Open for Harvest - Case Study
ohn Pruss, general manager at United Farmers Mercantile Coop (UFMC)in Red Oak, IA (712-623- 5453), would be the first to admit that weather during fall harvest in south- western Iowa isn’t always conductive to heavy grain dryer usage. “We really only have a good drying year once every six or seven years,” he says.
Nevertheless, the cooperative chose to add a second dryer in 2014 at its 7-3-mil-lion-bushel rail terminal in Red Oak.
"The challenges we were faced with included improving customer service," Pruss explains. "Our goal is never to shut down because we`re full at harvest. We were piling too much wet corn on the ground, which forced us to pick it up and ship it earlier than we wanted."
UFMC had been drying grain at the site using a Delux DPX 12T grain dryer rated at 2,160 bph at five points of moisture removal, manufactured by Delux Mfg. Co., Kearney, NE (800-658-3240). "We`ve had good luck with it," Pruss says. "It`s run problem-free for years (installed in 2009)."
New Dryer
Coop staff and board members looked at a number of brands and models of grain dryers, but m the end, Delux again won out. Pruss comments that everyone was impressed with some of the improvements made to the dryer since the last one was installed.
Over the summer of 2014, the coop installed a Delux DPXl6GT dryer rated at 3,280 bph at five points of moisture removal. One of the features United liked was the dryer`s small width, roughly 12 feet. That allowed it to be installed in between two corrugated steel tanks on a crowded site with litde room for expansion. The dryer is fired with natural gas.
To install the dryer. United hired Bruce Supply & Construction, Red Oak (712-623-9973). In addition to the dryer, Bruce Supply also installed a 6,000-bph Sweet wet leg to fill it.
Among the features Pruss cited:
- Grain turner section, allowing grain to exchange from the interior of the dryer to the exterior wall for more even moisture removal.
- Higher drying capacity for its size.
"It doesn`t run as hot as older dryers, so the grain comes out with better quality," he says.
- A large cooling section with a SelfKleen™-designed floor.
- The newely upgraded Moisture-Link Plus™ automated control panel mounted on the dryer, which combines the newest moisture capacitance sensing technology with mid-grain temperature to control the moisture level precisely at discharge.
"The newest version of Moisture-Link allows us to monitor the dryer from a smartphone," says Pruss. ``It allows people to access the dryers sensors while away from the elevator and monitor the dryers performance via the Internet.
He describes the new dryer`s first harvest season as "typical," as the facility dries 700,000 to 1 million bushels. "We`re extremely satisfied with the performance," he says.
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