combining oats question

spitz · Aug 23, 2017

Maybe you guys can answer this question for me. Should you combine oats the same direction as they were swathed, opposite, or it doesn't matter? We have been having discussions about it and want to hear what you guys with more experience than me have to say! Thanks!!

tomstractorsandtoys · Aug 23, 2017

Same as swathed. You have to feed in heads first otherwise it will ball up and not feed in. Tom

JD Seller · Aug 23, 2017

The pickup header will work better with the heads coming in first. Most will work the other way but not as good. Plus you want the heads going into the cylinder/rotor first. They will thresh better.

rusty6 · Aug 23, 2017

(quoted from post at 19:55:10 08/23/17) Maybe you guys can answer this question for me. Should you combine oats the same direction as they were swathed,!

Yes, definitely pick up the same direction as swathed. It is extremely difficult to do a clean pickup job feeding the swath backwards as the heads tend to hang down and fall off the pickup.
The only swath I can pick up backwards is canola since it comes out of the swather pretty much every which way sometimes.

paul · Aug 24, 2017

Same direction - heads of oats go in first.

It matters.

Paul

jamstra · Aug 24, 2017

Can I ask, from the other side of the pond, why you swath oats? Never seen it done in the UK - oats combine beautifully standing up (or even badly broken over by the wind!)
Incidentally, with a wee combine like mine and if the crop is long stemmed and badly laid, it's best to cut it with the heads away from you - this stops the heads being gripped by the auger and pulled out by the roots, before the cutter bar has reached the base of the stems! Threshes just as well.
Jim

rusty6 · Aug 24, 2017

(quoted from post at 11:50:24 08/24/17) Can I ask, from the other side of the pond, why you swath oats? Never seen it done in the UK - oats combine beautifully standing up (or even badly broken over by the wind!)

I have straight cut oats once or twice but there is usually too much green in them for safe storage. And leaving them to stand til ripe often leads to loss from shelling out in the wind. Not to mention huge flocks of blackbirds raiding the standing oats.

jamstra · Aug 24, 2017

Interesting. The 'shelling out' must be something to do with crop varieties - no real problem here with shedding before fully ripe, even in
high winds. More of a problem is 'laying', where wind and rain can flatten a crop, typically breaking it over some 6 inches off the ground. A
good combine can easily lift it, though. Birds, yeah - but the villains here are crows and pigeons! Have often combined oats at around 14% to
16% moisture here, even in the Scottish climate, no problem 'keeping' that with a little cool air blown through from time to time. I have
also successfully combined oats in November with the heads dry but with some snow lying on the ground! Jim

4xMF · Aug 24, 2017

I’ll second Jamstra. Swathing oats prior to combining was nothing I had heard of until I joined YT and I’ve always wondered why it is common over there. It is my impression that the varieties we have nowadays are shorter and not as prone to shelling out and laying.

stevob671 · Aug 24, 2017

I'm with the heads first crowd. The feeder chain will hold the straw back for the cylinder to rub the heads better, otherwise the stems will pull through the cylinder at the end and give the heads less time to rub.

chuck from neb · Aug 24, 2017

Combine same direction as u windrowed it ...its much easier to pick up and threshes better

INCase · Aug 25, 2017

good question. being from the eastern 1/2 of the US i don't know really. always figured they must dry down better/faster that way.

in the Eastern US no one pre-cuts grains. direct cut with combine.

>wow that is a "wee combine".

rusty6 · Aug 25, 2017

(quoted from post at 12:09:20 08/25/17) good question. being from the eastern 1/2 of the US i don't know really. always figured they must dry down better/faster that way.

in the Eastern US no one pre-cuts grains. direct cut with combine..

Yes, its all about the dry down. This year it is starting to look like I might even have to swath my wheat to get it to dry down. Checked this morning and as ripe as the field looks, there are green heads down below that will sure mess up the sample and cause heating in the bin. Maybe another week of hot weather will be enough. Last year I started August 31 straight cutting wheat. It was over 15% moisture so not too bad.

combining oats question

spitz

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tomstractorsandtoys

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JD Seller

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rusty6

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paul

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jamstra

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rusty6

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jamstra

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4xMF

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stevob671

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chuck from neb

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INCase

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rusty6

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