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84 DECEMBER 13, 2012 | WWW.PRODUCER.COM | THE WESTERN PRODUCER PRODUCTION
The Dutch Airguard reduces the pressure in the product line before
the opener, allowing seed or fertilizer to land accurately in the furrow,
without the bounce caused by high air flows associated with larger
application rates. | DUTCH INDUSTRIES PHOTOS
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ADMISSION AND
PARKING
EQUIPMENT | SEEDING
Spiral slows seed speed
BY RON LYSENG
WINNIPEG BUREAU
Brian Cruson wanted a seed brake
to equalize the pressure and flow in
air seeder seed runs.
But it had to be adjustable.
Such a system would also let farmers
set up their air carts with the right
air for each opener and cart .
His design is a black, ultravioletprotected
spiral device that quickly
splices into the seed runs. He calls it
airguard.
Conventional seed brakes reduce
seed bounce but don’t permit fine
tuning to achieve uniform airflow to
all openers, said Cruson, an engineer
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and part owner of Dutch Industries.
On most air delivery systems, seed
is delivered down to the boot at about
70 km-h.
“The typical seed brake we see on
the market can slow the speed of the
seed, but it doesn’t give you any
means to tune it,” he said.
“Seeds from a short run that’s closer
to the manifold are always faster than
the seeds out at the ends of the longer
runs. So even if you have seed brakes
on all runs, the short run seeds continue
to bounce more than seeds that
travel through a long run.”
Germination and growth would be
more uniform across the entire field
if all the seeds fell into the trench at
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the same speed and with the same
force, he said. The other obvious
benefit is that more seeds end up in
the trench instead of laying on the
surface.
Enter Cruson’s new spiral.
Air, seed and fertilizer come shooting
down the chute on their trip to the
boot. Air always follows the course of
least resistance, so when it enters the
spiral, it rushes out the cap at the top
of the Airguard.
The seed has weight, so it continues
falling into the spiral and through the
opener, but at a more relaxed rate.
Cruson decided to control the air in
each seed brake by adjusting the
height of the cap with spacer washers.
If he installs the full complement of
washers under any cap, that cap is
raised up enough that 100 percent of
the air flow blows out. If he removes
all the spacers, the cap fits tight and
no air is released. All of the air goes
down the tube.
A good benchmark at which to start
is 90 percent of the air out the top and
10 percent down the tube with the
seed. That works out to a seed speed
of 10 to 13 km-h.
Even light-weight canola seeds do
not exit via the exhaust.
Airguard has a second benefit,
which is seed flow uniformity from
one end of the drill to the other. The
operator can fine tune the overall
system using a flow meter costing
$200. The ability to add or remove
spacer washers lets the operator tune
every opener so they all have the
same flow rate.
The ability to control the air
released out the top has the added
advantage of allowing seed and
granular fertilizer to go down at the
same time without the granular plugging
from fertilizer dust. There is no
screen in the system, thus no screen
to catch dust.
The Airguard can be installed on
any brand or model air cart. It sells for
$19.95. For more information, call
Cruson at 306-781-4820 or visit www.
dutchopeners.com .
Airguard’s spiral design plays a
major role in how it works.