On floor drying help

Joe Boy

Member
Location
Essex
I have had fans blowing ambient air through for a couple of weeks, it's coming down but still not dry. Should I turn the fan off as it's now raining or leave it running?
 

Andrew K

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Essex
If its below 18% I would add heat myself, Joe. Weather becomes less relevant then.
Are you getting good airflow through the heap.
I can offer a solution if you ring me?
Andrew.
 

Badshot

Member
Location
Kent
Get an automatic humidity controller if it's below 18%,
I got one, cost about £600 about 4-5 years ago. Tryac. Works well, although it does need dry weather to work. Controls two fans here.
 
I use a tryac controllers on 3 drying floors if the fan has enough capacity to blow all the shed then ambient air with humidity controller will dry wheat down but you need to use as much august and September air as possible as once the days get shorter then drying to 15 % gets difficult
so I use modulating gas burners to dry quickly when the air is warmer and which carries more water out than the same volume of colder air

as you do not have controllers switch on when the air dries out between 10 and 11 am then switch off at dark this would work if you live on site

the auto controller will dry down grain at lowest cost
 

Joe Boy

Member
Location
Essex
Thanks for replies, I've turned it off for this down pour. The controllers sound like a great idea as I'm not living next to the grain stores.
 

Badshot

Member
Location
Kent
The sensors need calibrating, new bits fitting occasionally, that is quite expensive but it saves a lot of hassle and wasted electric.
 

shakerator

Member
Location
LINCS
Go on met office forecast

Look at humidity for day ahead

Look at times when below 70% humidity. If heat source will take another 20% off, more if the KW of heater is greater than electrical kW of fan

Important not to go too low too early if v wet
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
Work out your electricity cost per hour from the fan motor power & your contract rates. On days like today assume you've done no good & wasted the electricity. Get a quote for a humidity controller & do the maths.

At least buy a wet/dry bulb hygrometer. They aren't expensive. Turn the fan on when below 70% RH. Consider adding heat at this time of year.

Depending on the make, most humidity sensors go out of calibration within a season so the wet/dry bulb thermometer is a must for setting the controls up.
 

Jo28

Member
Location
East Yorks
use a diesel fan, generates its own heat, have dried from 25% down to 14.5% in 3 weeks. only turned it off when the humidity was high or it was chucking it down and that was only after it got down to below 17%.
 

shakerator

Member
Location
LINCS
use a diesel fan, generates its own heat, have dried from 25% down to 14.5% in 3 weeks. only turned it off when the humidity was high or it was chucking it down and that was only after it got down to below 17%.

Presume the exhaust gases aren't going through the crop ?
 

Jo28

Member
Location
East Yorks
no the exhaust is piped out of the shed, and well in a normal year it uses around 1500 litres to dry 700 tonnes of wheat, this year its used around 2000 litres but it is 12 foot high, couldn't get the spear in for the first week. not sure how well this compares to electric.
 

Acke

Member
Location
Sweden Enköping
no the exhaust is piped out of the shed, and well in a normal year it uses around 1500 litres to dry 700 tonnes of wheat, this year its used around 2000 litres but it is 12 foot high, couldn't get the spear in for the first week. not sure how well this compares to electric.

It seems to be low fuel consumtion on drying 700 ton wheat 10,5 % off.
How big diesel fan and what floor?
 

Badshot

Member
Location
Kent
no the exhaust is piped out of the shed, and well in a normal year it uses around 1500 litres to dry 700 tonnes of wheat, this year its used around 2000 litres but it is 12 foot high, couldn't get the spear in for the first week. not sure how well this compares to electric.
Very cheap I'd say.
 

Jo28

Member
Location
East Yorks
its a lister fan 4 cylinder, old but does the job. its a concrete floor with a type laterals, keep looking for some 2nd hand ones but the ones you see for sale are usually knackered and for some reason smaller than ours which date from 1985. they can be a pain to load in and out of but we have a wooden floor at the other farm which is easy to load in and out but for some reason it always takes longer to dry wheat and only about 300 tonne, never quite worked out why?
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
Airflow on those old A shaped laterals is very good. I used to use veg growers' fleece to help seal them up as it was cheaper than hessian but you always end up with some in the grain lorries. Armstrong & Holmes at Fulbeck, Lincs, have a mobile hydraulic press for straightening the ducts out. It's not expensive to hire.

Drive on floors get abused & the ventillation slits get clogged with crud, especially if you drive in with muddy wheels. Do you ever clean out underneath them?
 

shakerator

Member
Location
LINCS
its a lister fan 4 cylinder, old but does the job. its a concrete floor with a type laterals, keep looking for some 2nd hand ones but the ones you see for sale are usually knackered and for some reason smaller than ours which date from 1985. they can be a pain to load in and out of but we have a wooden floor at the other farm which is easy to load in and out but for some reason it always takes longer to dry wheat and only about 300 tonne, never quite worked out why?

I have had 2 new timber floors installed for this harvest and the improvement in air flow over our existing ones is considerable. Stirrers cut drying time by at least 50% IMHO. Thinking of just buying 4 grain butlers rather than full fixed stirrer outlay
 

Acke

Member
Location
Sweden Enköping
I have had 2 new timber floors installed for this harvest and the improvement in air flow over our existing ones is considerable. Stirrers cut drying time by at least 50% IMHO. Thinking of just buying 4 grain butlers rather than full fixed stirrer outlay[/QUOTE



What company have full knowlege about floor drying and with stirrators with heat added? Mayby with
diesel fan?
 

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