Parts of the Integrated Harrington Seed Destructor have undergone a complete redesign following grower feedback
Designers of the Integrated Harrington Seed Destructor (iHSD) have redrawn the unit’s bearings and housing and incorporated a wider mill following feedback from grain growers.
The iHSD, consisting of two hydraulically driven cage mills retrofitted to combine harvesters, into the chaff stream just below the sieves, was launched in 2016 and upgraded last year to improve its cooling capacity and allow better feeding to mills.
Check out our story about last year’s upgrades here
The new upgrades, developed by SKF Engineering and De Bruin Engineering, also include a relocation of the cooler in order to assist with the unit’s oil cooling.
Distributor McIntosh Distribution led the grower consultation campaign, with agent Johnny Inferrera saying the changes are currently being rolled out to existing clients.
“Even before these upgrades, we’ve maintained kill rates at up to 99 per cent and growers using the iHSD have been happy with the kill rates they have been achieving,” he says.
Invented by Western Australian grain grower Ray Harrington and developed by the University of South Australia with support from the Grains Research and Development Corporation, the iHSD was designed to enable one-pass weed control.
It operates by pulverising the seeds of weeds and halting the spread of weed growth in crops, helping to eliminate herbicide resistant weeds and allowing for more targeted and efficient chemical control.
Results from trials of the technology in Europe are expected lsoon, but Inferrera says the feedback so far has been very positive.
“What we can say is that there has been 180 hours of harvesting done on European crops using the iHSD, with absolutely no issues,” he says.
“We look forward to getting further results on the trial later this month.”
There are a very limited number of current upgraded iHSD units available. Growers seeking further information should contact their local iHSD dealer, or Johnny Inferrera at McIntosh Distribution on (08) 9475 1651 or 0429 904 870.