What model combine would be easiest to clean out

I would like to grow some certified seed wheat, hay oat seed and triticale seed. I was wondering what combine you guys think would be easiest to clean out totally. My farming combines are an N5 and a 6600. It would be pretty easy to get the N5 clean after the feed chains. But I have no idea how to get everything out of the feeder house and the rotor feed chain, also I wonder how hard it would be to get the auger totally clean. The 6600 would be ok in the grain tank but still the feeder house is a problem and then the auger pan on the John Deere I think would be a nightmare. I wonder would a Massey with a paddle feeder house be the easiest to get clean with the grain pan and the paddle elevator solving the two biggest problems I can think of right now. What do you guys think?
Levi

When I'm cleaning out my combine after harvest I use a grain vac with a 3-inch hose on the outlet of the vac. It gives a large volume of air with enough pressure to do a good job. I take all the side panels off so the rotor and auger bed (IH) can get the air blast. I run the machine at an idle while doing all this. I still have to vacuum the auger troughs in the hopper. It's not 100% but it doesn't leave very much when I'm done.

One feature I'd like to see is being able to drop the bottoms of the shoe augers - I think the old Ford 642, made by Claas, had this feature.

As far as which combine is easiest to clean, I can't really say.

I use compressed air.Need a large enough compressor to blow a straight through 'nozzle'.I made my own with a ball valve and a length of 1/4" tubing.The only place I really cant get to is the bottom of the clean auger.This is on a JD 95.

If You plan on cleaning several times a yr? I would consider setting up a cleaning system on the combine you like best. Cleaning system would could be several air hose attachments welded to the auger tubes and other tight places. You can then attach the air hose and Safely run the machine. You could make the system as complex as you wish. Just a thought.

Want the easiest way to clean out?

This method depends on the volume of each seed you are dealing with.

Take the first ten bushel and run it out the combine and feed it to your livestock. If you have livstock.

I raised specialty beans and certified seed oats for many years. Oats was usually combined after corn that was combined the year before. After running the first ten bushel of oats out no corn was found in the seed oats after that.

Bean combining followed the oats and no oats were found in the beans either. The beans that flushed out the combine were just added to my plain beans and sold as commercial beans. I always passed all inspections.

Now if your doing this on a small scale and need every bushel as seed and not feed this may not work for you.

Gary

I am now out of farming but I grew certified seed for over 40 years and cleaned out several different combines, and the make really does not matter, each one will have its pockets that are hard to clean. The last combine I used was a 9600 and I kept it for 20 years and cleaned it out multiple times each year. I like the idea of mixing crops, but you also have to make sure that cleaning equipment following harvest can make the different separations, length, width and specific gravity different for each next crop you harvest. The best cleaner is air but it also takes a lot of time, you need a huge volume and low pressure, enough pressure to lift the kernel but not enough to blow it into a crack or crevice and make it harder to remove. Needs an industrial type compressor. The best, fastest I found is water, supplied by a 2 or 3 inch pump with low pressure and high volume. Also needs at least two people. I never had bearing trouble as long as the pressure is low, and I ran the machine at an idle while cleaning. The hardest part of any machine is the return elevator, easy to miss and should be the first cleaned, then start at the front and move to the rear, including the chopper. Augers clean easily and quickly with a flood of water, likewise the grain tank, fill it over half full of water, open the throttle, turn on the unloading auger and presto the tank is clean. The unloading auger is impossible to clean
with air. Some folks don't think water is the way to go, but caution when directing the flow towards bearings, and let the machine dry out before storage.

i worked on a farm in New Zealand years ago, they used to clean their combines (IH 1480) with a 3 inch hose off the irrigation system, water in everywhere, then leave over night and start new variety the next day...

Don't know if they are easiest to clean out, or if they is what they happen to have, but Oklahoma Foundation Seed Stocks uses a couple of F2's and a M2.

But just imagine how clean their machine needs to be. They are increasing experimentals to have enough seed for many acres.

Interesting to watch them clean. Seems like they pull chaffer/sieve and feeder beater. Then vacuum and air. Even the header. Of course, they have several students working for OFSS.