Five Tips for a Smooth Harvest

by Sam WorleySep 18, 2017Yield Monitoring

Believe it or not, fall harvest season is right around the corner for many of you. If I were to guess, you probably fall into one of two camps – you have either fully embraced the looming season and have already gotten your combine out and prepped, or you’re grasping onto the last few days of summer and ignoring the changing color of your fields. Either way, it’s important to make sure your Ag Leader yield monitor is feeling its best before hitting the fields this fall. We’ve put together 5 easy steps that will help you have a smooth season.

Investigate

Check over the system. Look at cabling for damage such as cuts, severe crimps and/or bends. At the top of the clean grain elevator, pull the flow sensor and look at the foam material between the impact plate and the housing: has it been chewed on? Look at the impact plate on the flow sensor for excessive wear. Also, check your deflector plate in the clean grain elevator and check your paddle height. Paddle height should be 5/8’’ to ½’’ from top of paddle to the clean grain elevator.

If anything looks suspect, give your local Ag Leader dealer a call. After the harvest season, pull the flow sensor and store it in a sealed location to prevent rodent damage.

Update

Update your display to the newest firmware version. Not only will your display run at its best, you’ll likely also gain valuable features to use. Display firmware can be found at: support.agleader.com. Also, be sure to clear your data card/USB and make a backup of the display.

*It’s especially important to update your firmware this year!

Prepare

Load in any field boundaries, new machine configurations or planted varieties in preparation for the new harvest season. If you planted with an InSight, Ag Leader Integra display or InCommand™ 1200 display, you’re already set with your variety maps! Learn more about variety tracking.

Calibrate

A quality calibration is the most important step for harvest to ensure accurate yield data. Calibration ensures overall yield monitor accuracy and quality of data for each operation.

Pre-season
• Set the header stop height per each harvested crop
• Perform the vibration calibration with the header on the combine
• Update the temperature calibration number
• Perform the distance calibration

Now you’re ready to head to the field. Here you’ll perform the moisture and weight calibration. You should perform these steps per crop type per year. That way you’ll have the most accurate yield monitor and an excellent agronomic scorecard of your operation.

Moisture: Take a handheld sample from three to five locations in a hopper load. Average and update the moisture reading in the display if needed.

InCommand v2.5+ Weight Calibration

One calibration load process: Capture a calibration load at full swath width and at normal harvesting speeds.
Two calibration load process: Capture one calibration load at full swath width and normal operating speeds, capture another load at half swath width OR at half ground speed.
Additional calibration loads: Harvest at incremental speed/flow range changes excluding 1st and 2nd calibration load ranges

Manage

With the InCommand displays and AgFiniti, we put the power in users’ hands to be successful with data management. Users can export to AgFiniti or a USB drive.

From all of us at Ag Leader, we wish you a safe and bountiful harvest season!