Today Jake and Matt Gingerich and their crew are here to replace a distributor on our older grain elevator.  The distributor is a cone-shaped device that one uses to select which pipe the grain will flow down from the top.

This crane brought down the long pipes that carry grain from the distributor down to the storage bins. All eight pipes were down in just a few hours.

They brought with them a big crane from Boyd’s to take down the pipes.  After the “downspouts” were brought down, they disconnected the old distributor and brought it down.  Rain was threatening, and so they decided to finish the task tomorrow.  There is a small section above the distributor that had to have a new high-wear lining replaced, and then the crane will work in reverse order, putting back the new distributor with the pipes down to the storage bins.

We are pretty excited about the new distributor; it will be operated from the ground by an electric controller.  In the past, a foot pedal disengaged the distributor and a system of cables and pulleys moved the internal parts from one downspout to another.  Sometimes, big muscles were needed to move the internal parts, and with cable controls, it was often not precise in its placement.  Now, with this improvement, electric power will move the internal parts to the selected downspout.

Here is the new distributor. It's lying on its back, just imagine it rotated clockwise 90 degrees. Grain will flow from the top of the elevator down through an internal section that directs the grain to the downspout you have selected.

This is the control box to be mounted at ground level. On it, you can choose which of the 10 outlets of the distributor you need.