2016 was Seed Terminator's maiden year, the idea of the Multi-stage Hammer Mill was conceived 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.
^ Image shows our MY16 Farmer Research Partner Locations
^ Germination trials performed by the The Weed Science Research Group at the University of Adelaide