Combines are often an essential part of any farming operation, especially as your fields get bigger and bigger and hiring more hands to pick your crop becomes difficult. But it’s not an easy decision to make, and odds are you don’t want to get a model that isn’t a perfect fit for your requirements. They’re usually a one-time investment, so you want to invest right. But first, you must understand the basics of a combine harvester and how it works so that you can make the best use of these machines.
Historical Background
American inventor Hiram Moore came up with the idea of combines and introduced the first machine in 1835. Before it was launched by Hiram, a majority of the farmers had to harvest crops by carrying out a series of laborious operations one after another. As the harvesters became increasingly popular, by 1870, this number decreased substantially to only 50%. The machine derives its name from the combination of the harvesting and separating of grain crops, which earlier took up a lot of time and effort. As farmers were able to work more efficiently, it allowed them to focus on more important tasks and ensure a successful harvest.
Understanding How They Work
There are plenty of components in a combine harvester, like gears, blades, augers (screws that move cut crops), conveyors, belts, levers, and wheels, which come together to make your work easier. Some of the parts are:
- Combine Header: The cutter bar runs the entire length of the header, which cuts the crops as close to the ground as possible.
- Auger: Its spinning action transfers the cut crops onto the conveyor.
- Threshing segment: The cut crops are threshed and the grains are separated from their stalks.
- Grain tank: The separated grains are stored in this enclosure.
- Conveyors: They include moving belts that move the chaff or the grain through the harvester.
- Elevator: It moves the harvested grain and empties the tank.
- Unloader: It has a side pipe through which grain is moved into a cart.
- Straw chopper: This implement can be connected at the back of the equipment. It the chaff (crop residue) before distributing it evenly on the field behind the harvester.
All you need to do is to drive your combine harvester through your fields to cut, thresh, and clean the grains using rotating blades, wheels, sieves, and elevators. The grain collects in a tank inside the combine harvester, which is periodically emptied into carts pulled by tractors that drive alongside. The chaff and the stalks shoot out from a big pipe at the rear and fall back down onto the field. The discarded crop and residue from the combine harvester may be used for animal bedding, baled into straw, or spread out across the land to make the soil healthier.
Now that you understand the functioning of a combine harvester, it’s time to check out some models for yourself. Visit Torgerson’s Equipment at one of our locations in Montana today to see what we have in stock!
