During harvest season, combine harvesters can be found all over Illinois fields. But what exactly do they do? Learn how this versatile machine changed the farming industry by streamlining the process of harvesting grains.

See more: How a Corn and Soybean Planter Works (VIDEO)

What Is a Combine?

In 1835, Hiram Moore built and patented the first combine harvester in the United States. Before its invention, nearly 90% of the U.S. population worked on farms. Combine harvesters get their name from the way they automatically combine the processes of harvesting and separating of grain crops into one step, an otherwise laborious series of operations once done separately. It can harvest crops like corn, wheat, soybeans, rye, barley and oats. After gathering crops, the combine cuts them at the base, feeds them into a threshing drum that shakes the grains away from their stalks and sweeps the unwanted material to the back of the machine.

How Does a Combine Work?

  1. The combine (pronounced COMM-bine) header strips the plant of ears or pods close to the ground and moves them into the machine. Farmers switch out the header depending on if they harvest soybeans, corn or other crops.
  2. The crops move toward the center via spinning augers or belts and travel up a conveyor.
  3. The threshing segment or rotors of the combine beat the ears or pods to break and shake the grains (from crops such as corn) or oilseeds (from crops such as soybeans) away from their cobs or pods.
  4. The separated grains or oilseeds travel by conveyor into a crop tank. The unwanted stalks, husks, cobs, pods and/or bits of leaves – known as chaff or residue – move along different conveyors, as more grain or oilseeds fall through into the tank.
  5. When the crop tank is full, a tractor with a cart on the back pulls alongside the combine. The harvested crop is carried up from the tank by an elevator and shoots out of a side pipe, or unloader, into the cart.
  6. The crop residue exits the back of the machine to either be spread across a wide area or baled to use for animal bedding. Most machines use a chopper to make it smaller and more manageable.

Todd VerHeecke, a Henry County farmer who also works for a major farm implement manufacturer, contributed to this content.

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