[AndrewToews]

A few years ago I was hoping to find a tester that was portable and I could use out at the bin or field. Bought both the Prairie Grain Analyzer (PGA) and the GAC at the farm show. Tried them both but decided to stay with the PGA because it was metal and seemed more durable. I bought a 2nd one the next year.

Last year they offered a free upgrade to their latest models. I absolutely love the new ones. I keep them at the auger when filling bins. It’s so easy to use so every load gets tested for moisture and bu weight so I don’t get surprises after. It’s rechargeable so I bring them home and plug them in every night.

I also use them when hauling out of bins even through the winter. They seem to be very accurate both on warm or cool days, and both with warm or cold grain. When it gets -5 or below I’d say it’s still within 1/2 a point. It’s avoided a lot of surprises going to the elevator especially out of aereation bins as the top can be tougher than expected.

They can give a printout of each test or they will send it to your phone through Wifi. We don’t have Wifi at the bin yards so I’ve never tried that feature. I hardly ever use the 919 any more and would never pay to refurbish it if it quit.

thanks, i was looking into the pga but just wanted some opinions first. 919 seems to be pop.

 

[AndrewToews]

Thanks for all the replies, so far just been using a portable case ih tester. Just for interest sake i got a price on the PGA and they say portable is 2100 and stationary 6000 but he said no difference from the 2 really ? whyyyyyyyy then

 

[joesixpack]

That PGA one don’t exactly look that portable or handy. You have to flip the whole thing over to dump it?

For portable mini GAC. At home the bench GAC or Perten.

 

[torriem]

Try to find a protein tester even close to it in price. It has seemed very accurate for me. It also tests oil and carbs. It takes 2 heads of grain to do a test. Or less.

You missed my point. I can't even get a price without requesting a quote and obviously a salesman and commission being involved.

 

[lurker18]

The most important thing is it to be accurate. You can get 919, Perten, stick your finger in it. If you are accurate over the whole range of moistures, that is the best one. And just because you are accurate to what the elevator has, does not mean you are accurate, you are just the same. If they are buying off of that, that is good, but if it is out 2% on tough grain and you are using that for storage info, that number does not mean much.. I know a lot of people in the industry that went crazy when the Perten came out, they thought it was wrong because it was reading 1% higher that their old 919. There are endless numbers of research projects done at the CGC to back up moisture testing, they have a whole department that does only that, and they found that over the entire range of moisture, the Perten was the most accurate. They do still give info for the 919 just because that is what a very large number of farms use. For those of you that have the Auto 919, you need to compare that with wherever you are hauling to, as it is updated to the day it was made and has not been updated since, unless you have sent it in to be done. At least with the charts, the numbers off the machine are just that and you use new charts whenever they get updated.

 

[torriem]

For the older and non auto 919s you can download updated charts here. The most recent charts date to 2019.

Unfortunately the charts refer to bushel weight as kg/hL. Apparently a hectolitre is 100L or 2.83776 bushels. Some parts of metric make more sense than others.

 

[lurker18]

Correct, charts are updated as needed, but the auto 919 are loaded with the chart on the day they were made.

 

[rkfarmer]

That PGA one don’t exactly look that portable or handy. You have to flip the whole thing over to dump it?

For portable mini GAC. At home the bench GAC or Perten.

The original PGA was a pain to dump and to get bu weights.

The updated one has a separate drop cylinder. We didn’t think much of that idea till we used it and liked it. Need to keep a Tupperware container about 10”x 10” and about 2” high with it. Place the cylinder in the container, pour the sample over till heaping, level with a ruler, and then drop it in the tester and remove cylinder. You get accurate moisture and bu weight every test.

When done just grab the handle and a quick turn into the pail and it’s empty. PGA doesn’t but should include the Tupperware container with it. It makes the process very easy.

When filling bigger bins I’ll set up a folding table and have a discard pail beside it to dump the tester into. When the bin is full my discard pail is my representative sample that I keep for that bin.

 

[lanwickum]

You missed my point. I can't even get a price without requesting a quote and obviously a salesman and commission being involved.

You are correct, sorry I did miss your point.
They are a fairly new company. Made in another country without many dealers yet. I happened to be following them for years and they sent me their first USA dealer's contact info. I was one of the first people to own one in the USA because of this. New tech is to much fun for me at times.

FYI, they were around $4300 USA the last I checked. (I paid a fair amount less being one of the first to get one) The USA dealer is. https://elevateag.com/grainsense

The canadian dealer can be found here. Products | Prairie Grain Analyzers

Hope this helps. I do agree, not the best purchasing system around.

 

[DDF]

Another vote for 919.
If you can find a used one, take it into Dimo Labtronics in Winnipeg to check it out, I think they sell new also.
I think there is a reason most elevators still keep their 919's on the bench.
As for the hot out of the dryer concerns. The charts do only go up to 30 degrees C. But I have always had success "extending the chart" with the same moisture pattern if that makes sense; same for grain below 10 degrees.
As for that hot grain moisture, if you are dumping hot, you are going to be blowing off moisture with the heat. So it is still a bit of a guessing game what your final moisture will be no matter how accurate you measured moisture out the dryer is IMO

 

[712alberta]

The 919 auto still gives you a temperature and chart number on the read out so you can check it against your charts to see if the machine is loaded with the most up to date ones.

 

[sasksodbuster]

A standard 919 will give up to date moisture content if you use the app.

 

[dumbfarmer]

Another vote for 919.
If you can find a used one, take it into Dimo Labtronics in Winnipeg to check it out, I think they sell new also.
I think there is a reason most elevators still keep their 919's on the bench.
As for the hot out of the dryer concerns. The charts do only go up to 30 degrees C. But I have always had success "extending the chart" with the same moisture pattern if that makes sense; same for grain below 10 degrees.
As for that hot grain moisture, if you are dumping hot, you are going to be blowing off moisture with the heat. So it is still a bit of a guessing game what your final moisture will be no matter how accurate you measured moisture out the dryer is IMO

Maybe your elevators are different but there’s not one left using a 919 in my country. And the biggest buyer out of them in this area doesn’t have any 919s left due to policy from head office

GACs read moisture differently then any 919 and automatically account for bushel weight. If you have 68lb wheat or 55lb Canola explain to me how a 919 is ever going to accurate or match elevators? I’m not checking moisture for storage as much as checking and drying to meet my grade specs for moisture.

 

[makar]

To all the 919 lovers mine are for sale, i can't even swap parts from one to another, take beer in trade , as is where is.

 

[Don Boles]

GACs read moisture differently then any 919 and automatically account for bushel weight.

If you have 68lb wheat or 55lb Canola explain to me how a 919 is ever going to accurate or match elevators?

Not sure 55lb canola is possible, lol.
What model is the GAC?
How does it calculate density?

Or, is this it:

 

[DDF]

To all the 919 lovers mine are for sale, i can't even swap parts from one to another, take beer in trade , as is where is.

...I think we just found the best bang for your buck option.

 

[Don Boles]

...I think we just found the best bang for your buck option.

He didn’t say how much beer.

 

[DDF]

Maybe your elevators are different but there’s not one left using a 919 in my country. And the biggest buyer out of them in this area doesn’t have any 919s left due to policy from head office

GACs read moisture differently then any 919 and automatically account for bushel weight. If you have 68lb wheat or 55lb Canola explain to me how a 919 is ever going to accurate or match elevators? I’m not checking moisture for storage as much as checking and drying to meet my grade specs for moisture.

Our elevators don't use 919, I just notice that they are still out on the grading tables, I assume to double check things.
Yeah I can't explain it...we typically have 66lb wheat and 53lb canola and have not run into discrepancies.

 

[NVW]

Maybe your elevators are different but there’s not one left using a 919 in my country. And the biggest buyer out of them in this area doesn’t have any 919s left due to policy from head office

GACs read moisture differently then any 919 and automatically account for bushel weight. If you have 68lb wheat or 55lb Canola explain to me how a 919 is ever going to accurate or match elevators? I’m not checking moisture for storage as much as checking and drying to meet my grade specs for moisture.

IIRC all 919 moisture tester's go by weight, not volume. Those portable testers go by volume.
That's how I knew my Oats were heavy when there was still 3/4's of an inch in the tube after weighing them for testing.

 

[joesixpack]

The new testers GAC/Perten go by weight and volume. That’s why they can tell you bushel weight!