Now with two rotors, the Colombo peanut combine offers the potential to harvest more acres of whole, clean peanuts.
Colombo North America came on the U.S. peanut landscape nearly 10 years ago. Since then, their axial-flow combines garnered the attention of producers for its different way of accomplishing the task of picking peanuts. Recently, Colombo NA changed from an Advanced 4-row to the Twin Master 4-row, which has two rotors to thresh peanuts from the vine instead of one.
Colombo NA marketing manager Jonathan Coody says the Twin Master 4- row is the same machine as the Twin Master 6-row with a different pickup head size.
“We expect the Twin Master to offer producers even more productivity because of the fact that less overall material will be entering the machine. To compensate for a smaller quantity of material entering the machine, producers can likely increase ground speed to keep the necessary amount of material in the concave to achieve maximum harvest productivity.
Understanding The Flow
Coody says it is important for producers operating a Colombo peanut combine to understand how the machine works.
“The Colombo peanut combine is adjusted by pins or fingers on the rotor flighting,” Coody says. “There is also an adjustment for the vacuum that pulls light material and debris from the shaker pan.”
When maintaining consistent harvesting conditions, Coody says, the rotor pins and the vacuum setting should remain the same once properly adjusted.
“The only changes that an operator will need to make throughout the day will be ground speed and PTO revolutions per minute (rpm),” Coody says. “It is important that an operator maintain a consistent feed of vines into the machine to keep the proper amount of material in the concave for optimum harvest results.”
The Colombo peanut combine does not use fans to blow peanuts into the basket, but instead it uses buckets to transport peanuts into the basket.
“This results in fewer LSKs because the peanuts are not blown against a hard surface,” Coody says. “The Colombo Twin Master peanut combine basket holds 9,000 pounds, which allows the machine to harvest more acreage between dumps.”
Proper Set Up The Key
According to Colombo, their peanut combine is capable of harvesting under most adverse conditions. Coody says the key for success under adverse conditions is both proper machine set up and proper ground speed and PTO rpm.
“When a producer first operates a Colombo peanut combine, it is important that he/she not make much adjustment to the rotor pins or the vacuum baffles,” he says. “Once a producer overcomes the learning curve of operating an axial-flow combine, operating in adverse conditions becomes easier.”
Coody says Colombo combines get the most praise for harvesting clean peanuts with a below-average LSK count.
“Along with these benefits, we can average approximately one mile per hour faster than competitive brands when harvesting in ideal conditions. This results in a more productive work day.”
Less Than Ideal Conditions
As with any machine, the less dirt on the vine when entering the combine, the better the results. However, this cannot always be avoided. Because of this, Coody says modifications to either ground speed or PTO rpm will compensate for the increased dirt intake with the Colombo peanut combine.
Peanuts found on the ground after the picker has passed could have been deposited there at different times. Therefore, it is always important to check for lost peanut pods at every point of the harvest process: before, during and after.
Future Projects
Looking ahead, Coody says Colombo North America will begin manufacturing an unload-on-the-go peanut combine, which will differ in design from competitors by eliminating belts on the unload conveyor.
“The Colombo conveyor will consist of horizontal bars mounted together to allow more dirt to escape as peanuts are off-loaded onto a cart or trailer.”
Colombo will celebrate 10 years in North America in 2016 and is also in construction of a new, larger facility in Adel, Ga., that will allow for a more diversified product line.
Features Of Colombo Twin Master 4-Row And 6-Row Peanut Combine
- The low profile pickup head and dual-feed auger assures a smooth flow into the rotor. The head is driven by hydraulic variable speed with reversing. The pickup fingers are made of longlife AR 360 plate steel and the top roller gently turns with the fingers to ease heavy vines into the auger and prevent kick-outs and rolling.
- Rotary combines are not as aggressive as conventional cylinder machines. The Colombo System uses the rotor’s centrifugal force to pull the peanuts off of the vines and onto the shaker pan rather than the shredding action of combines with spring teeth.
- In the exclusive Colombo cleaning system, the peanuts are never blown or floated by air. Instead, dual high-volume vacuum fans gently lift the trash from the top of the heavier peanuts as they reach the rear of the shaker pan.
- The peanuts are gently transported up to the basket in an elevator that uses cups to scoop up the peanuts, take them to the top and then drop them in the bin. A hydraulic auger then levels the peanuts in the basket, increasing the storage capacity. Colombo’s bucket elevator system eliminates many areas where LSKs are increased in conventional combines that use elevator fans and air ducts to deliver peanuts into the basket.
