Their combine rotors wind the stem of the soybean plant instead of slicing it, creating a bean straw rope that lays out behind the machine, making no-till farming difficult and disking almost essential for double cropping. The stems of the new varieties are usually green and tough at harvest, nearly impossible to separate with a regular rotor. Don Estes, as an agricultural equipment welder near the corn and soybean fields of central Illinois, heard farmers repeatedly complaining about roping during harvest and figured out a solution. The cutters consist of nine steel lugs laid out in a circular pattern on the keystock grate and bolted into place.
Installation takes about half an hour.
It is now installed on more than 1220 combines in 24 states for use primarily on soybeans and corn. The Disrupter pulverizes the corn shucks that would otherwise flow out the back of the combine, taking a lot of kernels with them. It also reduces rotor rumbling caused by inefficient feeding. The Disrupter lugs have been designed for both keystock grates and the earlier flat grates of Case-IH combines.