Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1928-07-26
CAMPBELL TELLS
WINDROW PLAN
USED WITH COMBINE 1T ELIMINATES
LOSS IN HARVEST OF uNEQUALLY
RIPENED FIELDS OF WHEAT
Has Used system for Seven Years on
Worlds Largest Wheat Farm Near
Hardin, He Tells Montana Farmers, and
Saws Ii Has Proved Profitable

Says 1t Has Proved Profitable
Advice which, he believes, from en-
perlence, to he of benefit to the wheat
growers of Montana Is contained I'm a
statement by Thomas ID. Campbell,
president of the Campbell Farming
corporation near Hardin. The state
ment is prompted by a suggestion from
NJ. l.. Wilson of the department Of agri-
cultural economics that there is danger
of great loss to grain this year owing to
the use of combines OF grain which
will not be uniformly matured, says
MIR. Campbell.
AS a suggestion for the solution OF this
problem, MIR. Campbell tells how his COM
pany has overcome the difficulty for the
last seven years by the use of binders to
windrow the grain. In his explanation
Of this method. Mr.. Campbell said:
Every person who uses a combine soon
learns that there are several serious OBJ
jections to its use in spite of the fact
that it is lhe most economical way
of threshing grain. In order to combine
a crop successfully the grain must be
absolutely ripe. uniformly matured and
free from weeds. In order TO have this
maturity it has been necessary to wait
a week or 10 days longer than when the
grain could be shocked This delay al
ways invites a serious weather hazard
in a country where there is hail and
most large wheat growing sections are
subject to hail. The green spots in a
ripe field will cause the grain to heat in
storage and green weeds are even worse.
In fact, one of the big obstacles to the
use of the combine is the moisture
which comes from unmatured weeds.
I'm order to overcome these objections
we have worked u a system of wind
row harvesting whereby the grain can be
cut and put in windows a day or SO
earlier than it can be shocked. Uneven
ripe spots will mature in the windrow
and weeds will dry in a short time SO
hat they can be threshed and sepa-
rated. These windrows are made by TAX
ing several old binders, removing the
binder head and equiping them with
extension carriers so that the successive
cuts will be deposited in one continuous
Windrow. This method eliminates the
necessity of a man on each binder,
eliminates the cost of Irvine, the cost of
shocking. and the great expense of COL
lecting shocks from the field and de-
livering them to a stationary threshing
machine.
Use Old Binders
"The binders are usually old machines
which have been junked or If new a
great saving can be made in the cost
of the binder head. Very little power is
required to pull them and there are
practically no stops as there is nothing
to get out of order. The extension car
riers are made Of light material and are
supported from the binder except in
cases of extreme length when they are
supported on caster wheels. Any of the
commercial bitches for hauling two or
more binders behind a tractor can be
used. We make the extension carriers
of the same width as the platform can
vas SO hat the lod platform canvas
can be used. The most desirable ar
rangement for the average farm is three
eight-foot binders, making a 24-foot
windrow and a 16-foot combine. Three
such binders pulled by a 1880 tractor
will average rs to 80 acres per day with
two men.
Natures In Windows
After the grain has become sufficient
ly matured, raise the cutter bar and at
tach an ordinary hayloader with a
double cylinder to the combine and
usually find that the ordinary l6-foot
combine has no difficulty In handling
the 24-foot windrow. Two men operate
the combine and engine as there is no
adjustment necessary to the cutter bar.
The hayloader automatically cleans the
ground and there is less waste hen in
the shock rows.
I'VE have found that our grain ma
lures better in the windrow, is safer from
weather hazards, even wind, after "a
hours, bu the great advantage is the
reduced cost and the fact that the farm
res threshing is done a day or SO after
he is through cutting. The grain is fed
into the combine in a uniform stream
from the windrow and in case it is too
heavy the tractor pulling the engine can
90 in low snped With this system fO1r
men will do all of the cutting and
threshing of 40 acres of land n the
saving will pay for the entire outfit in
one year. There Is never more than one
or two days cutting down and in event
Of rain there is only a small amount to
be damaged. There is no waiting for the
community threshing machine and there
is no damp grain from the combine. Our
method saves from $3.50 to 81 per acre
from the old method of shock threshing.
by using a straw spreader on the
combine all of the straw is left on the
field and can be used as a fertilizer.
This method works equally well in all
| kinds of grain and is particularly eff
fective in the threshing OF flax, which
has always been a problem to the farmer,
especially in wet weather. 1t it i'm
possible to feed flax uniformly by using
the old bunch method but with wind
row the flax is fed with absolute uni
formity. These extension carriers can
be made for less than $40 each, not in
Guiding the n
Most combine manufacturers are now
making q windrowing machine which is
very serviceable and can be purchased at
a reasonable cost If a farmer does not
care to make his own windrowing equip
ment."