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South Australian Grains Industry Trust funded research conducted by Trengove Consulting in 2017 found ryegrass weed seed kill was 93% at 2250 rpm and increased to 98% or greater at normal operating speeds (2500–3000 rpm). Results also showed than 99% control of several other species including wild radish, brome grass,wild oat, bifora, bedstraw and tares and increasing chaff flow rate (harvest rate) did not reduce control of these species
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[January 2018] A Kangaroo Island purpose built facility will provide direct access to farmland, harvest machinery and collection of crop materials, while combining science, engineering, feedback in a confidential space enabling us to create next generation technology. "The indications so far are that the major cause of wear is any soil that reaches the mill. When harvesting crops with the front right on the ground or if the ground is undulating, soil can enter the harvester fronts. For high silica soil types wear rates are highest. Outer screens are the first component to wear (because of maximum material speed). The middle and inner screens last proportionally longer (reduced tip speeds) than outer screens. Rotor and flails are similar to middle screen life. We have learnt that there is another compromise that needs our focus; cutting height to capture weeds and wear rates because of soil entering the front." Nick Berry  First set of tests in January 2018 show that 15-20% power reduction is looking very achievable within our current design framework.
 [ October 2017 ] The South Australian Grains Industry Trust is using one of the three test stands to trial the Seed Terminator against a range of crops including Wheat, Canola, Lentils, Beans, Chaff laced with Ryegrass, Broom Grass, Turnip, Prickly Lettuce, Medic, Tares, Wild Radish, Bifora, Bedstraw, Marshmallow and Wild Oats. Early results show Seed Terminator is over performing.  July 2017 Image above is of one of the three test stands: Pitot tube with hot wire anemometer to measure the air flow, torque transducer to measure torque, dustpan and broom to measure kill!  2016 was Seed Terminator's maiden year, the idea of the Multi-stage Hammer Mill was concieved by Dr Nick Berry in June 2016, designed in July 2016 and manufactured in August 2016. A concept that uses the long-held knowledge that hammer mills kill seeds and then splitting that process over three stages to achieve the capacity needed to process the chaff stream of a modern combine harvester. September 2016 saw the promising results of pouring chaff through the mill on a stationery test stand and samples analysed by the Weed Science Research Group, a part of the University of Adelaide confirmed that the Seed Terminator could consistently reduce germination (i.e. seed kill) compared to a control sample by 90% when operated at 2,700rpm. The Drive System concept was developed to fit across different makes, keeping it as simple as possible with minimal moving parts. CGS Engineers and Nylastex Tooling proceeded to build 9 prototypes on three makes across 4 states in a matter of weeks. The nine prototype trial units were installed on Case (7120, 8010, 8120, 9240), New Holland (CR 8090, CR 9090) and John Deere (9760 STS, 2 x S680). The prototypes were trialed in four states (Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria) across a variety of crops (Wheat, Barley, Canola, Lupins, Oats, Lentils, Faba Beans), soil types and key rainfall zones in the 2016 Harvest. The season was fortunately a long one as it was a challenging harvest, we were able to try 3 completely different drive systems. The perseverance from all involved was exceptional and enabled us to learn a huge amount and prepare for a massive year of research and development in 2017. The outcome of 2016 harvest was purely we needed a robust drive system. The mill seemed to perform well with a few tweaks needed. 
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Kelly IngramArchives
December 2021
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