Moisture meter, grinding or not?

[carbonfibre farmer]

Our ancient moisture meter has died. It was an old protimeter that required a ground sample.

Narrowing down to a new one, either the Wile 55 or Wile 78 look most likely in terms of budget and avaliabity to me.

We grow wheat, barley, peas and occasionally linseed and beans. We also do on occasion dry some.

Not talking massive tonnage of total crop, probably 250t tops.

So pros and cons of a ground sample moisture meter and whole grain tester.

 

[nick...]

Got a whole grain tester here,protimeter I think,and purchased it of items for sale on here.calibrated recently aswell at Openfield at bressingham.im sure a similar metre would suit you and a wanted add may help you
Nick...

 

[Bignor Farmer]

Oddly enough we’ve just had our whole grain moisture meter go a bit off-beat despite 12 years of near perfect service and a perfect calibration a month ago.

Had a Wile 78 delivered by courier on Saturday morning and was very impressed with it in wheat but now on peas and it seems to be about 1.2% out compared to our other moisture meters and our neighbours so not very impressed now!
My only other comment is that the sample is tiny (7ml) so probably 50ish grains so a single green one can throw it out

 

[Renaultman]

I have a Dickey JON mini GAC had it 5 years now and can't fault it. Very easy to use.

 

[Bignor Farmer]

I have a Dickey JON mini GAC had it 5 years now and can't fault it. Very easy to use.

Agree, our mini GAC plus has been by far and away the best moisture meter we’ve had but something has gone wrong with it this week. Can’t complain after the service it has given us.

 

[robbie]

We have a wile whole grain which we use on the combine and in store. It's a good reliable meter and @carbonfibre farmer our friendly ag supplies chap up the road at Carlton fen has them on the shelf.[emoji6]
I'm sure a deal could be done!!!

I've recently bought a Marconi on here and I find that really handy for doing a moisture check on a field before you go to the trouble of moving the combine. The marconi is ideal for hand rubbed samples where as the wile would take you all day to rub enough out for a sample.

 

[carbonfibre farmer]

We have a wile whole grain which we use on the combine and in store. It's a good reliable meter and @carbonfibre farmer our friendly ag supplies chap up the road at Carlton fen has them on the shelf.[emoji6]
I'm sure a deal could be done!!!

I've recently bought a Marconi on here and I find that really handy for doing a moisture check on a field before you go to the trouble of moving the combine. The marconi is ideal for hand rubbed samples where as the wile would take you all day to rub enough out for a sample.

I'm waiting for some prices from him @robbie

 

[carbonfibre farmer]

We have a wile whole grain which we use on the combine and in store. It's a good reliable meter and @carbonfibre farmer our friendly ag supplies chap up the road at Carlton fen has them on the shelf.[emoji6]
I'm sure a deal could be done!!!

I've recently bought a Marconi on here and I find that really handy for doing a moisture check on a field before you go to the trouble of moving the combine. The marconi is ideal for hand rubbed samples where as the wile would take you all day to rub enough out for a sample.

Father would love to spend hrs rubbing a sample out be right up his street!

Just wondered if the grinder version (wile 78) was more reliable/easier to use etc?

 

[robbie]

I'm waiting for some prices from him @robbie

Do well. I expect he's Sharpening his pensil as we speak.

I should have kept nodding to the auctioneer on that Marconi at thelnetham last month

 

[carbonfibre farmer]

Do well. I expect he's Sharpening his pensil as we speak.

I should have kept nodding to the auctioneer on that Marconi at thelnetham last month

Up until recently our old one was very good. But it's increasingly gone further and further out of tolerance and not consistently out either

 

[teslacoils]

I use a Wile 78. It's good. For pulses I put them through a coffee grinder first.

 

[sb18]

I got told that ground is best for testing grain that’s still standing in the field and whole grain is best for testing grain that’s settled in store after a couple of days.
Not found much difference with our meters however the major advantage of ground is you need to lot less grain when rubbing out to see if it’s dry for cutting 9ml with a uni meter vs 180g with a Sinar

 

[Brisel]

For grain that is changing moistuire rapidly e.g. output of a high temperature drier or after a shower of rain to see when you can restart cutting, ground is best. Surely that's when you want the most accurate reading? The moisture content on the outer layers of the grain will be different from the core - that is less of an issue with a more stable environment e.g. in store. I agree with @sb18 in this respect

 

[carbonfibre farmer]

For grain that is changing moistuire rapidly e.g. output of a high temperature drier or after a shower of rain to see when you can restart cutting, ground is best. Surely that's when you want the most accurate reading? The moisture content on the outer layers of the grain will be different from the core - that is less of an issue with a more stable environment e.g. in store. I agree with @sb18 in this respect

Thanks @Brisel ,that was the kind of answer I was looking for re ground/unground and circumstances of use. Cheers

 

[carbonfibre farmer]

For grain that is changing moistuire rapidly e.g. output of a high temperature drier or after a shower of rain to see when you can restart cutting, ground is best. Surely that's when you want the most accurate reading? The moisture content on the outer layers of the grain will be different from the core - that is less of an issue with a more stable environment e.g. in store. I agree with @sb18 in this respect

And yes not so much in store readings I'm looking for but out in the field when we can get on or not.

 

[Brisel]

And yes not so much in store readings I'm looking for but out in the field when we can get on or not.

Then a grinder is the best for you. Wile seem to be well respected. I have bad experiences with Protimeters & Sinar machines.

 

[teslacoils]

Wile are just a nice company to deal with. We had a slight issue just out of warranty - they just sorted it. No problems at all. The little cleaning brushes don't last forever, especially the firm one.

 

[robbie]

If using a grinder to test standing grain, just be careful whose in ear shot when you anounce" im just going out into the 16 acre to rub one out"

 

[Barleymow]

dropping the ground up disc made by the marconi is as good a guide to moisture as is looking on the scale to see what it actually is

 

[7610 super q]

Thread Hi - Jack........
Does anyone else have wildly different moisture readings to that of their merchants ? I calibrate my meter every year, never more than 0.1 % out. I have a difference of opinion of about 1%. I'll be getting a second opinion.
It's just one thing after another.