Tips for Tough Soybean Harvest Conditions

posted on Wednesday, October 5, 2016 in Blog

Have you met Advanced Mobile Service Technician, Rob Campbell? He's a pretty popular guy this time of year, but he made a little time in his schedule to chat soybean harvesting with me. I asked him, 'What are some overlooked things that can make harvesting soybeans in tough conditions a bit easier?' This guy knows his stuff, check out his nine seriously good insights below;

• Set your sickle at an agressive angle for better cut performance. If beans are leaning, it should be as close to perpindicular to the lean of the crop as reasonably possible. 
• If you're using a larger head, make sure your feed accelerator is on the higher side to reduce the chance of plugging.
• Make sure your cutter bar is adjusted. Ensure the blades are sharp and in good register with the guards.
• Run the feeder house chain on the larger sprocket if persistent slugging occurs.
• Ensure the auger is adjusted closely to the floor and rear stripper to prevent wrapping.
• Calibrate your header!!!
• Check your grain tranks periodically for unthreshed pods or split or damaged beans and adjust concave rotor settings as necessary.
• Adjust cleaning fan, chaffer and sieve on the go.
• Double check your adjustments are working. Find the happy medium, and don't be afraid of a little dirt.

Thanks Rob!