Pre-harvest Preparations: Hardware – Part 2

Yesterday, I went through the important steps in checking the physical components of your yield monitor. Today, we will go through the pre-harvest calibrations that you should run. Even if you don’t think you need to recalibrate everything on the combine, it is a good idea to check to make sure everything is functioning properly.

The first calibration we need to do is the temperature calibration. The yield monitor needs an accurate temperature in order to calculate moisture accurately. It is a good idea to leave the combine parked in the shade for an hour or so before doing calibration, or do it first thing in the morning. 

It is best to have the combine the same temperature as the air around it. (See these videos about how to perform a temperature calibration on the EDGE or Ag Leader® Integra display.) The next calibration we need to do is the vibration calibration. For this calibration, the combine header needs to be attached. The vibration calibration teaches the yield monitor the difference between grain hitting the impact plate and the vibrations of the combine going through the impact plate.

You will need to do this calibration for each crop type. (See these videos about how to perform a vibration calibration on the EDGE or Ag Leader® Integra Display.)

Calibrating the header stop height is the next calibration we need to do. You will need to teach the yield monitor the maximum and the minimum header heights, and then you will set a height at which the area logging on the yield monitor will turn off.  When you pick your head up at the end of the pass, the yield monitor will quit logging area and keep your yield more accurate. You will need to do this calibration for each crop type. (See these videos about how to perform a header height calibration on the EDGE or Ag Leader® Integra Display) The next pre-harvest calibration we need to do is the distance calibration. Your yield monitor will use the wheel speed sensor on your combine as a backup in the event of a GPS signal loss. If you have done this calibration before, you will only need to do it once to make sure everything is still working right.  If this is a new install, you will want to run the calibration more than once to make sure everything worked correctly the first time.  (See these videos about how to perform a distance calibration on the EDGE or Ag Leader® Integra Display.) Now that all of your pre-harvest preparations are complete, you can turn your attention to moisture and weight calibrations. A moisture calibration is a simple calibration.  It is important to perform the moisture calibration before you do a weight calibration. (See these videos about how to perform a moisture calibration on the EDGE or Ag Leader® Integra Display.) The final calibration is the weight calibration.  In order to do a proper weight calibration you will need to harvest 4 to 6 loads between 3,000 and 6,000 lbs. each. All the loads will need to be run at a different flow rate. When harvesting your loads try to stay within the same hybrid, and try to find an area with uniform looking crops.  Calibration loads in different hybrids or running a high flow load in a poor yielding part of the field can cause accuracy problems.  (See these videos about how to perform a weight calibration on the EDGE or Ag Leader® Integra Display.) As always, feel free to call Ag Leader's Tech Support team at 515-232-5363 if you have any questions as you prepare to head into the field. For current Technical Support hours, please click here. We hope you have a successful harvest!