Archive Article: 2002/05/10
TIP OF
THE WEEK
Have you a tip to share with our readers which could save both time and money. farmers weeklys Machinery desk is offering £50 for each idea we publish.
This weeks Tip of the Week is provided by Bill Leiper, who farms near Clacton on Sea in Essex.
Mr Leiper runs a straw burner to heat water for the farmhouses central heating system. After 17 years use, the automatic stoker for the burner, which comprises a guillotine and five hydraulic rams became worn and started to leak.
The guillotine was replaced with a 28cm long, 15cm diameter gas pipe and fitted with combine cutter bar knives to form the cutting drum. The drum is powered by a 3hp electric motor with Vee belts – and a grill with 45mm spacings was added to ensure straw is small enough to enter the burner.
To convey straw to the burner, Mr Leiper fitted a 15cm diameter auger.
"The end result is brilliant," says Mr Leiper. "Straw now burns more easily because it is not so compressed, and there are no annoying oil leaks."
Send a brief description of your Tip of the Week to: Machinery editor, farmers weekly, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey, SM2 5AS.
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