AUTOMATIC CONTROL A MUST FOR CHESHIRE FARMER

After two seasons use, during which time Cheshire farmer Edward Horton calculates that he has put 1400 tons through his OPICO 595QF automatic grain dryer, there is no doubting his regard for the machine. Not only is its quiet fan environmentally friendly, its Direct Control Monitor (DCM) releases him to undertake other jobs secure in the knowledge that the drying will take place safely and accurately in his absence.

"The OPICO automatic grain dryer we had prior to this one had the DCM on it - its essential," said Mr. Horton. "It monitors the drying operation throughout and at the touch of a button you can see the grain temperature, the temperature of the burner . and if anything goes wrong it will shut it down. Once you have set up the system it will undertake the drying cycle itself, which has proved very useful to us."

The main advantage is that you don't have to stand by the dryer all the time, said Mr. Horton. "Once you have put a load through in the morning, you've generally got an idea of the settings required to dry the grain. It is possible to programme the DCM then and it should dry the grain down to that level throughout the rest of that day."

It is a facility that he readily admits he could not do without. "When I bought the automatic grain dryer, it was our first priority. Before our first OPICO machine, we were constantly altering pressure gauges and monitoring the dryness of the grain. One load would be 13 per cent, the next load would be 15 per cent. Once you've set the drying temperature on the DCM, it stays consistent."

His second priority was to specify a Quiet Fan model. "That again is a big step forward. Not only is it quieter, it is far more efficient. The fan unit really seems to get the air through and certainly the quietness helps. Although there is still the noise of the tractor driving the machine, you don't really hear the fan at all. Before you could probably hear it from a long way off."