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Soybean Innovation LabMulti-crop thresher
Kerry Clark
soybeaninnovationlab.illinois.edu
The Journey to the present:
• Wanted to provide designs for threshers that were small enough to be affordable for smallholder farmers
The Journey to the present:• Were asked by a Ghana
NGO to make a bike-powered version
• Field testing of threshers:• Tested in three rural communities in
Ghana • All end-users tried to thresh more than
the capacity of the small threshers• Price of small threshers was still too high
for most smallholder farmers• Maintenance and repair were potential
problems for people unused to any mechanization• Nobody would pay for a thresher that did
not also shell maize
The Journey to the present:
1. Focus on threshers with high enough capacity to anchor a service provider business. Thresher needs to be safe for users
2. Design a thresher that could be used for multiple crops, including maize, rice, soy.
3. Field test with farmers4. Train fabricators to manufacture
threshers locally5. Build a training program for end-users
for maintenance and repair
Solution
1. Focus on threshers with high enough
capacity to anchor a service provider
business
• Two Ghanaian fabricators with extensive experience provided designs and working models.
• Variable size motor capacity (8 hp) or PTO drive
• Capacity is constrained only by speed of loading
• Can be pulled by tractor, donkey, motorcycle
•Chaff clean-out is through suction directly from the threshing chamber and not by blowing out over seed.
•This leads to zero grain loss from the threshing chamber
•When field tested against wind clean-out, much more efficient with much lower grain loss
This thresher has high
grain loss because the
chaff is blown out using a
fan that blows across the
exiting grain
This thresher is extremely
dusty for the operator
The operator’s
hands get really
close to the
threshing drum
Many operators try to stuff
plants in with a stick. Sticks
or hands can get sucked
into threshing drum
• This is from a different thresher with the fan blowing over the beans to remove chaff.
• The pan on the top is loss and the pan on the bottom is what the thresher caught
• It is a 10% loss by weight
• If you lose 44 seeds in a meter square of harvested area, that is a loss of 67 kg/ha of yield
Threshing
chamber
Exhaust Fan
Chaff exits away
from the
operator
The husk does not
need to be removed
from maize before
shelling
2. Design a thresher that can be used for multiple crops, including maize, rice, soy.
The threshing chamber top
can be easily unbolted and
accessed
Concaves unbolt and
are interchangeable.
MUST make sure
operator has proper
wrenches
Open top and
change out
concaves to
change crops
3. Field test with farmers• Tested in 2017 in rural communities
in Ghana• Testing will continue in 2018• Design is currently being used by
farmers in Upper West region of Ghana
• Workshop for modifications and final plans taking place August 6-11, 2018
• Designs will be publically available after workshop
4.Train fabricators to manufacture threshers locally• Local fabrication lowers costs, creates
jobs• Local fabricators are more in touch
with their customer’s needs and can adapt
• Local fabricators can also repair and advise, extending life of machine
• U.S. mechanization started with local fabrication and farmer input
• Not all fabricators can read CAD plans without experience/training
• Without training, fabricators will reverse engineer, leading to inferior products that may lack important design elements
• Training helps improve product quality and the chance that the user will be able to successfully maintain and operate the machine
• Training creates a network of artisans that support the industry and end-users
Why train?
First training of 12 fabricators occurred in Ghana in 2016.
Funded by ADVANCE (ACDI-VOCA) and ATT (IFDC)
SIL Training
SIL Training• 6-8 day training including math skills,
design reading, business development, quality control, parts sourcing, production efficiency, customer support
• Training includes production of a thresher
• SIL can train local fabricators or conduct train-the trainers
SIL and CRS are following up
with three year research
program funded by ADM
Institute for Post-Harvest Loss
on:• Effect on thresher use of post-harvest loss
reduction• Barriers to local thresher fabrication and
policies and practices that need to be initiated to overcome issues limiting success of in-country production.
• Issues surrounding different ownership scenarios.
• Socio-economic and human health costs and benefits
• Training and skill requirements needed for men and women in thresher operation and maintenance.
5. Build a training program for end-users for maintenance and repair
• We found that the biggest problem with threshers that go to the field is inadequate training of the end-users
• People do not know how to fix simple problems and do not know they need to grease bearings
• End-users also need to have the necessary tools along with the thresher
Minimum tools
needed
• Jack
• Wrenches
• Motor oil
• Grease gun
• Grease
Mechanization
is new and
the most
basic skills
need to be
taught
The more
people who
understand
the
equipment,
the longer it
will last
Cost of multi-thresher in
Ghana
•Materials $1181
•Diesel engine 8 hp $525
•Machining $150
• Labor $150
•Transport $150
•TOTAL $2156
What can the SIL Mechanization
Program do for you?• Provide thresher designs
• Provide end-user training module
• Can help you host training
programs for in-country fabricators
• Can provide a packaged program
for fabricator and end-user training.
Cost depends on location and
number of fabricators to train