Issue
Select issue to view:
Search
Other Options
View article as PDF
(right-click on above link to save as a file).
Download free viewer...
View all articles in the June, 1997 issue
Cover Photo Gallery
View our covers back to 1998
Order back issues
Newsfeed
View headlines from our latest issue with your news reader:
John Deere Precision Fanning Introduces Greenstar™ Combine Yield Monitor
John Deere Precision Farrning has announced its GreenStar combine yield-monitoring system for all John Deere Maximizer Combines. This fieldinstalled option provides a cost-effective way for producers to introduce themselves to the benefits of data collection that John Deere GreenStar products can provide. The system is programmed for a wide variety of crops, including wheat, corn, soybeans, rice, oats, sorghum, barley, and canola.
The yield-monitoring system measures both the yield and the moisture of the crop as it's being harvested and shows the information on the GreenStar display located in the cab. The system also permits operators to obtain summary information on wet and dry yield, average moisture, acres harvested, and productivity for each field as well as for each crop harvested during the season.
The yield-monitoring system shares many of the same components used in the GreenStar combine yield-mapping system, which makes it easy to convert the monitoring system to the full-featured mapping system later on.
"Now producers can start with yield monitoring and move to mapping at their own pace with a system of components designed from the start to work together by the people who know John Deere combines best," says Chuck Studer, marketing manager for John Deere Precision Farming.
Accurate, on-the-go yield information is provided by a mass-flow sensor located at the top of the clean-grain elevator. Grain flowing off of each paddle strikes and deflects the sensor's wear-resistant impact plate. Movements as small as 1/1,OOOth of an inch can be detected by the sensor's potentiometer to help ensure consistent, accurate yield readings.
Calibrating the mass-flow sensor consists of two procedures: zero verification and field calibration. In less than two minutes, the operator can complete the zero verification, which resets or zeros the base value of the sensor's potentiometer. Once the zero value of the sensor is verified, the operator performs the field calibration by harvesting a given amount of grain, weighing it, and entering the scaled value into the GreenStar display. One field calibration run for each crop is usually all that is needed.
The moisture sensor, located on the side of the clean-grain elevator, features significantly more sensing surface area than competitive designs to allow greater measurement accuracy over a wider moisture range. A rubber paddle controls grain flow through the sensor and maintains a full column of
grain in the moisture cell to help ensure measurement accuracy. The design gives the operator the flexibility to adjust the cycle time of the paddle for increased accuracy in low yield or ground-speed conditions.
The moisture sensor doesn't require a calibration procedure. Moisture curves are already formulated for approved crops. The operator simply selects the crop to be harvested and adjusts the moisture offset for that crop, if the readings differ from a referenced moisture reading.
John Deere Precision Farming plans to begin shipping the new GreenStar combine yield-monitoring system in May of this year. Pricing information is available from John Deere agricultural equipment dealers.
Top