How to Choose a Grain Cleaner for Your Farm

A grain cleaner should be selected for the material it needs to remove, then sized for the grain-handling system. For grain containing both large trash and fines, we would start with a two-stage screen cleaner. For removing undersized material, a tubular-screen or gravity-flow cleaner may fit the job. Light chaff and dust can call for air separation as well.

Farm King, Kwik Kleen and Magik Kleener offer different approaches to those jobs. Their ranges extend from smaller farm cleaners to equipment built into high-capacity receiving and loadout systems. The choice depends on the crop sample, the cleaning standard and where the machine will work, whether that is between bins after harvest or in the unloading line when trucks are waiting.

Match the cleaning method to the material

Look at a representative sample before comparing bushels per hour. Corn with broken kernels and fines presents a different job from corn containing pieces of cob. Soybeans may carry small weed seed along with pods and stems. A screen can make a useful separation when the unwanted material differs enough in size or shape from the grain being retained.

A scalping screen removes material larger than the grain. In a two-stage cleaner, sound grain passes through the first screen while oversized trash is carried away. A second, finer screen lets undersized material fall through and retains the grain. Farm King's cone-and-drum cleaners use this arrangement.

Kwik Kleen's tubular screens and Magik Kleener's gravity-flow screens primarily remove material smaller than the grain. They are worth comparing when fines are the main concern, but they do not provide the same oversized-trash separation as a two-stage drum cleaner. If cobs or larger plant material are causing trouble, include a scalping stage in the equipment discussion.

Air separation, often called aspiration, removes light material by its response to airflow. It can complement screens where dust and light chaff are difficult to separate by size alone. Walinga's grain-cleaner range uses screens, brush augers and fans to remove dust, fines and beeswings. The range includes 10-inch single-fan and 16-inch dual-fan cleaners, with dryer-mounted and self-contained models available. These are worth comparing when light material remains in the grain after screening.

Seed and specialty-grain buyers may specify kernel size, purity or limits on particular weed seeds and other crops. Start with those requirements when choosing screens. If the unwanted material is close in size to the grain you need to retain, a different separation method may be necessary. A representative sample helps establish what the cleaner can remove without losing too much sound grain.

Comparing the Farm King, Kwik Kleen and Magik Kleener ranges

The models below illustrate the main choices. Published capacities are starting points for sizing; they are not results from a common test. Compare the cleaning achieved on the same crop and condition before treating a higher rating as better performance.

Farm King 362 and 482

Farm King's smaller 362 deserves consideration when cleaning can take place at a lower rate. It uses two-stage screening, with trash and fines discharged to the ground and cleaned grain directed through a chute. Plan how the separated material will be collected at the site.

The 482 provides a larger cone-and-drum assembly and separate discharge routes for clean grain, oversized trash and fines. Farm King qualifies its 1,900-bushel-per-hour maximum by moisture and dockage. If the 362 would make cleaning take too long, the 482 is the next model to compare without changing the basic separation method.

Kwik Kleen 572 and 772

Both Kwik Kleen models move grain through augers enclosed by tubular screens. Undersized material passes through the screens and is collected for discharge by the tailings auger. Retained grain leaves the rear of the machine.

The 572 has five cleaning tubes; the 772 has seven. The wider 772 is worth considering when the handling system can use the additional cleaning capacity. Norwood lists outside wheel widths of 58 inches for the 572 and 72 inches for the 772. Those are not transport widths with the screenings auger folded, so use the complete dimensions when checking a doorway or storage space.

Magik Kleener low-profile and standard models

A Magik Kleener directs grain across a series of screens by gravity, without a powered screening drive. That makes it a different installation decision from placing a portable cleaner beside a bin. The incoming grain must be high enough to feed the cleaner and leave room for both discharge routes below it.

The manufacturer's range includes low-profile units with 10-inch-wide screens and standard units with 20-inch-wide screens. Its popular-model table lists sizes from 1000LP through 10000LP and 15000STD through 50000STD, with additional sizes available by request. Consider both profiles when planning a site; the low-profile models shown in our store are only part of the range.

Profile also changes how capacity fits the available space. For example, Magik Kleener lists the 5000LP at about 49.75 inches deep and 21.5 inches wide, while the 6000LP is about 33.75 inches deep and 31.5 inches wide. The higher-capacity model uses more width and less depth. Compare the actual drawings rather than assuming that the smaller-capacity cleaner will fit more easily.

The 1000LP is one example for a farm installation. A larger cleaner may fit a receiving leg or loadout installation, but select it from the layout and required cleaning rate. Magik Kleener's manufacturer guidance identifies these machines primarily as undersize cleaners, not scalpers. Full or partial bypass is useful when some grain needs less cleaning; grain passing through the bypass has not passed over the screens.

Select screens with a crop sample

A crop name is a starting point for screen selection. The grain's size range and the particular material being removed determine whether an opening makes a useful separation. A screen that takes out more broken kernels may also remove smaller sound kernels. Inspect the screenings as closely as the cleaned grain.

Norwood's screen chart lists several round-hole and slotted choices for corn, beans and small grains. Barley sizing is another distinct application. Those choices matter when the same cleaner moves between crops or when a buyer wants a particular size fraction; one screen set should not be assumed to cover every load.

For two-stage cleaning, consider the cone screen and drum screen together. The coarse stage must pass the grain you intend to retain while separating larger material. The fine stage then removes the undersized fraction. Selecting only the final screen leaves part of the cleaning job unresolved.

Ask to compare the incoming sample, cleaned sample and screenings at the rate you intend to run. For grain going to market, have the cleaned sample assessed against the receiving buyer's requirements. That gives a better basis for a purchase than judging the appearance of the grain alone.

Also discuss crop damage and changeover. Norwood's operating manual describes brush augers for crops such as peas and edible beans that can crack or chip easily. Screen access, cleanout and the handling equipment before and after the cleaner deserve attention when moving seed or specialty crops.

Size the cleaner for the hours available

A cleaner in the harvest receiving line must keep up with incoming grain or have suitable holding capacity ahead of it. A cleaner used between bins after harvest may have more hours available. That difference can change the size of machine required even when the annual bushels are the same.

For example, assume grain arrives at 2,400 bushels per hour and the cleaner processes 1,800 at the required cleaning standard. Grain accumulates ahead of it at 600 bushels per hour. After five hours, 3,000 bushels need to be held or deliveries must slow. These are planning assumptions, not measured rates for the models above.

Use an expected cleaning rate for the actual crop, moisture and dockage. On a Kwik Kleen, feed rate, auger speed and operating angle affect the cleaning result; its manual describes the capacity tradeoff as the angle changes. Walinga bases its published capacities on dry corn and notes that grain condition and atmospheric conditions affect the rate. A maximum handling rate does not describe every separation the machine can make.

If removing fines before storage is the objective, cleaning after grain comes out of the bin does not provide that earlier benefit. Where cleaning is mainly needed before sale, a separate cleaning pass may fit the schedule. Include the extra handling and labor when comparing that approach with cleaning during harvest.

Check the complete installation and power supply

Draw the grain path before settling on a model. Include the incoming auger, conveyor or bin unload, the cleaner, the clean-grain outlet and the screenings route. A two-stage cleaner also needs a way to collect the oversized trash. The lowest point in the layout often determines whether the receiving auger can fit without raising the cleaner.

For a gravity-flow installation, cleaner body depth is only part of the height required. Magik Kleener's installation manual calls for at least 24 inches of straight vertical fall into the center of the inlet to distribute grain properly. Allow for that inlet arrangement, discharge transitions, support structure and access to remove the screens. Have the proposed drawing checked before fabricating supports or spouting.

Power requirements also depend on the configuration. The Farm King 482 manual recommends a 3 HP, 1,725 RPM electric motor. Include the motor and electrical installation in the comparison. Our gas-engine 482 listing provides another configuration for sites without an electric supply.

Norwood offers hydraulic and electric Kwik Kleen configurations. For a hydraulic unit, confirm the required oil flow, pressure and return arrangement for the exact machine. For electric equipment, confirm voltage, phase and the complete motor package. A gravity cleaner avoids a screening motor, but the equipment feeding it and carrying grain away still needs power.

Our grain auger and belt conveyor guide covers capacity, reach and crop handling for those adjoining machines.

Compare cleaning results with the cost of the whole job

Before buying, establish what a successful cleaning pass is worth to the operation. That might mean meeting a buyer's foreign-material requirement, removing fines before storage or preparing grain for another process. Use actual sample results and the buyer's discount schedule when assessing market value. Account for the weight removed as screenings as well as any improvement in the price paid for the retained grain.

Compare the complete installed quote, screen sets, labor, power and extra grain movements. Allow for screen wear and the value of sound grain removed with the screenings. A lower purchase price can be offset by a difficult installation or too many hours spent handling the same bushels.

Cleaning also has limits. It does not dry grain, repair damaged kernels or establish that grain and screenings are suitable for feed. Iowa State's damaged-grain guidance explains why quality assessment, drying, cooling and storage management remain necessary.

To compare grain cleaners for your operation, send the crop, moisture, a representative sample or clear sample photos, and the material you need removed. Include the required bushels per hour, available power and a drawing or photos of the proposed location. Email our sales team or call 712-566-1033 to discuss the cleaning method, model and screen package.