Development of a Laboratory Test Stand for Grain Combine Yield Monitoring

Abstract Yield monitors come with various technical designs and features. There is a growing need and interest for research-based information about the accuracy and performance of different brands of yield monitoring systems under varying crop yield and different field conditions such as varying terrain. Therefore, at the first step, a laboratory test stand facility was designed and developed. It is able to provide a wide range of grain mass flow rates and to simulate the hillside conditions. The system consisted of a supply and a receiving (reference) bin that is supported by three 5000-N load cells. A handling system (auger-elevator combination) is used to transfer grain between supply and receiving bins. The effects of grain flow rate and elevator tilt angle simulating pitch and roll on power consumption of the grain elevator was studied. The results showed that any increase in grain flow rate and elevator tilt angle in all positions, caused a significant and proportional increase (R2=0.99) in power consumption of the elevator. Therefore, it can be claimed that power consumption of the clean grain elevator may be used as a suitable index for predicting grain flow rate through the clean grain elevator of a combine.Keywords: Mass flow rate, Yield monitor, Grain elevator, Elevator tilt angle, Test stand