Mount Vernon Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center

Vegetable Research and Extension

Photo collage of watermelon tasting, tractor, dry beans

WSU Seed Cleaner

The basis for our bean cleaner design is a Clipper Seed Cleaner. The Clipper seed cleaner unit we have on hand is an old one in poor working condition, but it provided the design idea for a winnower or seed cleaner that removes chaff and light seeds and debris from beans.

In our design (Figure 8), a large squirrel cage type fan provides the airflow, powered by a light duty electric motor with 1750-rpm CCW rotation. Airflow is very high, and is excellent for beans, although there would be a need to slow down the fan or block its flow for other seeds.

Sides of the chute were cut from ¾-inch plywood using an elongated version of the Clipper air chute as the template. The top and bottom of the chute are made with Luan or a similar thin flexible material such as sheet metal or plastic. The Luan (a thin pressboard material with smooth coating on one side) is stapled on top and bottom of the air chute sides, leaving a gap to drop seeds in (see Figure 8). Beans will fall out of the bottom, below the blower connection

Photo of a hand built thresher
WSU Mount Vernon NWREC, 16650 State Route 536, Mount Vernon, WA 98273-4768 USA, 360-848-6150, FAX 360-848-6159, Contact Us