contraption in the video with the powered drum to do the threshing looks like it may be effective on a small scale. However, how does that sit with your numbers on the acreage/production over those acres? What are your transportation plans - both the fresh cut crop to where you process and the chaff post-processing? Do you have a thought process on how you are going to feed the crop through the threshing process at a volume that meets your estimated production?

 

[airbiscuit]

We had a John Deere 25 or 30 pull type combine. it wasn't very big and did a good job. All I remember doing for maintenance was greasing and replacing the occasional mower section. I don't think there would be much for maintenance other than (standard) belts or bearings.

 

[CalG]

We had a John Deere 25 or 30 pull type combine. it wasn't very big and did a good job. All I remember doing for maintenance was greasing and replacing the occasional mower section. I don't think there would be much for maintenance other than (standard) belts or bearings.

View attachment 1107158

hardly larger than a dedicated swather!

Versitile self propelled swathers used to go mighty cheap!

 

[CalG]

At the scale of the op

a combination machine is just asking too much. Separation of functions would allow proper drying in stooks or in a shed. Weather consideration and moisture content being what it is....

Over moisture grain in a bin is a waste of effort. Sprouting, mold, and heating. Dry the heads , then thresh. winnowing is the dirty work!

 

[airbiscuit]

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

I grow a couple acres of buckwheat per year. I cannot fathom the work involved in hand threshing 1/4 or 1/2 acre. . You are talking over 500 pounds of seed!

 

[CalG]

I grow a couple acres of buckwheat per year. I cannot fathom the work involved in hand threshing 1/4 or 1/2 acre. . You are talking over 500 pounds of seed!

In a comparison of scale.

The wife and I picked 300 pounds of ripe peaches from two trees. (one more to go) The picking took less than an hour, total.

There is lots of work ahead "putting them by", but, just talking harvest work to tonnage ;-)

The drier is full and won't get this batch dried until tomorrow evening.
Jam and "fruit leather" tomorrow.

To bad fruit doesn't store like grain.....;-)