Hemp Harvester Combine Conversion Kits
Do you already own a Case IH combine? Prefer to buy your own hemp harvesting equipment through a local dealership? No problem!
Purchase our hemp conversion kit to install in your Case IH combine models 1688, 2188, and 2388. Our hemp conversion kit:
replaces your stock concaves
replaces certain gears
and adds a side discharge conveyor to bypass clean grain elevator and unload augers
This eliminates material build, plugging, breaking of augers, and gearbox damages. The result is:
better quality biomass flower/leaf separation from stalk/branches
less CBD potency loss
saving you on costly repairs to the combine.
There are different configurations depending on whether you need a wet hemp combine or dry hemp combine.
WET Hemp Combine harvest kit
WET Hemp Combine harvest kit
Harvest fresh, wet hemp plants with up to 80% flower/leaf separation from stalk/branches. Plants harvested with a wet hemp combine must go through a dryer process within 24 hours. The most common methods to dry hemp are belt or tumble hemp dryers.
Our wet hemp combine increases the efficiency of your chosen drying method. Plants harvested with a wet hemp combine increase the daily drying capacity of most dryers due to our hemp harvesting equipment creating less surface area for the dryers to handle. Our in-house hemp dryers can handle 2,000 lbs/day of dry-shucked flower or 6,000 lbs/day of wet combine material.
Up to 80% biomass separation
1-3% CBD loss
Harvest up to 20 acres per day
$50,000
Dry Hemp Combine Harvest Kit
Dry Hemp Combine Harvest Kit
Harvest dry hemp plants with up to 90% flower/leaf separation from stalk/branches using our hemp harvesting equipment. Plants harvested with our hemp harvesting equipment are normally dried in the field or in barns prior to going through the combine. The machine can be used stationary or in the field.
Sun-drying hemp plants is the most economical method but only possible in dry climates like NV, AZ, NM, etc.
Up to 95% biomass separation
2-5% CBD loss
Harvest up to 30 acres/day
$40,000
Why Choose a USA Hemp Conversion Kit?
Harvesting hemp is the most difficult and overlooked part of the hemp farming industry. Prepping fields, growing, and managing the crop is the easy part, 80% of the work and expense will come during harvest.
Most inexperienced hemp farmers are dramatically unprepared for the challenges that come with the American hemp plants. The fault falls on the industry itself, the crop is just too new to humans.
Most traditional agricultural harvesting equipment won't work with hemp because of the thick tree-like stalk and sticky flowers that turn into concrete blocks once compressed enough.
There are 2 main concepts to our hemp harvesting equipment conversion kits: flower separation and material transfer. The goal of the flower separation is to separate the flowers and leaves from the stalk and large branches. The separation is made possible via custom concaves and rasp bars. The clean biomass sample (flowers and leaves) is transferred to storage while the stalk and branch waste is left in the field behind the combine. This process can be achieved with dry plants ready for storage or wet plants headed to a dryer. The second stage is material transfer. With hemp being extremely sticky, it can become a solid block inside these machines causing constant catastrophic breakdowns (snapped augers, broken gearboxes, etc.).
Traditionally, the material is transferred into a storage tank inside the combine harvester but this process is a ticking time bomb when dealing with hemp. It's not a matter of if you'll break down, but when and how bad will the repairs be. To solve the material plugging issue, we've developed a conveyor system to install on the side of the combine to bypass the grain tank entirely. This conveyor system allows for continuous harvesting without having to worry about any plugging issues.
Dry Hemp Combine Harvesting Equipment
Allows for up to 95% flower/leaves separation from the stalk. The flowers must be under 15% moisture (achieved via sun drying or hang drying).
Wet Hemp Combine Harvesting Equipment
Allows for up to 90% flower/leaves separation from the stalk. The more fresh the plant, the better the separation. Hemp plants should be processed through the combine within 12 hours of being cut. When the plants start to wilt, they do not separate as efficiently. Flower moisture content between 20-40% does not separate very well (75% separation efficiency) in either kit configuration.
Hemp Harvesters
Turnkey Hemp Harvesting Equipment
Would you rather avoid the headache of buying a random combine and installing the kit yourself? Choose one of our in-house certified hemp harvesting equipment combines with a hemp kit (your choice of wet or dry) already installed. These machines are inspected and certified by one of our in-house Case IH certified mechanics and come with a 1-year warranty. If something happens with the machine, we get a representative out to your field within 48-72 hours to repair the equipment or offer you a loaner machine. Turnkey hemp combines from USA Hemp Harvesting are field-ready, all you'll need to do is unload and get to harvesting.
Available hemp harvesting equipment models:
Work Hog (1688)
The Butcher (2188)
Big Bertha (2388)
$100,000 - 150,000
Work Hog Hemp Harvesting Equipment
The work hog is meant for farmers who are tackling a dry hemp crop and have under 25 acres to harvest per season. Expect 7-14 acres/day.
The Butcher Hemp Harvesting Equipment
The Butcher is a great option for farmers who have up to 100 acres per season or want to harvest wet plants. This model can handle plants up to 6' tall and 6' wide. Anything above that, and you start pushing the machine's HP limits. Expect to harvest 10-20 acres dry/day and 5-10 acres wet/day.
Big Bertha Hemp Harvesting Equipment
Big Bertha is almost identical to the Butcher except it has an engine with 30% more horsepower, making it capable of not only harvesting faster but also handling larger plants. Big Bertha can tackle hemp trees up to 10' tall and 10' wide. Expect 13-26 acres dry/day and 8-16 acres wet/day.