I’m easily bedazzled at the Farm Progress Show, especially when I get around all the brand spanking new shiny metal bins and batch dryers. Fortunately, this year, I not only wore my sunglasses, but I also tackled one of the engineers at Sukup Manufacturing for help on figuring out the latest in grain handling technology.
Sukup Product Engineer Bob Dieckmann led me to a pile of paddles and chain to explain the company’s new “Double-Run System.” The conveyor configuration is so new at Sukup that they don’t have literature on it yet.
“Basically it is a closed conveyor system that compresses the traditional grain loop into a single stacked tube,” says Dieckmann. “This allows it to be used as a chain conveyor in situations from level to an incline of up to 60 degrees.
“It works well for filling dryers or taking discharge. It’s also much more gentle on grain than an auger,” he explains.
The paddles are made of heavy duty UHMW, which is nonabrasive and tough enough to stand up to the pressure of moving grain. There’s never any steel to steel contact, which means the system runs quieter and smoother. Dieckmann says conveyor loop systems also use less horsepower and require less maintenance than pneumatic systems.
The double-run system comes with an integral inlet hopper and intermediate discharge gates are available. Dieckmann says the system works well with all commodity grains. “We have them going into new systems and also retrofits where a farmer might be replacing augers,” he says.
For more information: www.sukup.com
