Buying Guides ·
How to Choose a Chaff Cutter: Capacity, Power and Blade Guide
Work out the capacity you really need, pick the right power source and blade system, and avoid the five most common chaff cutter buying mistakes.
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Corn Sheller Buying Guide: Reduce Losses and Labour at Harvest
Compare compact, high-capacity and multi-crop maize shellers, understand breakage and cleaning rates, and size a machine to your harvest.
Quick answer
For under 10 tonnes per season, a portable 800–1200 kg/h electric sheller is enough. Cooperatives and service providers should choose 1.5–3 t/h threshers; if you also grow sorghum, millet or soybean, a multi-crop thresher avoids buying several machines. Shell cobs at 13–15% moisture to minimise kernel breakage.
Three types of maize sheller
- Compact shellers (800–1200 kg/h) — 18–25 kg, portable, 220 V or small gasoline engine.
- High-capacity threshers (1.5–2.5 t/h) — larger drum and hopper for cooperatives and grain traders.
- Multi-crop threshers (up to 3 t/h) — screen change for maize, sorghum, millet, sesame and soybean.
What determines shelling quality?
Moisture is the biggest factor — cobs at 13–15% moisture shell cleanly; wetter cobs crush, drier kernels crack. Drum speed and concave clearance should be adjusted to cob size. A built-in fan removes chaff so grain is ready for bagging.
Sizing by season volume
| Season volume | Recommended |
|---|---|
| Up to 10 t | 800–1200 kg/h compact sheller |
| 10–100 t | 1.5 t/h thresher |
| 100 t + / service business | 2.5–3 t/h or multi-crop thresher, diesel |
Husked or unhusked?
Standard shellers need husks removed. If husking is your bottleneck, a husker-sheller removes husks and shells in one pass.
