by Jason Hasert

Bringing in the Harvest

Corn harvest is a fun part of farming to model in 1/64.  Last month "Down on the Model Farm" looked at creating a 1/64 corn field.  But to create a realistic model farm we need to look beyond the field to on farm grain storage.  Grain bins, grain legs and dryers are a key system that keeps the combine running in the field.  If a farm does not have a bin system to match its combines harvest capacity the combine will sit in the field and wait leaving the crop to the fate of the weather.  This month we will look at matching a model grain system to your  1/64 combine and field set up.  Down on the Model Farm answer three questions most often asked on ToyTractorShow.com:  What size is the Ertl Garn Bin set and what type of combine does it match?, How does the Standi Batch Dyrer work? and What size bin system do I need for a 12 row combine?

Corn Harvest: Combining, Trucking and Storage

ERTL Grain Bin Set

Ertl Grain Bin set

Grain Bins are a huge factor in the corn harvest.  Your bins will help determine the combine or combines you use on your display.  It is important have the right size grain storage system to match your combine. During the 1990's Ertl offered a grain bin set in its Farm Country series.  This is a great play set and provides an easy set up for a model farm.  

This set represents a 55,000 bu bin system with two 15,000 bu bins, a large 25,000 bu bin and a grain leg.  This set represents an average American farm set up.  It is not a massive grain system but offers nice detail for the mid-sized farm display.  This set fits the 1,000 to 1200 acre farm well.

Moore's 6 row custom head

To put the Ertl grain system into perspective the farm using this system would  be running a 6 row combine.  The most common combine used on this size farm would most likely be a John Deere 9500.  The 9500 is a 204 bu. combine and hands down dominates the mid-sized combine market today.  You see 9500's every where.  The generic Ertl Maximizer John Deere combine from the 1990's can easily be made into a 6 row 9500.  Mark Wikner offers 9500 decals that can be cut out and placed right over the blank yellow area on the Ertl decal.  Moore's toys custom makes 6 row corn heads from the 1293 corn head for about $15.  The head has nice extras like a header guard and flashers.  If you want to make your model farm using the Ertl bin set look like the average farm of that size the 9500 is a perfect choice.   

Maximizer: A farmer Favorite for Corn

If you do not want a custom combine to match your Ertl bin set the Maxizer with its standard 8 row head is ok but an 8 row head will out match the system in real life and your trucks would be waiting to unload.  If you want a 6 row head toy from Ertl's combine offerings the Gleaner R-50 or R-52 would serve that size operation very well.   Both Gleaners come with a 6 row corn head and can be purchased today for about $15-$20 new in the box.  The R-50 was offered by Ertl from 1987-1992 and the R-52 was offered by Ertl from 1993-1998.  

AGCO Gleaner R-52: 1/64 6 row combine

Batch Dryer

1970's Grain System

Batch dryers are more of a classic item than a modern tool.  Today most farms have large dryers and grain handling systems.  Some farms still rely on a batch dryer.  The batch dryer first debuted in the 1950's as combines with corn heads became available.  When corn was harvested by the ear with pull type and mounted pickers it was stored in wire mesh cribs open to the air and it could dry down with out mechanical help.  When combine corn heads were introduced shelled corn became the way to go.  Farmers needed a away to dry the corn before storing.  Batch dryers were introduced to aid the process. These dyers came about when two row combines were common and 4 row heads were big.  This system lasted through the 1970's as the main grain handling method through the 1970's.  This months TTT cover featured the classic 70's corn harvest with a batch dryer.  The dump truck unloads into a pto driven auger that dumps the corn into the dryer.  The dryer can handle on load at a time so the combine sits and waits for the truck to return to the field. Once the corn is dried it goes from the dryer into an electric auger and is put into the bin.   As combines grew to 8 and 12 row heads bigger bin systems replaced the batch dryer. Standi Toys makes a 1/64 batch dryer that sells for about $8.  I use a custom Oliver 7800 combine with a 6 row head custom made by Tom Toohill on my display to reflect a 1970's corn harvest on my display but the John Deere 95 and IH 815 combine by Ertl would fit a farm using a batch dryer well. 

12 Row Combines and Bins

12 row combines mean big fields and big bins

All of the new 1/64 combines released since 1999 have come with 12 row corn heads.  Big corn heads are a popular toy option these days for the collector and displayer. If you are using a 12 row combine on your display there is allot to think about.  Your farm is going to be fairly big and you will need a grain cart and at least two semi's for one 12 row combine.  You will probably have at least 2,000 acres in corn to harvest.  You will need a big grain bin system to keep  the combine going.  

To help show just what running a 12 row combine means I would like to take you on a farm tour.  Garnett Farms of Hopkinsville,KY planted 8,500 acres of corn in 2003.  This farm is running a John Deere 9860 STS and two 9750 STS with 12 row corn heads this fall.  Each combine has its own 1,000 + bu. grain cart that runs along the combine to keep it going in 200 bu. corn.  

9750 STS combines with 12 row corn heads

Three 12 row combines means there has to be a bin system to match.  Garnett Farms has a 900,000 bu. grain system.   As you can see in the pictures below this bin system is massive.  This is important to see because this farm is only running three 12 row combines in corn.  I have viewed displays using five or six 1/64 12 row combines so that means that display would need even more bin space than 900,00 bu. to be realistic.  That is big.  The Garnett's run 10 semi trucks with 1,000 bu. trailers to haul the corn to the bins.  This system works well with the grain carts hauling corn away from the combines and trucks pulling in and out of the field at a constant pace running from the field to the bins.   The carts can take three full loads from the combine and one cart will the truck.  The corn harvest at Garnett Farms is very fast paced. 

Back View of  Garnett Farms Bins

Front View of Garnett Farms Bins

Semi unloading into pit. The wet bin is just behind along with the tower dryer. 

10 semi trucks are need to keep 3 12 row combines going in corn.

If you are going to run a 12 row combine in 1/64 you need to think about your model farm.  You will need a big grain system, grain carts and lots of trucks. 

12 row harvesting is a team effort

Steve Miller of Oakland City, IN has built a large gain bin system that would be well suited for 12 row combines.  Steve has gone all out with his bin system creating a leg system with a wet bin, dryer, unloading pit, fans and more.  This bin set up takes up the space that many people might use for a full farm display.  

Some of our readers sent in pictures of their grain displays to give other TTT readers ideas of how 1/64 model grain bins can be set up. 

Kevin Breisch's Bins and Grain Leg

Over View

Ground View

Kevin's Semi-Truck Fleet

Bill Eberle's Bins

Collectors Note:  Big combines are impressive on a display but if you want to make your model farm life like consider this while you are setting up your model corn harvest this fall.   Hopefully by reading this months "Down on the Model Farm" you have learned it is a big decision to move up to or run a 12 row corn head.  One more example I wanted to share about 12 row corn heads is the new CaseIH AFX 8010.  In this month's article we looked at batch dryers as an example of harvests pasts.  Twenty-five to thirty years ago farmers were running big if they combined 500 bu. an hour.  In those days a truck and some wagons were all that might have been needed as travel from the field to the bins was not usually all that far.  Today the 330 bu. Class VIII CaseIH AFX 8010 will fill its tank in 5 to 6 minutes.  That means in one hour on average with a 12 row corn head the AFX 8010 will have shelled 3,300 bu. of corn.   In an 8 hour day that means 26,400 bu. corn can be shelled.  Here is where the bottlenecks must be avoided.  A farmer must ask can I haul 3,300 bu. of corn from the field an hour.  That is three and some extra semi loads an hour.  Can I keep my combine running if I am hauling 10, 20, 30 miles back to the farm on narrow country roads.  A large farm that needs a combine like an AFX 8010 is going to be farming in many areas most often not close to home. Then once the truck gets to the bin it may take 5 minutes to unload and I unload three times in an hour I have lost 15 minutes at the farm and any where from 20-30 minutes on the road.  Once the grain is unloaded a farmer must ask is my dryer able to handle all the corn and can my elevator move it into the bin fast enough.  A dryer should be able to handle 8 hours worth of combining in a 20 hour period.  So with an AFX 8010 combine your farm dryer should be able to dry 1,325 bu an hour.  You will want a big tower dryer to accomplish that task.  For comparison the old batch dryer shown on the TTT cover would dry about 200 bu. an hour which would be a be two loads from the 6 row Oliver 7800 combine.  In those days you would shell until you filled your dryer, then filled the trucks and wagons and finally the combine bin.  Then you would dry all night and start again the next day.  Today a big combine like the AFX 8010 can shell in 1 hour what a 1970's combine did in a day.  So when you put an AFX 8010 or other 12 row combine on your display for corn harvest make sure you have the grain cart or carts, trucks and bin system to support it.   There is allot more to running a combine than just going back and forth across the field.  If you run more than one combine all these factors increase but the amount of machines in use.

1/64 CaseIH AFX 8010 on the model farm corn harvest CaseIH's AFX 8010 can really keep a grain cart driver busy unloadin 330 bu. every 5-6 minutes

We Build 1/64 scale HillCo Combines

TTT October 2003 Page 8

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