Leave the Shovel, Save the Back: Upgrade Your Grain Bin Sweep
By: Tom Miller, Grain Handling Equipment Sales
Just another workout, you know, carrying a grain bin sweep and motor.
That’s what we’ve been doing since 1982: hauling a portable 4” Hutchinson sweep auger into our 24’ bin every time to unload grain. Portable grain bin sweeps, while cumbersome, get the job done (albeit some sweeping and scooping may still be involved). Add in the ability to move from bin to bin as each gets unloaded, a portable sweep has its list of benefits. It also comes with some drawbacks, like, who remembers where the portable sweep is?!? Jokes aside, portable sweeps in today’s industry are labor-intensive and present the safety hazard of entering a bin with grain still in it.
We’ve seen technology make other areas of the agricultural industry easier and more efficient; grain storage continues to do the same. From bigger bins and more advanced dryers (did you see the article in the last issue?), even the unloading process continues to be improved.
That’s why Dad and I are upgrading our portable sweep this spring once the corn is out of the bin. We’ll be replacing our portable grain bin sweep with an 8” Sukup Sweepway® power sweep. The main reason for upgrading is to eliminate the difficulty that comes with getting the portable sweep in and out of the bin since we can’t leave it in there; the weight of the grain would damage it.
Increasingly powerful grain bin sweeps
Power sweeps have come a long way in the last 20 years, eliminating any reservations we had with upgrading. The original power sweeps were very primitive and there wasn’t enough support in the center pivot area so they would get loose and were not very friendly from a maintenance standpoint.
Today’s power sweeps have taken into consideration the concerns of old systems and have been redesigned to meet the needs of bin capacities. Everything has more steel to it now and is made to wear including:
» Bearing mounts that are stronger than previous designs.
» A thicker bearing house for added durability.
» Advancements to the reduction drive wheel to decrease slippage and prolong wheel life.
The unload rate with our new grain bin sweep will also help us unload faster and help decrease downtime loading wagons. We’re replacing the old portable sweep with a 6” auger on the new power sweep. We’re also upgrading the under-bin auger from a 6” to an 8”.
Everything will be controlled from the outside of the bin, which helps ease our minds knowing my dad and I don’t have to crawl into a bin with grain or while the sweep is running. The safety stop plate, attached to the wall, will also prevent the sweep from advancing when engaged, so once the sweep wheel hits, it’ll stop.
The new sweep will be a change for us, but a good one. We’ll have to make sure the sweep is positioned over the intermediate sumps before loading grain into the bin in the fall to prevent the sweep from starting under pressure.
The investment in a power sweep made sense for us now as Dad and I are not as young as we once were.