| Welcome to the Seed Terminator Society NEWSLETTER March 2017 Thank you for joining us at the Seed Terminator Society for our first Newsletter for 2017! It's been a busy summer with our on farm trials finishing up a very long and late harvest. We have had some time now to gather our thoughts and move into our 2017 production. WHAT'S NEW? Nick explains the workings of Seed Terminator in this Video You can view it on our website or Facebook We received an Accelerating Commercialisation grant from AusIndustry Thanks to the Federal Government for supporting Australian innovation, manufacture and agriculture! Read more here Help decide our future and have your say At Seed Terminator we know how important two way conversations are, your responses will shape our future, here is a short survey Want to get your hands on a Seed Terminator? Expressions of interests for 2017 production closing this week! Q & A To finish off, here are answers to some of your questions Which crops have you trialled the Seed Terminator in? We trialled the Seed Terminator across a variety of crops (Wheat, Barley, Canola, Lupins, Oats, Lentils, Faba Beans), soil types and key rainfall zones in the 2016 Harvest. What weeds are being targeted? The short answer is, all of them. With initial testing focused on Annual Ryegrass, further testing of the other types of prominent weeds will continue this year to ensure correct settings for ideal compromise between power, capacity and seed kill. We are after the best kill for your Kilowatt . Which harvesters has the Seed Terminator been trialled on? We have installed and operated on Case (7120, 8010, 8120, 9240), New Holland (CR 8090) and John Deere (9760 STS, 2 x S680). In addition a special project to fit-up and operate the Seed Terminator on a Claas harvester is proceeding with trials planned for 2017/18 harvest. Where was the Seed Terminator trialled? The prototypes have been trialled in four states (Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria). We plan to have demonstrations with users in select geographies once we have completed the season reviews with each of our R&D farmers. Will I have to continue other forms of weed management? Seed terminator should be used as part of an Integrated Weed Management strategy. The last line in defence for the seasons control of weeds. What are the horse power requirements to run a Seed Terminator? We don't know exact numbers yet so we are investing in a torque transducer on a test stand to find out! It depends on a lot of factors: cutting lower to collect weeds increases the power load, harvest throughput (tonnes/hour), crop type (different crops produce different amounts of chaff material, different chaff types vary in difficulty to process) moisture content, harvester settings (e.g. over processing in rotor results in more chaff). We have had it working on class 7 harvesters with an approximate increase in engine load of 15% on the screen. What challenges did the Seed Terminator encounter in the field? The biggest challenges during harvest were with fit-up and drive systems, the Multistage Hammer Mill did not miss a beat and outperformed expectations in difficult conditions across many geographies! This was testament to the design of the Multistage Hammer Mill; the Smooth Feed TM system fed the Multistage Hammer Mills without blockage. The Aero-Impact TM technology ensured maximum capture of weed seeds without disrupting harvester sieve, efficient pulverisation and excellent spread. How easy is it to disengage the Seed Terminator? at present it can be “turned off” with less than half hour of solo effort. In fact, the seed terminator can be completely removed from the harvester in less than a few hours with a set of forks. We are investing in developing a quicker system to turn off the mills so that farmers have more flexibility in when they would like to use the machine. What makes the Seed Terminator unique? The Seed Terminator has two world first patent-pending technologies: Mechanical Drive System and Multi-Stage Hammermill. In addition the Seed Terminator uses Aero-Impact TM technology for low turbulence efficient impact and Smooth Feed TM technology to prevent bridging and blockages. For the first time, seeds are devitalised using crushing, shear and impact; not just pure impact. Seeds are smashed against a screen by flail hammers and can only pass through when they are pulverised. What are the lifespan of the mills? We use novel manufacturing techniques to create a mill with steel that is as hard wearing as possible. That said, these machines process up to 4 b-doubles of chaff an hour. It is a tough ask for anything! In high silica soil types abrasion is higher. We are investing in a test stand to measure and continue to improve abrasion rates. The Multistage Hammer Mill can be replaced whole or in components simply and quickly. Can the Seed Terminator be transferred to another machine? We are working on the expected life of the Seed Terminator mills and systems along with ideas to remove, refurbish and re-sale. This includes simple transfers from old harvester to new harvester, when we have completed more research, we will be in a position to better outline the options. How long does it take to fit up? At present full fit-up is about 28 hours and while we expect this to come down considerably, it is reasonable idea of the present install/fit-up time. Removal time is 1 to 2 hours and simply disengaging the machine about ½ hour. What distribution channels are you using? While the options for distribution, install and after sales service are actively being explored, no decisions have been made at this time, however we are committed to having a colour blind solution available to as many farmers as possible, as soon as is possible. How much is the Seed Terminator? We are working on delivering the Seed Terminator for at or less than $100K. What is the kill rate? Replicated germination trials at Adelaide Uni showed a reduction of 90% annual ryegrass germination compared to control sample. This testing was performed at 2700 rpm. The operational speed has been subsequently increased along with some design tweaks. Speed has a big impact on seed kill so we will be updating these results this year. Expect closer to 95%. I've registered my interest in a Seed Terminator, what next? Over the next few weeks Mark will be emailing you with answers to your queries and details about the next step. VISIT SEED TERMINATOR CONNECT WITH SEED TERMINATOR |
Welcome to the Seed Terminator Society | |
|
|
Thank you for joining us at the Seed Terminator Society for our first Newsletter for 2017! It's been a busy summer with our on farm trials finishing up a very long and late harvest. We have had some time now to gather our thoughts and move into our 2017 production. | |
|
|
|
Nick explains the workings of Seed Terminator in this Video | |
| |
|
To finish off, here are answers to some of your questions
Which crops have you trialled the Seed Terminator in? We trialled the Seed Terminator across a variety of crops (Wheat, Barley, Canola, Lupins, Oats, Lentils, Faba Beans), soil types and key rainfall zones in the 2016 Harvest.
What weeds are being targeted? The short answer is, all of them. With initial testing focused on Annual Ryegrass, further testing of the other types of prominent weeds will continue this year to ensure correct settings for ideal compromise between power, capacity and seed kill. We are after the best kill for your Kilowatt.
| |
Which harvesters has the Seed Terminator been trialled on? We have installed and operated on Case (7120, 8010, 8120, 9240), New Holland (CR 8090) and John Deere (9760 STS, 2 x S680). In addition a special project to fit-up and operate the Seed Terminator on a Claas harvester is proceeding with trials planned for 2017/18 harvest. | |
Where was the Seed Terminator trialled? The prototypes have been trialled in four states (Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria). We plan to have demonstrations with users in select geographies once we have completed the season reviews with each of our R&D farmers. | |
Will I have to continue other forms of weed management? Seed terminator should be used as part of an Integrated Weed Management strategy. The last line in defence for the seasons control of weeds.
What are the horse power requirements to run a Seed Terminator? We don't know exact numbers yet so we are investing in a torque transducer on a test stand to find out! It depends on a lot of factors: cutting lower to collect weeds increases the power load, harvest throughput (tonnes/hour), crop type (different crops produce different amounts of chaff material, different chaff types vary in difficulty to process) moisture content, harvester settings (e.g. over processing in rotor results in more chaff). We have had it working on class 7 harvesters with an approximate increase in engine load of 15% on the screen.
What challenges did the Seed Terminator encounter in the field? The biggest challenges during harvest were with fit-up and drive systems, the Multistage Hammer Mill did not miss a beat and outperformed expectations in difficult conditions across many geographies! This was testament to the design of the Multistage Hammer Mill; the Smooth Feed TM system fed the Multistage Hammer Mills without blockage. The Aero-Impact TM technology ensured maximum capture of weed seeds without disrupting harvester sieve, efficient pulverisation and excellent spread.
How easy is it to disengage the Seed Terminator? at present it can be “turned off” with less than half hour of solo effort. In fact, the seed terminator can be completely removed from the harvester in less than a few hours with a set of forks. We are investing in developing a quicker system to turn off the mills so that farmers have more flexibility in when they would like to use the machine.
What makes the Seed Terminator unique? The Seed Terminator has two world first patent-pending technologies: Mechanical Drive System and Multi-Stage Hammermill. In addition the Seed Terminator uses Aero-Impact TM technology for low turbulence efficient impact and Smooth Feed TM technology to prevent bridging and blockages. For the first time, seeds are devitalised using crushing, shear and impact; not just pure impact. Seeds are smashed against a screen by flail hammers and can only pass through when they are pulverised.
What are the lifespan of the mills? We use novel manufacturing techniques to create a mill with steel that is as hard wearing as possible. That said, these machines process up to 4 b-doubles of chaff an hour. It is a tough ask for anything! In high silica soil types abrasion is higher. We are investing in a test stand to measure and continue to improve abrasion rates. The Multistage Hammer Mill can be replaced whole or in components simply and quickly.
Can the Seed Terminator be transferred to another machine? We are working on the expected life of the Seed Terminator mills and systems along with ideas to remove, refurbish and re-sale. This includes simple transfers from old harvester to new harvester, when we have completed more research, we will be in a position to better outline the options.
How long does it take to fit up? At present full fit-up is about 28 hours and while we expect this to come down considerably, it is reasonable idea of the present install/fit-up time. Removal time is 1 to 2 hours and simply disengaging the machine about ½ hour.
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What distribution channels are you using? While the options for distribution, install and after sales service are actively being explored, no decisions have been made at this time, however we are committed to having a colour blind solution available to as many farmers as possible, as soon as is possible.
How much is the Seed Terminator? We are working on delivering the Seed Terminator for at or less than $100K.
What is the kill rate? Replicated germination trials at Adelaide Uni showed a reduction of 90% annual ryegrass germination compared to control sample. This testing was performed at 2700 rpm. The operational speed has been subsequently increased along with some design tweaks. Speed has a big impact on seed kill so we will be updating these results this year. Expect closer to 95%.
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I've registered my interest in a Seed Terminator, what next? Over the next few weeks Mark will be emailing you with answers to your queries and details about the next step. | |
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CONNECT WITH SEED TERMINATOR | |
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