Spreading the Trash with a Trash Spreader Pan

Plugged dryers and dryer fires are something we often hear about given the nature of our business. But it doesn’t take long to find stories about both topics, especially dryer fires, online in crop production Facebook groups and ag forums. A lot of the posts start out a little something like “has anyone had problems with their dryer running a little hot in certain columns” or “my dryer caught on fire today … looking for recommendations.” We’ve found the common factor many times is a buildup of trash: sticks, cobs and fines. In these cases, a fairly simple tweak often can have a major impact.

Installed under the top auger, and starting flush with the fill end, the trash spreader pan ensures corn (and the debris that comes in with it) is spread evenly across all columns. Without this pan in place, corn fills a column at a time, which means the trash is also concentrated in one area (typically the first column), increasing the likelihood of clogging, uneven drying, malfunctioning fans, and worst of all, fires.

If you’ve bought a GSI dryer from us in 2020 or after, you already have a trash pan in place. Although not a standard factory feature, we include them on all GSI dryers after the havoc the wet fall caused on dryers in 2019. Sukup dryers already come with trash pans built-in.

It’s pretty fair to say no one enjoys having to stop what they are doing in the fall to unplug a dryer. Nor does anyone really care to stop what they are doing and call the fire department in hopes the damage can be contained fairly quickly. If you’ve experienced trash-related issues in the past and are a GSI owner, a trash spreader pan may be worth exploring for a summer improvement project.