Grainswest - Tech 2023

Tech 2023 Grains West 22 FEATURE EASY DOES IT Innovative gear aims to simplify farm tasks BY IAN DOIG Farmers naturally gravitate toward equipment that simplifies their work and is easy to use. The products featured here are intended in some way to make farm operations more convenient and less complex. Some are brand new, while others were launched ahead of their time and have since evolved. Feet of engineering This duck is anything but daffy. Govan, SK, farmer-turned-equipment manufacturer Steve Kastning created a slip-over paddle tine to improve the performance of combine headers. This practical idea sprung from his own frustration with inefficient header performance during lentil harvest. He tinkered with homemade attachments made of belting and duct tape to better clear the cutter bar. Much more sophisticated, the final version is a UV-resistant resin paddle that slips over the factory tine and hooks onto the reel pipe but is easily removable. On-farm testing in 2016 led to the first sale of Duck Foot paddle tines to an Australian farmer in 2017. Officially launched at the Canada Farm Progress Show in Regina in 2018, it won a sterling award for innovation. Annual growth has been significant, and Kastning and his wife Chrisa now operate Duck Foot Parts full time. Marketed across North America, Australia and Germany, Kastning aims to expand sales further abroad. He emphasized the device is gentle with the harvest. This includes beans, soybeans, canola, wheat, barley and more. For all crops he recommends slowing the reel speed, riding higher on the crop and being less aggressive with reel pitch. “Duck Foot helps make farms more efficient and sustainable,” he said. Based on field data, it notably improves handling of heavy crops, he added. Kastning has calculated the product delivers a 27 per cent increase in ground speed on average across all crops. Additionally, data show the rate of header loss decreases by 75 per cent on average. “Regardless of your crop conditions, there are big advantages with the Duck Foot,” said Kastning. “You’re going to reduce your environmental impact because you spend less hours on your machines, burn less fuel and see less wear and tear.” Intended for use with all crops, the Duck Foot slip-over paddle tine allows for increased combine ground speed and header efficiency. Photo: Courtesy of Duck Foot Parts